Like so many places on the Island, the waterfront property on Lake Tashmoo that recently sold for $6,850,000 has a story to tell. Built in the 1950s as a fishing shack, it sat between the estates of actress Katharine Cornell and oil heiress Helen Pratt Philbin. When the original owner fell on hard times, he offered it to his wealthy neighbors for a hefty sum. They declined, he retaliated by painting the quaint camp an obnoxious blue, and they quickly changed their minds and bought it. Soon after, the property earned the name The Swindle.

In the 2000s, new owners added a studio and renovated the shack to the 1,914-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom home seen today. What hasn’t changed over the years? The stunning views and the noteworthy neighbors.

The Crunch

23: Number of properties sold in the month prior to publication. Down from 31 during the same time frame in the previous year.

167: Number of properties on the market at the time of publication. Up from 146 in the year prior during the same time frame.

$24 M: Highest price paid for a property in the month prior to publication: a 3,728-square-foot single-family beachfront home on Tower Hill in Edgartown. 

$999 K: Lowest price paid for a property in the month prior to publication: a 1,078-square-foot single-family home on Hampson Avenue in Oak Bluffs. 

$1.5 M: Median price of properties sold in the month prior to publication.

$1.7 M: The median selling price of single-family/multi-family homes in 2025, an increase of about 5 percent since 2024 and more than 30 percent since 2021.

Based on arms-length transactions recorded by LINK, the Island's multiple listing service.