On the Market: An Oceanfront Duxbury Mansion Once Owned by the Creator of the Chocolate Chip Cookie

Baked sweets not included—but a heated outdoor pool, boardwalk, and koi pond sure are.

By Sofia Rivera· 4/23/2020, 2:44 p.m.

Photo via Compass

59 Pill Hill Lane, Duxbury
Price: $8,900,000
Size: 8,600 square feet
Bedrooms: 5
Baths: 6

Quarantine bakers, pour yourself a glass of milk and write up your offer: The house that once belonged to the creator of the chocolate chip cookie is for sale in Duxbury. That’s right, the inventor of the ooey gooey, warm and chocolatey, ultimate comfort food, Ruth Wakefield, was a Massachusetts native, which is something we don’t talk about nearly enough. As her obituary in the New York Times tells it, Wakefield owned Toll House Inn in Whitman when she had the idea for a new cookie recipe. Her initial thought had been to melt Baker’s chocolate into the batter, but when all she had was a Nestlé bar, she opted instead to use an ice pick to chip off tiny pieces—and voila!

That was in the 1930s, but this dwelling’s history goes much back further than that. It was first constructed in 1745 as the Joshua Thomas House, and at the time was accessible only by water, according to its listing agent. Now, recent renovations have maintained antique elements such as hand-hewn beams on the coffered ceilings and large planks of pine on the floors, while also ushering in sparkling new features. Check out the chef’s kitchen, for example, where you can crisp up dinner with the frialator and grill built into the stove setup, chop up some veggies at a massive granite-topped island, and then slide it all down the counter to the pentagonal table. Then, dig in underneath the 16-foot ceilings and electrically operated skylights, while looking out the windows at the water.

In fact, you can catch those vistas from every room in the home: The house showcases 270 degree views of the water. Out in the three-acre oceanfront yard, the panoramas get even better. There’s an incredible heated outdoor pool, a deepwater dock, and a boardwalk nature trail that weaves around a koi pond and over wetlands. There is also a man-made osprey’s nest, which, the owners say, has housed the same feathered family for the past four years, and they’re expected to migrate back to the nest atop the tower for the rest of their lives.

It’s the perfect place to immerse yourself in nature for the whole day—and when you come back inside, be sure to slide a tray of chocolate chip cookies into the oven. It’s only appropriate, after all.

For information, contact Elad Bushari, Compass, compass.com.