The rural, relaxed, small town atmosphere of Washington Depot in Litchfield County, Conn., a town that takes pride in its “anti-Hamptons” status, is fueling a quiet residential real estate boom that is catching the attention of savvy New Yorkers.

Hiking trails, rolling hillsides, organic farms, and vast open spaces are drawing New Yorkers 90 minutes north of the city, where many are getting more bang for their real estate buck than in other towns on Long Island, in New Jersey, or in upstate New York where they might purchase weekend homes.

“A $4 million home in Litchfield is comparable to a $15 million to $20 million house in the Hamptons,” the director of Sotheby’s International Realty in Washington Depot, Seymour Surnow, said. Washington Depot doesn’t appeal to everyone, Mr. Surnow admitted. “I’ve learned over the last 20 years that if a woman comes ready to shop for real estate in high heels, she’s not buying in this market,” Mr. Surnow said.

“In the local market you can have Mia Farrow on one side and Nancy Kissinger on the other,” Mr. Sunrow, said. “Everyone is wearing blue jeans.”

“People do not buy $6 million teardowns here,” a top broker in the area, Carolyn Klemm of Klemm Real Estate, said. “We came for the New England values, the country. Not the beach, crowds, or showy wealth,” Ms. Klemm, who raised her two sons in Litchfield County, said. Now grown, her sons work for the family real estate firm.

A weekender from New York City with a background on Wall Street, Jill Lloyd, says the open space and relative lack of development is one of the main reasons her family bought property in the area seven years ago. Her property sits at the confluence of two midsize rivers and is a protected wetland. It has taken she and her husband three years to get the necessary permits to tear down their home in order to rebuild on the site. The delay actually made them happy, Ms. Lloyd said. “It’s one of the reasons I love my town — they are sticklers for the environment.”

Local brokers say Ms. Lloyd is representative of many recent local buyers, who are their 30s and early 40s, with young children and Wall Street-level incomes.

An architecture consultant and designer, Harry Tittmann, said investing in Litchfield County has paid off for him. Mr. Tittman bought his first home in Litchfield for $300,000 in 2000. After about two years and $50,000 of improvements, he sold that same home for $500,000 and says it recently sold again for $850,000.

Business has doubled at Sotheby’s International since January, and Ms. Klemm said she expects her sales this year will top last year’s sales.

While Manhattan money brings cash to the local economy, it also comes at a cost, some say. According to Washington Depot Selectman, Richard Sears, as young Manhattan families pour in for the weekend, their deep pockets are pricing the younger locals out of the town.

“We’ve had a gentry class for centuries,” Mr. Sears, who has lived in the town for 22 years, said. “Now, only folks with significant incomes or wealth can purchase properties. The house next to me is going for $800,000. Who can earn a living within 25 miles that can live in that home?”

The average household income for the town’s 4,000 full-time residents is $84,000. Still, higher property taxes from the area’s rising values also pumps money into the local school system, which consistently ranks high in the state. The Gunn Memorial Library and Museum, a gem sitting on top of Washington’s town green in a building erected in 1908, is funded in part from generous donations from the weekend community. The local land trust, the Steep Rock Association, manages about 4,550 acres of protected land, much of it in the form of open space. Big bank accounts have also spawned a cluster of top-flight restaurants and spas. The Mayflower Inn and Spa has attracts a high-brow clientele drawn to its distinctive old world flavor, and Oliva’s, a Mediterranean restaurant in nearby New Preston, draws customers from far and wide and is a tough reservation to score, even in the off season.

One resident, Patrick Horan, splits his time between his organic farm in Litchfield County and Manhattan. His family has been “weekenders” for five generations.

Mr. Horan admits “weekenders” give his business a boost, but remains protective over the quiet community. “There will always be people who view those with second homes as intruders,” Mr. Horan said. “But there will always be a second home community. Depending on how you look at it, it’s a good thing or a dreadful thing.”