Captain George Eldredge House in Mystic, Connecticut | House for Sale

Built on the banks of the Mystic River in 1791, the historic Captain George Eldredge House is finally available …

There are many wonderful restaurants in Mystic, Connecticut. On the night we visited a few months ago, however, we chose one called The S & P Oyster Company, simply because it’s located right on the water’s edge, next to the drawbridge in the center of town. As we sat up on the second floor nursing a pre-dinner glass of wine that evening, we gazed out onto the water where various boats, large and small, were meandering by on their way to moorings or docks. Farther down the shore on our side of the river we could see the huge three-masted Mystic, tied up at Schooner Wharf along with the 81-foot Argia, which had just offloaded about 40 happy tourists who’d spent the afternoon sailing out beyond Fishers Island into Block Island Sound.

Then, on the far shore, across from the world-famous Mystic Seaport and the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan (which is ready to sail again this summer after a long restoration process), we suddenly spotted the Captain George Eldredge House, where we’d spent much of that day with its current owners, Jane St. John and her brother, Jeff Gegenheimer. The reason Jane and Jeff weren’t with us that evening was because both were on their way home, Jeff to Colorado and Jane to California. Neither has ever actually lived in the Captain George Eldredge House, although Jane spent her very early years in another waterfront house in Mystic, and both have sailed out of Mystic innumerable times over the years. “We always had boats,” Jane told us as we walked around the house and beautiful grounds (which include a lovely in-ground swimming pool)that morning. All seven rooms on two levels (plus four bathrooms and a full basement) are in pristine condition, as is the charming guest cottage next to the two-car garage. The large, modern kitchen, with gleaming white cabinets and counters, is obviously a far cry from what must have been the cooking area in 1791, the year the house was built—but one still gets the general feeling of the 18th century, owing to details such as wooden flooring, antique hardware, and the arrangement of the various rooms. We were especially taken with the living room, with its fireplace and large windows looking out across the river at the historic sailing vessels tied up over there on the far shore. We could be incredibly happy living here in the Captain George Eldredge House. The Eldredge family, including sea captains, fishermen, and prominent Mystic citizens, must have been, too, because it wasn’t until 1969 that someone outside the family took over the property. That’s 178 years of Eldredges here on this prime location along the river.

Jane and Jeff’s parents, the Harold Gegenheimers, purchased it in 1982 and lived here for a number of years. When both eventually passed away, Jeff and Jane became the owners, but both had already established their lives in Colorado and California, respectively, and their grown children were scattered about the country, too. Thus it is that they’ve recently decided, somewhat reluctantly, we gathered, to put this historic property (including a little over a half-acre of land) on the market. The price: $1,999,000.

Now back to the evening following our day with Jane and Jeff … Are you perhaps wondering what we eventually had for dinner up there on the second floor of S & P Oyster, overlooking the river? Well, probably not. But anyway, it was lobster alfredo. Is there any better way to end a day of moseying? For details, contact Melinda Carlisle, Randall Realtors Real Living, 22 Holmes St., Mystic, CT 06355. 860-572-9099 x1703, 860-460-8002 (cell); melinda@randallrealtors.com