By Gretchen A. Peck

Tamara Gajewski and Sean Gajewski have grown accustomed to relocating. He works as counsel for the Coast Guard, and the job has taken them to Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and most recently to 158 New London Road in Groton. They bought the four-bedroom house in 2019, after an expedient two-day trip from Puerto Rico, where they were living at the time. Their Realtor—Terry Kemper, with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Old Lyme—took them on a whirlwind tour of 20 houses in a single weekend, and they fell in love with this one. It was brand new and still under construction at the time. They appreciated the opportunity to work with the builder to completely customize it. “We thought it was the perfect opportunity to make it ours,” Sean Gajewski said.

“The house was basically a blank slate,” he recalled. “When we purchased it, there was no landscaping at all.” They lined the driveway with privacy trees. They installed a backyard fence, making the yard ideal for children and pets. They planted shrubs and perennials.

They chose interior finishes, as well, including bathroom and kitchen faucets, light fixtures, a gas fireplace for the family room, paint colors, and granite countertops in the kitchen.

“The kitchen is the heart of the home in our house. I have a sign in my kitchen that says, ‘In this kitchen, we dance.’ Every day there’s a dance party happening,” Tamara Gajewski said. “My daughter took her first steps while we were having a dance party in the kitchen with her grandma and grandpa. She just got up and started walking that day.”

“There’s no table in the kitchen, but there is seating at the island, where we eat dinner every day with the kids. We use the formal dining room when we have more people,” he noted. “With the open floor plan between the kitchen and the main living areas, it’s where we spent most of our time.”

The main level comprises formal living and dining rooms, a family room, eat-in kitchen and a powder room.

The flow of the floor plan has been particularly accommodating when they’ve entertained.

“We’ve had up to 45 people in this house at one time for a birthday party, and it was comfortable,” she said. “We weren’t cramped. We weren’t on top of each other. Everybody can kind of spread out since it’s such an open space.”

Hardwood floors are found throughout the main level and in the central hallway on the second floor. The bedrooms are carpeted for comfort, and the second-floor laundry and baths are tiled for easy cleaning. Among the four bedrooms is a primary suite, with a private bath and a walk-in closet.

There’s a spacious fourth bedroom or bonus room above the attached garage, and that has provided some flexibility as the family’s needs have changed. It has been a secondary family room for TV viewing, a home office, and as the children grew, they used it as a playroom. With fold-out beds, they were able to use the space for overnight guests, including family members who traveled by ferry over from Long Island. For a buyer with teenagers, this room could potentially be used to give them a sense of autonomy and a place to enjoy with their friends.

The house has an unfinished lower level that walks out to the side yard. They used part of it for home gym equipment.

“Had we been able to stay longer, we probably would have turned that into a playroom and a guest suite with a bathroom—a little bit more private from our living space,” she said.

The Gajewskis appreciated the location of their home from a number of perspectives.

“Everywhere we’ve moved, we’ve always looked for towns in the area that have a lot of restaurants, because that is kind of our thing. We really enjoy going out to dinner, so Mystic was the perfect location for that,” he said. “The house is only a 10-minute ride to the Coast Guard Academy, where I work. It is 10 minutes to the sub base and Electric Boat, where some of our neighbors work.”

The Sheep Farm Preserve is just a stroll away, and they’ve enjoyed running and walking the miles of trails there, or exploring its waterfall and stream with their children. They could walk to Bluff Point and often visited Groton Long Point.

Everyday conveniences, like the Target store and grocery stores close by.

“We are on a main street, but we’re so far set back that you don’t feel like you are,” he said. “It’s very quiet up here.”

Though they’ve thrived here as a family and enjoyed the home they created, duty calls and they’ll be moving to their next station. They’ve listed the property for sale, with an asking price of $649,900. Coldwell Banker’s Terry Kemper is the listing agent. She’s hosting an open house at the home this weekend, on Sunday, April 7, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

“We’ve been super happy here. It’s our first home and the home we brought our two girls home to, so it holds a very special place in our heart,” he said.

Property: 158 New London Rd., Groton

Bedrooms: 4

Baths: 3

Square Footage: 2,475

Acreage: 1.03

Asking Price: $649,900

Listing Agent: Terry Kemper, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Old Lyme; Mobile: (860) 908-7820; terry.kemper@coldwellbankermoves.com