Brookville

With its large properties and abundance of trees, Brookville has a private and charmingly rural atmosphere that draws residents looking for a chance to spread out and enjoy a relaxed country lifestyle without venturing too far from the city. “I think the number one reason why I get people coming to me from the surrounding areas but also Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, even the Hamptons is because of the acreage, the privacy, the property,” says Joe Scavo, an associate broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “To be in Manhattan in 35 minutes, to be in the Hamptons in under an hour, and still be able to have your pool and your pool house and your sports courts on a beautiful 2-acre or 3-acre lot is something you don’t come across very often.” Once deep in horse country, Brookville’s rural atmosphere is added to by the prominence of remaining equestrian centers and a community that continues to enjoy a life surrounded by horses and horse sports. “A lot of my clients will take their kids to these equestrian centers and teach them how to ride and take care of the horses and that whole lifestyle, which is another draw to the community,” Scavo says. “So for my equestrian or horse lovers, they can come and lease their horses, buy their horses, leave them at the equestrian centers, have their kids learn how to ride and take care of them and they don’t have to keep them on their property. It’s a nice lifestyle to be able to offer your kids. And Brookville, quite honestly, is one of the last villages on the North Shore to really offer that kind of lifestyle.”

The properties in Brookville, which are zoned for at least 2 acres, are a part of its unique lifestyle and serve as a huge draw to the community. “You can have 2 acres or 5-plus acres, all gated, and on that kind of acreage you can fit a pool, pool house, sports court, tennis, basketball, theaters, elevators,” Scavo says. “Because on that acreage, you can fit 6,000- and 10,000-square-foot houses.” Home prices in Brookville start at $1.5 million and go up from there. According to Scavo, the average cost of a home falls between $3 million and $5 million, but some homes cost upwards of $10 million and even $20 million. Despite these high price tags, Scavo says that the housing market in Brookville remains strong. “Obviously, the low inventory is a contributing factor, but the fact that we have the acreage, we have the school district, we have the amenities, we have the country clubs, we have the proximity to the city and the Hamptons, all of these are driving forces specifically to Brookville,” Scavo says. “So there’s still a very healthy buyer pool that’s active. You’re absolutely seeing multiple bids and at times, even over ask.”

Most of Brookville is served by the Jericho Union Free School District, which Niche gives an A-plus and ranks as the second-best district in New York as well as the second-best place to teach in the state. The majority of children attend an elementary school like Jeffrey Ratner Robert Seaman Elementary School before moving on to Jericho Middle School and Jericho High School. The high school is a National Blue Ribbon School where students can participate in extracurricular activities like sports and mock trial, coding and choreography clubs. A small portion of the village is instead served by the Locust Valley Union Free School District. Alternatively, parents can choose to send their kids to Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School, which has an A-plus rating on Niche. Brookville is also home to Long Island University Post, the largest private university on the island.

Residents love packing up a picnic to enjoy at Brookville Nature Park and going for horseback rides on one of the many trails that cross through the neighborhood. “They still have active horse trails behind most of these properties that go through the villages, so you can be on a horse trail for hours at a time outside of the equestrian centers and ride and hike and enjoy that kind of scenery as well,” Scavo says. Country clubs like the Tam O’Shanter Country Club are also a big part of life for many in the community. They offer benefits from special community events to amenities like golf courses, pools and athletic courts. “We have multiple country clubs that are still healthy and ticking and that lifestyle where you can bring your kids and your family and go to the country club and play and eat and enjoy yourself,” Scavo says. “There’s a number of them within the community.”

Brookville is purely residential, so residents venture less than 3 miles outside of the village to Jericho for their shopping and dining needs. Despite this, residents find plenty to do within Brookville itself. “On Friday nights you can go to the equestrian centers and have movie nights with the kids, on Saturdays you can have brunch at the country club with the family, Sunday mornings you can get the guys together and have a round of golf, so it really depends on what your lifestyle calls for,” Scavo says. “When they have expensive cars, they get together on Sunday mornings and they’ll go on these rallies and they’ll drive out to Jersey or out to the Hamptons. So it really does have something for everyone.” At the end of the day, living in Brookville is all about the unique lifestyle the village offers. “It’s really just a great lifestyle,” Scavo says. “The privacy, the acreage, the size of the houses, the horse farms, the country clubs and the proximity to the city and the Hamptons offer my clients something that’s hard to get anywhere else.”

Written By

Christina Norwood

Photography Contributed By

Franklin Abreu

Video By

Bob Yukich