House Photos Attract TV Cameras

Alison Sternberg credits the great photos of her property listing on the Halstead Property website with attracting the attention of film director, Jonathan Bucari. “He was looking for a house to represent the home of a U.S. senator whose family has been kidnapped,” says Alison, who is a real estate agent with Halstead. Bucari is filming a TV pilot called “The Sacrificial Lamb,” in the vein of "CSI", "24" and "The X-Files."

Filming lasted three days in Easton, and included a night scene with FBI agents in big SUVs pulling up to the house. More scenes were shot at a home in Westport, also represented by Alison. “What was funny was that everyone got so involved,” she says. “The homeowners, the neighbors, my sons -- they were all extras in the shoot. The locals really got into it.” Most surprising to Alison was the number of people on the film crew. “I didn’t know so many people could fit into a room,” she says.

With the cameras gone, Easton has returned to its normal bucolic state, which is how Alison likes it. The Sternbergs moved to Easton a few years ago from Westport, looking for more land and space. They found a farmhouse dating back to 1917 that needed major renovation. Alison spent the next 18 months working on her remodel with an engineer and clearing the land, which included an old abandoned truck. Their new home had been the main house on a farm owned by two brothers. “We learned that they were waiters in New York as well as farmers,” Alison says. “When we were renovating we found menus in the walls – I think they were from the Oyster Bar.”

Alison’s home is all that remains of the old farmstead. The fields were divided up and now sport a crop of gracious New England colonials. Like 25 Abbey Road, the fictitious senator’s home, which Alison hopes to sell soon. “There have been a lot more inquiries about the house since the film crews were here,” Alison says. Easton, she adds, is a very special place to live.  Easily accessible from both New Haven and New York, the town has an growing number of farms as well as one of the top school districts in the country. "I call Easton the Vermont of Fairfield County," says Alison.

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