Bronxville Living: A Full Life in an Empty Nest
It’s a common story that many of our neighbors share.
My husband, James and I and our daughter, Gabriela, moved into the Bronxville PO Memorial Day weekend 2005, when we were bursting out of our one bedroom midtown apartment – eight days before our second baby, Beatrice, was born.
In my previous life as a marketing VP with Mastercard, working from home not yet an option and I was keen to shorten my reverse commute to Mastercard in Purchase, NY. James was eager to maintain a train commute of under 30 minutes into the city, while finding the space needed for our growing family – which we found in our new Victorian home in Cedar Knolls.
Fast forward 19 years and one move into the village later, we are now young(ish) empty nesters with two daughters in college. Gabriela (21), is a senior at Kenyon College in rural Ohio and Beatrice (19) a sophomore at Occidental College in L.A.
Well meaning and curious friends and family members often ask “Now that the girls have graduated from Bronxville High School, why don’t you move?” So far the answer’s been, “Because we like it here.”
After moving into the village in 2011, I began my real estate career with Houlihan Lawrence and have loved every minute of it. Originally from Montreal, I made the transition to real estate after a fourteen year career in marketing where I worked in Germany on brands like Snickers and Twix, and in Purchase, New York on the iconic Mastercard priceless campaign, from its launch through its heyday.
James is a M&A banker in the healthcare sector of twenty years and continues to commute to midtown at least four days a week. Despite the possibility of greater flexibility to work from home, he finds he’s more productive in the office where dogs aren’t barking, there are no Amazon package deliveries or leaf blowers blowing.
Now that Gabriela and Beatrice have graduated from the Bronxville school, we continue to enjoy a great sense of community and meaning through our individual interests in our village. While the school was the main draw for our move into the Bronxville village, we find that life is still worth living in Bronxville, after the kids graduate.
We find that life is still worth living in Bronxville, after the kids graduate.
Being tied into the community in the very best of ways is such a big part of my life and my job as a real estate agent, that the two worlds almost feel interchangeable. There’s nothing more gratifying to me than helping busy individuals and families move forward in their lives. One thing I love about our village is that not only do we have the beautiful homes that Bronxville is known for, but we also have lovely townhouses and apartments. So you don’t necessarily have to leave the community if you want to downsize. For us, this is our home and we’ve invested time in building relationships. I have groups of friends connected to different parts of my life here, like a fabulous group of women I meet up with every month for book club, another group of friends practically half my age - but none of that matters when we get together for dinner and margaritas. I like saying ‘hi’ to people I know when I run into town for something. I don’t really want to give any of that up.
Both girls have returned home this summer from afar - Gabriela from her semester abroad in New Zealand and Beatrice from her freshman year at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
After time spent away from home and the experience of college life, the girls enjoy being able to return to the comforts of home in the town where they grew up. They enjoy meeting up with their high school friends and visiting their usual local spots as well as easy excursions into the city.
James spends his leisure time hitting balls with racquets, any kind, any time, anywhere. The self-proclaimed King of Pickleball, he chairs the Sound Shore Pickleball League of Westchester and is captain of the Bronxville Field Club (BFC) men’s A team. Back in the day, James played on the top 10 nationally ranked squash team at Williams College and is former captain of the BFC Men’s A Tennis Team. Picking up pickleball during COVID, James has been aggressively building the BFC pickleball program and says “pickleball is like my ministry in the Bronxville community. It brings people together and we have tons of laughs and camaraderie while slamming balls at each other.”
I love serving our community as President of the Bronxville Beautification Council, a volunteer-led organization that enhances and maintains the natural beauty of Bronxville, with an emphasis on the downtown business district. Projects include daffodils under the railroad pass, spring tulips and annuals in the traffic circles, and a growing number of blossom filled planters throughout town. The fact that these projects are 100% funded by our residents illustrates the strong community spirit that thrives in our town.
James says — “We consider ourselves long-term investors in Bronxville. The more we put into our lives and our relationships here, the more joy and friendship we get out of it. Besides, where’s better than here? A beautiful village with incredible people, close to the city and time to play fun games with friends? Why would we leave?”