Just Listed in the Poconos: Lakeside Contemporary in Long Pond
Even luxury in the Poconos has a certain simplicity about it. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t grand, as this custom-built house demonstrates.
This handsome house in Emerald Lakes presents an impressive face to the visitor. But since this is a Poconos house, the face is as simple as it is impressive. And it’s even more impressive in the back. You’ll find this house at 1103 W. Emerald Lake Dr., Long Pond, PA 18334 / Pocono Mountains Association of Realtors images via Dembinski Realty Company
I have been known to say from time to time that “by ‘moving to the country,’ suburbanites destroy the thing they seek.”
Fortunately, the Poconos have lots of protected state parks and game lands. Were it not for these, Pennsylvania’s great vacation playground might actually look like one giant suburb, for it has just as many resort subdivisions arrayed around lakes, usually man-made.
There are six of them in the Emerald Lakes resort community in Long Pond. This house sits on one of them, West Emerald Lake.
And it makes the most of its forested, sloping lakeside lot.
This ten-year-old custom-built Long Pond lakeside contemporary house for sale is designed so that great views of the lake abound from it. It’s also at once spacious and compact thanks to a very intelligent interior layout.
Foyer and stairs
You enter the house via a two-story foyer with a stone wall at its far end.
Main living area dining room and kitchen
That stone wall forms the back of the full-height fireplace that serves as the centerpiece of the main living area. Second-floor hallway balconies flank it.
Living room
The large, open main living area makes entertaining easy. And not just indoors: a sliding door on the living-room end and French doors between the living and dining rooms connect it to a wraparound rear deck.
Kitchen
The kitchen is designed so it can also function as a breakfast bar and a wet bar, as its counter seating shares its peninsula with the sink and glassware display cabinets hang over it at one end.
Primary bedroom
There are two bedrooms each on the main and second floors, one on each side of the central stairs. The two main-floor bedrooms share a hall bath. The primary one upstairs has its own private balcony looking out on the wooded half-acre-plus lot.
Primary bathroom
The upstairs primary bedroom has its own en-suite bath as well. A large walk-in closet with dressing area connects the bedroom and bathroom.
The second bedroom upstairs also functions as a home office.
Basement rec room
The basement contains another large open space that can serve as a media room, rec room, game room and den all at once. It also has a stone fireplace and a wet bar. A fifth bedroom and third full bath share the basement with this room.
The house also requires almost no exterior maintenance, as it has HardiePlank siding and Trex decking.
Rear deck
This Long Pond lakeside contemporary house for sale has even more open space outside. A series of places for relaxation and entertaining lead from the house’s main-floor deck down to the lakeshore.
Fire pit
Fire pit, view towards lake
The first place beyond the deck is a stone patio with a fire pit.
Lakeside deck and patio
Steps lead from it to a wooden deck next to the lake, and steps from there lead to another stone patio. Next to that patio is the boat dock on West Emerald Lake.
Boat dock and property, view from West Emerald Lake
As previously noted, West Emerald Lake is one of six lakes Emerald Lakes residents can enjoy. East Emerald Lake is home to the community’s main beach; another one can be found on the island park in Pine Tree Lake. Both allow swimming, and there are also outdoor and indoor pools. Other amenities include a community center, dining room and bar, tennis and basketball courts, a children’s playground and a butterfly garden. You can also go catch-and-release fishing on any of the lakes.
As Emerald Lakes is located next to the junction of I-80 and I-380 — Exit 1 on I-380 is just up Long Pond Road from this house — it’s a quick trip from here to the Tannersville outlets, Stroudsburg’s increasingly happening downtown, and the Delaware Water Gap. Pocono Pines and Mt. Pocono are also very close by.
In short, what this nicely appointed, intelligently designed, simple yet grand house offers is a resort within a resort. And that makes living in this particular suburb more enjoyable than living in the one you live in now. (And if you live in the city, you could make this your country getaway. You wouldn’t be destroying the thing you seek, since what you seek is just a nice change of pace and place.)
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQUARE FEET: 3,364
SALE PRICE: $1,599,000
OTHER STUFF: A $1,200 annual homeowners association fee covers use and maintenance of the common amenities and roads, trash removal and stocking the lakes with fish. This sale includes the adjacent undeveloped lot, which comes with its own HOA fee of $1,000 in addition to separate taxes.
1103 W. Emerald Lake Dr., Long Pond, PA 18334 [Andie L. Gerhard | Dembinski Realty Company via Zillow]
