Original North Haven Shores Model Home Hits the Market

One of the original model homes in the North Haven Shores community developed in the 1950s is on the market for the first time in 70 years.

George Morell and his father, Ben, developed North Haven Shores in the mid 1950s as the first “upscale” planned community in the area, according to Sotheby’s International Realty. They hired architect Caleb Hornbostel to design four model homes — each a single-story mid-century modern house. This one, at 387 Ferry Road, was named West Wind.

Hazel Hancock, an interior designer from a firm in Great Neck, furnished the four models, and the first phase of North Haven Shores ultimately included 10 Hornbostel-designed houses.

Hornbostel, who was born in Bay Shore and raised in Philadelphia, graduated from the Carnegie Institute architecture program that his father helped found, according to the Norwich University Kreitzberg Library in Vermont, which houses a collection of Hornbostel’s archives. Hornbostel moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts (School for Fine Arts), where he earned another degree in 1932 and won the school’s prestigious contest with a design of a chateau built on Norman castle ruins.

The Morells hired an advertising agency to develop the North Haven Shores “brand,” running a series of some 14 ads appearing each week in The New York Times Sunday Real Estate section beginning around Labor Day 1954, according to Sotheby’s. The prices started at $27,750.

The 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home is on 0.73 acre and has an attached garage. There is built-in furniture in several rooms. The living room has a fireplace, mahogany paneling and a 14-foot ceiling. Large glass window panels look out on the backyard and its various specimen trees.

With original details retained, including parquet hardwood floors, the house has been updated with new central air, a new roof and windows.

The North Haven Shores waterfront neighborhood offers a community tennis court and private beach access to store and launch paddleboards and kayaks.

The list price is $1.7 million. Leslie Reingold has the listing.