NEW SCOTLAND — The summer home of Dan O’Connell — the man who built Albany’s Democratic machine — hit the market this month, and the million-dollar view from the Helderberg escarpment is literally worth just that.

Real estate agent Deborah Corbari with Team Shillinglaw of Miranda Real Estate Group in New Scotland is helping the current owner sell the home that stands out on the shoulder of the Helderbergs in plain sight of those below. Rumors about its history are rampant.
Did Joe Kennedy drive up the mountain half-a-century ago to ask for O’Connell’s political help in supporting Kennedy’s son, John F. Kennedy"
Did Dan O’Connell build his summer home on a cliff so he could overlook Picards Grove, where Democrats used to meet" Did the Dems then congregate at O’Connell’s home after their meetings"

There is no doubt that O’Connell could see for miles; Corbari said that the views from the Beaver Dam Road property include three states. The current owner can see Jiminy Peak at night when the ski lifts are lit and running, Corbari said.
The house is "right on the cliff. It’s unbelievable," she said. "The views — you can see the Capitol, the [University at Albany] campus, and much farther beyond"the entire Hudson Valley."

O’Connell’s former home had been uninhabited until four years ago, when the owner bought it and began rehabilitating it. Acorns rained down from the squirrel habitat in the attic, Corbari said. Plaster was in disrepair throughout the house, too, she said.

When Corbari, the daughter of the late Albany County Democratic Chairman Michael L. Burns, met with the owner of the house to discuss the listing, she learned that nearly everything but a closet in the living room had been remodeled. Inside the closet, she said, she found phone numbers marked on the walls dating back to O’Connell’s time.
"That was his little phone book," she said. "I told him, ‘Don’t touch it!’ " Corbari probably knows what she is talking about.
"I grew up in a family of politicians," she said. Her mother, Connie Burns, is the current vice-chairwoman of the New Scotland Democratic party. Burns currently works for Senator Hillary Clinton, and fills in for Clinton when she is unable to speak at events, said Corbari.

The O’Connell home sits on 7 acres adjacent to Thacher Park. Corbari said that the home may look small from the outside, but that the 2,700-square-foot bungalo has large rooms and ceiling-to-floor windows in the living room.
"You can see the entire eastern skyline," she said. "Dan was kind of looking down on his domain."

The owner fixed the plumbing and installed a generator along with all the other remodeling he did. The concrete in-ground pool O’Connell had installed is still there.
"It was pretty revolutionary at the time. It’s between the house and the cliff," Corbari said. She learned this week that her father swam there once as a boy. A walkway across a pit used to lead to changing rooms, but the walkway isn’t usable now, she said.
"It’s definitely not camp-like," Corbari said about the house and property. The rehabilitated home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. "He did a fantastic job," Corbari said about the owner.
"It’s definitely a year-round house," she said. "It’s an absolutely gorgeous property."