A trip to the end-of-the-world peninsula of Montauk will eventually bring Dick Cavett’s longtime escape, Tick Hall, into view amid the scrub, sand and briny. Cavett’s had the 1882-built property on and off the market for almost five years at this point; initially, the legendary talk show host hoped for a closing figure of $62 million, but a series of price cuts have whittled away at the ask. As of the autumn of 2021, the eccentric Hamptons manor was listed at $28.5 million. It recently found a willing buyer at $23.6 million.

Packed to the gills with the nook-and-cranny asymmetry of any elder Hamptons blueblooded coastal shingle-style worth its salt, the house invites investigation; at 19.8 acres, the grounds warrant intensive summer afternoon exploration. Add the remoteness of the location — the estate has remained stubbornly secluded as the years have passed, and should yield roughly the same frisson of escape as it did in the late 1960s when Cavett became its custodian — to the price-whittling and shingle-style atmospherics, and the result is an eligible property if ever there was.

Renovations have snuck in, but they’re far from conspicuous. The kitchen’s had a once-over, with a farm sink and milk-glass pendants augmenting the original herringbone brick floor and period cabinetry, but elsewhere paint and similar sprucing accounts for the work conducted of late.

Special treats include the upper-level reading nook with built-in bench and miniature staircase; it features a diminutive vaulted ceiling and a single fanlight window, and might be considered slightly claustrophobic or cozy as hell, depending on the weather. If it’s raining, bring some Wilkie Collins and a reading lamp…perhaps the ghost will make a showing, and demand to be interviewed.