After 30 Years, Residents At Montauk's Camp Hero Have Planted Deep Roots

Richard Brown stood outside his one-story home on Washington Avenue in Montauk during the first truly warm afternoon this spring, smoking a cigarette underneath the small overhang above the screen door.His house is tucked comfortably at the end of the short street, less than a stone’s throw from his neighbors’ homes, most of which look similar to Mr. Brown’s.

Dressed in blue jeans, white sneakers and a gray hoodie, he flicked his ashes onto the concrete walkway, raising his shoulders slightly.

“Where am I going to go that’s going to be more beautiful than right here?” he asked.

The answer, at least to Mr. Brown, is obvious. Nowhere.

This year, 2014, marks his and many of his neighbors’ 30th anniversary of living in their homes—a milestone not only relevant to him and his family, but one that speaks to the character of the tight-knit neighborhood.

He and his wife purchased their home in 1984 as part of an affordable housing subdivision put forth by East Hampton Town. Formerly Air Force housing, the 27 units of “government surplus property,” part of roughly 30 acres (including sewage treatment facilities and some open space) were acquired by East Hampton Town from the state at no cost. They were then sold for roughly $40,000 apiece through a lottery process, according to the town housing director, Tom Ruhle.

But the deal came with a disclaimer. The new owners could sell the homes, but their profit would be capped at the Consumer Price Index for 30 years, allowing them to make $125,00 at best. After the 30-year mark, they would be free to sell their home and small lot at full market value.

Many of the homes at Camp Hero are now worth somewhere between $400,000 and nearly $1 million, according to Mr. Ruhle. That gives owners the chance to essentially cash out with a profit up to 20 times more than what they first paid.

“It’s been referred to as winning the lottery,” he said. “They now own the house free and clear with no restrictions, no differently than anyone else selling on the open market. And ... they get to keep all the money.”

“No one contemplated how the real estate market would dramatically change,” Mr. Ruhle said. Camp Hero was only the second affordable housing project undertaken by East Hampton Town, the first being Olympic Heights. The town sold 14 half-acre lots and buyers were able to build their own home. Over a period of time, buyers had to pay back 75-percent of the land value to the town, said Mr. Ruhle.

In hindsight, he said, it became clear that there should have been tighter restrictions to make sure the houses stayed affordable much longer.

Several Camp Hero residents say the 30-year mark is nothing but a number, however.

“The majority of the houses in this neighborhood are still owned by the same people who originally bought them,” said Helene Fallon, a Jefferson Avenue resident. “I don’t know anyone who’s planning on selling, and this is a tight community.”

Dogs roam freely down the short, narrow streets as screen doors slam and neighbors bid an afternoon hello. The occasional car passes by the Jefferson Avenue and Camp Hero Road intersection, none without a wave from the driver.

“It’s pretty much an open-door policy here,” said Kathy Vegessi, whose home is situated directly across the street from Ms. Fallon’s.

Ms. Vegessi, originally from New Jersey, and her husband, Mike, a Seaford native, moved to Montauk nearly 40 years ago, Mr. Vegessi said during a conversation on his front patio on a windy Thursday afternoon in April.

The owners of the Lazy Bones fishing charter boat in Montauk, the Vegessis bought their home at Camp Hero 30 years ago, renovating and putting on an addition early into their 30-year agreement with the town.

“You didn’t pick which house you were going to live in,” Ms. Vegessi said, explaining that the town assigned buyers their house and plot of land. “We got lucky with the corner lot.”

Now two stories, complete with a patio and a fireplace, the house barely resembles the original structure, which would have mirrored many of the other modest one-story residences in the neighborhood.

“Through the business, we made a lot of friends who have become family,” Ms. Vegessi said. “They’ll stay with us ... or my sisters want to come out with their kids, that kind of thing. We needed to build up on it. It’s become almost like a mini-hotel,” she laughed.

The Vegessis’ daughter, Serena, recently moved next door with her husband and newborn, fortunate to be able to rent one of the few homes not still occupied by its original owners.

“The timing was everything,” Mr. Vegessi said, explaining that his daughter was nearly nine months pregnant when the rental became available.

“We’re very good friends with our neighbors, we knew they were looking to rent, they knew we were looking, so it worked out,” he added. “It’s pretty crazy that she grew up in this neighborhood and now she lives next door.”

Pulling up a chair at the Vegessis’ glass patio table, former resident P.J. Delia said deeply-entrenched relationships date back even before the town’s affordable housing program. She moved to Camp Hero as a child in 1964 while her father was in the Air Force.

“This has always been the coolest spot,” she said during a walk through the neighborhood. “It was the only place blacks, whites, Asians ... all lived together in such a tight space,” she said, recalling how the “neighborhood gang” would race outside to play baseball.

Ms. Delia, who spent her elementary through high school years on the base, lived in a mobile home at the entrance to the neighborhood, which was surrounded by a paved circle that served as a walkway around the mobile homes. Today, slabs of pavement and permanent lawn damage bear signs of their former presence.

“There’s no place else like it. I was heartbroken when I had to leave,” Ms. Delia said, explaining that when her father’s term with the Air Force was up, her family relocated to a neighborhood near Montauk’s Hither Hills. “I’d do anything to come back,” she said.

While the town’s early housing project may have provided residents with a situation that 30 years later seems like very much like winning the lottery, as far as Mr. Brown is concerned, he won it three decades ago

“This offered me an opportunity to raise my family in Montauk,” he said. “The schools are up there with the best of them. And on the busiest summer weekend, you’d never know. There’s no Surf Lodge, there’s none of that.... It’s beautiful.”