Selling That 324 Prestige

Ask anyone how to identify those who have lived in East Hampton the longest and there will no doubt be a variety of answers. But it’s a pretty sure bet that someone whose landline phone number starts with a 324 exchange (after the now-obligatory 631 area code, of course) has been a resident here for a while, leaving aside those who have moved in and taken over reassigned numbers.

Either way, the 324 exchange, long augmented by a newer 329 prefix, and then 907, carries some prestige.

When Chuck Hitchcock and David Wilt of Springs decided recently to pick up and move, friends suggested to them that their phone number, 324-2468, had intrinsic value.

The number — the way to get him on the line for 49 years, Mr. Hitchcock said on Tuesday — not only had a 324 beginning but also an easy-to-remember set of numbers following, if you know how to count by twos, that is.

They placed a classified ad in The Star putting the number up for sale — “easily rememberable,” it said. “Excellent for business or residence.”

“We were told that such things hapen . . . that 324 is a desirable prefix,” Mr. Hitchcock said by phone while belongings were being delivered to the couple’s new house outside Philadelphia.

Though they were willing to hand the number over for the best price offered, no one, so far, had called. Should a buyer emerge, Mr. Hitchcock said, it would be simply a matter of informing Vonage, the phone carrier, of 324-2468’s new owner.

In the meantime, Mr. Hitchcock is taking calls on his cellphone. There is a landline at the new place, but he said he cannot remember the number.