Centerbrook is the more commercial section, with a supermarket, service stations and pizza parlors. The center of Ivoryton, once a hub for the manufacturing of ivory products, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as “a well-preserved example of a company town.”

Historic district protections for the town have been discussed in the past, but have never received broad support, said Melissa A. Josefiak, the director of the Essex Historical Society. Yet those who appreciate history often choose to live in Essex because of its historic architecture, and voluntarily “maintain their properties in keeping with the historic character of their neighborhood,” Ms. Josefiak said.

Image 24 MACK LANE | A four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom Cape Cod-style house with water views, built in 2007 on 0.28 acres, listed for $748,500. 860-227-3191 Credit... Matthew D'Alto for The New York Times

What You’ll Pay

The median single-family home price for the year ending in May was $380,000, roughly the same as the previous year, according to information provided by Ms. Harron.

About 80 single-family homes and 15 condominiums were on the market as of July 7. The least expensive single-family house was a one-bedroom ranch on 1.69 acres for $125,000; the most expensive, at $2.995 million, was a renovated four-bedroom Victorian on Foxboro Point with expansive river views.

Condominium prices ranged from $150,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $539,900 for a new two-bedroom townhouse. One of the more popular developments is Heritage Cove, on River Road, Ms. Harron said. Although it is an older complex, all of the condos and townhouses there have water views. “People buy them and redo them,” she said.

Historic homes with preserved exteriors and fully updated interiors tend to sell quickly, especially if they have water views, said Joel Lucas, an agent with Coldwell Banker.