Malverne

Malverne is a village straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, says Eileen O’Hara, a lifelong resident and associate real estate broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. It has the cute downtown and tight-knit community of average Americans that you can picture living and breathing just beyond the famous artist’s canvas, and that makes it the kind of place that’s easy to fall in love with. “I’m a third-generation Malverne resident,” O’Hara says. “I settled back here with my family for the same reason that I think my dad settled here, and my grandfather. It’s a very close-knit but not nosey community. It’s a mile square, so you can really know every inch of the village. There aren’t too many communities that I’ve seen that are as small and welcoming and charming as Malverne is.” As an incorporated village, even one as small as Malverne, residents enjoy some unique benefits. “We have our own police department, fire department, and sanitation, which in a mile-square village are pretty amazing services to have,” O’Hara says.

Compared to standard prices in Nassau County, the cost of a single-family home in Malverne starts out relatively moderate at around $570,000. There’s a lot of variation in home prices and sizes in the village, so home prices can climb to about $1.35 million. Because of this wide range of costs, O’Hara says, “There’s something for everybody. A small starter or downsizer house to a larger house on a bigger piece of property for people that want to stay in the community and raise their family.” Malverne is a popular place to live and just like other nearby markets, is experiencing high demand for very limited inventory. When houses go on the market, they sell quickly. “They’re selling in about 14 days from list to contract,” O’Hara says. “And in my recent listings on the market, I’ve had anywhere from three dozen to 50 showings and multiple offers. So the market is still strong, although it’s not as frenetic. Buyers are a little more tentative in their offers and sometimes they back out because they feel like they acted too quickly or offered too much. So it takes a little longer to get a contract but it’s still a very healthy market for sellers.” Due to this high demand and low inventory, potential homebuyers should come prepared to compete for their new home.

Children in the village are served by the Malverne Union Free School District, which holds an A-plus rating on Niche. They begin their educations at Maurice W. Downing School, which teaches students from kindergarten to second grade, before finishing their elementary education at Davison Avenue Intermediate School. They then attend Howard T. Herber Middle School and finish up at Malverne High School, which the Department of Education named a U.S. High School of Excellence.

Malverne is also dotted with small parks where residents can enjoy the outdoors. Westwood Park’s playground makes it a popular spot for parents to let their children burn off some energy, while Little League teams often practice and compete at Whelan Field. Malverne Dog Park provides the perfect spot for dogs to have fun and make friends, with separate gated areas where small and large dogs can play safely.

Although it’s a small village, Malverne has everything you need, all within walking distance of most homes. “It’s got a really quaint and charming downtown with anything you can think of,” O’Hara says. “A post office, a coffee shop, restaurants, delis, an amazing bakery.” Stop by Our Town Grille, an old-style diner, for a delicious breakfast or lunch or treat yourself to dinner with friends and neighbors at Uva Rossa. “It’s a high-end Italian restaurant with an amazing chef. His name is Antonio,” O’Hara says. “It’s one of the places that people just gather in Malverne, so you can always go to the bar and get a drink and see a lot of people you know or meet there with friends. It’s just a really special place.” The little community also has two train stations, an impressive feat for a village that covers just a single square mile. No matter where you are, you can walk to Malverne or Westwood stations, where the train will take you to New York City in about 40 minutes.

Malverne’s tight-knit community also holds regular events that bring people together and attract people from the surrounding areas. “We’re known for the Lighting of Malverne, which is a holiday event around Christmas," O'Hara says. "They shut down Hempstead Avenue, which is the main thoroughfare, and they have a little Santa parade and people singing, and all the restaurants have food outside. So it’s just a really wonderful event.” The village’s operating farm, Crossroads Farm, is also a popular location for community events like annual fall festivals. Above all, it’s this tight-knit, interactive community that makes people fall in love with Malverne and the people who call it home. “My favorite part of living here is feeling like I have a history in the community where I live so that when I walk to town or I’m out on the streets, I see people I feel like I’ve known for many, many years,” O’Hara says. “And I think that what I’ve loved about living here for the last 20 years with my family is that I felt like my children were in a safe place. They always had people looking out for them who knew them. I think that’s a really special feeling as a parent. It’s just an amazing place.”

Written By

Jessica Haddad

Photography Contributed By

Jeff Siegel

Video By

Syd Silberman