Compare prices per square foot and the premium for new construction is plain.
In September the average single-family house in town sold for $668 a square foot, according to William Pitt Sotheby’s. In July 2025 a newly completed house at 5 Fraser Road, in the Coleytown area, sold for $10.25 million, or about $824 a square foot across its 12,440 square feet. And the most expensive house listed in town this spring, according to 06880, a planned new build at 11 Beachside Common, is asking $22,825,000 for 12,946 square feet, about $1,763 a square foot.
The figures for 5 Fraser Road and 11 Beachside Common are Address District calculations from the reported prices and square footage.
The Coleytown model
5 Fraser Road shows the formula at the top of the inland market. Skyview Builders completed the house in 2025 on two acres. It has six bedrooms and 10 baths. Barbara Bross, Alexander Chingas and Doug Bross of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury represented the sellers, and Susan Arciero of Coldwell Banker represented the buyer.
The waterfront model
On the water, the land itself carries the price. In October 2025 a buyer paid $5 million for 11 Beachside Common, a 7,700-square-foot custom contemporary from 1971 on 2.6 acres. Five months later the property was relisted at $22,825,000 as new construction, with plans for eight bedrooms, 10 baths and a 10-car garage overlooking Sherwood Island, Burying Hill Beach and Long Island Sound. Completion is estimated for mid-2027. The Westport Journal published the old house’s farewell notice in August.
Fewer new houses at the entry point
The new-construction market below $3 million is thinning. In Westport and Darien combined there were seven new-construction closings under $3 million in 2025, against 16 in 2024, according to the brokerage Auerbach Frewen. With land prices where they are, a new house at that price is harder to deliver.
The design press has noticed the category. In March, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens featured a Westport spec house given a bespoke interior by the designer Amy Courtney, working with Judith Larson Associates and the builder Redcoat Homes.
What it takes to build
Anyone pricing a teardown should account for the approvals as well as the construction.
- Demolition delay. Houses at least 50 years old and over 500 square feet face a 180-day delay unless no one objects.
- Septic. Sewer service is generally available south of the Merritt Parkway and generally not north of it. North of the Merritt, adding bedrooms or a pool triggers review by the Aspetuck Health District, which requires space for a full replacement septic system, with at least three test pits about seven feet deep and a percolation test.
- The coast. Since Oct. 1, 2025, every new single-family house inside Connecticut’s coastal boundary needs coastal site plan approval under Public Act 25-33, and plans in flood hazard areas are referred to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The coastal boundary runs at least 1,000 feet inland from the water, and farther where tidal wetlands or the 1 percent flood zone reach inland.
- Flood elevation. In a mapped flood zone, a new house’s lowest floor has to be at or above the base flood elevation, plus any freeboard the town requires. A text amendment proposed in March would allow up to five feet of additional building height in flood zones when the first floor is at or above that elevation. Check its status with Planning and Zoning.
Our buyer’s guide to rebuilding covers lot sizes and coverage limits zone by zone.
Sources
- William Pitt Sotheby's, Westport market report, accessed Oct. 2026
- Patch, Stunning Westport estate sells for $10.25 million, July 17, 2025
- Patch, Westport property slated for demolition listed as new build for $22-plus million, March 20, 2026
- Westport Journal, Say goodbye to 11 Beachside Common, Aug. 14, 2026
- Auerbach Frewen, Where the lower Fairfield County market is really heading in 2026, 2026
- Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, A designer brings bespoke design to a Westport spec home, March 16, 2026
- Town of Westport, Engineering Department, accessed Oct. 2026
- Aspetuck Health District, B100a information sheet, September 2025
- Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey, Connecticut legislature sweeps all coastal single-family housing under local zoning and DEEP review, Oct. 15, 2025
- Westport Journal, P&Z discusses new coastal regs, undated
- Town of Westport, Text Amendment 866, March 4, 2026
