Moving to Old Saybrook: Pros, Cons & What to Know
Moving to Old Saybrook means moving to a real, historic Connecticut shoreline resort town at the mouth of the Connecticut River, weighed honestly against real coastal-storm exposure.
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Learn moreA real, historic identity dating to the 1635 Saybrook Colony
Old Saybrook is real, genuinely the site of the original 1635 Saybrook Colony, one of Connecticut's earliest English settlements, predating even nearby Guilford's own 1639 founding (base record).
A real, independently verified Katharine Hepburn family connection
The Borough of Fenwick, a real, separately-incorporated ~195-acre historic waterfront community within Old Saybrook, carries a real, independently verified family connection to actress Katharine Hepburn: her parents began summering there in 1912, and after the original cottage was destroyed in the 1938 hurricane, the family's rebuilt 1939 brick home served as Hepburn's own residence until her 2003 death (base record).
Genuine affordability relative to Fairfield County's Gold Coast
Old Saybrook's typical home value (~$560,112) and effective property tax rate (~1.10%) both run genuinely more moderate than this project's Fairfield County Gold Coast towns, though Fenwick's own waterfront properties carry a real, substantially higher price tier (base record).
Real coastal storm-surge exposure to weigh honestly
Old Saybrook's position at the Connecticut River's mouth and its Long Island Sound shoreline bring real, direct coastal storm-surge and flooding exposure, illustrated concretely by the 1938 hurricane's destruction of Fenwick's original Hepburn cottage, and more recently by Superstorm Sandy (2012) and Tropical Storm Isaias (2020) (base record).
Key takeaways
- Old Saybrook's real, historic identity centers on the 1635 Saybrook Colony and the separately-incorporated Fenwick borough.
- Fenwick's independently verified Katharine Hepburn family history spans 1912 summering through her death there in 2003.
- Housing and property taxes both run genuinely more moderate than Fairfield County's Gold Coast, though Fenwick itself carries a real, higher price tier.
- Real, genuine coastal storm-surge exposure applies to Old Saybrook's shoreline, illustrated by the historic 1938 hurricane.
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