The lots are a minimum of four acres. Still, nothing good comes easy and Rock Shelter Road is no exception. Waccabuc is an exclusive hamlet in the town of Lewisboro, N.Y., where land development is not for the impatient or faint of heart. The town has little in the way of a commercial tax base and property owners have seen their taxes, especially school taxes, rise steadily over the years. They have come to appreciate open space.
Fewer houses mean fewer children swelling the ever-increasing enrollments in local schools.
That is the climate Mr. Ciardullo faced when he began the permit- application process more than a dozen years ago. He has emerged from it all a bit weary, a bit frustrated, but with his good humor intact. In all the decades of designing and building residential and commercial properties in both New York City and the suburbs, he has never experienced anything quite like Lewisboro. This is the only development I've ever done. Mr. Ciardullo is not bitter.