~ Holiday House Tour ~

Graycroft

Built in 1894 by Lorenzo Woodhouse who was the New York buyer and partner of Chicago's Marshall Field. The original estate consisted of a gambrel-roofed main house, barn and water tower, all still existing as separate residences. The Woodhouse family also created an extraordinary four acre water garden that now forms part of the Village-owned duck pond and nature trail. Mrs. Woodhouse was a great benefactor of the Village, underwriting the Library in 1912, the restoration of Clinton Academy in 1921 and the construction of Guild Hall in 1930.

Grey Gardens

A traditional shingled cottage of 14 rooms, was designed by Joseph Greenleaf Thorpe in 1897 and completed several years later. The grey color of the dunes, the hue of the cement garden walls, and the sea mist gave the garden its color and the house its name. In 1924 Grey Gardens was purchased by Phelan and Edith Bouvier Beale, aunt and uncle of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The Beales occupied the house for over 50 years. The film, "Grey Gardens", depicts the plight of the owners as the house fell into disrepair. Jackie Kennedy and her sister, Lee Radziwill, quietly provided funds to stabilize and repair the dilapidated house.

Further-afield

"Further-afield" is an eighteen-acre work in process.The last ocean to road parcel in the Village of East Hampton, it was originally part of the back nine holes of the Maidstone Club until the late 1950s. It was then purchased by the first owner who built the current ocean front house, a simple beach house in the style of the 1950s. The property also includes a mid 19th century guest cottage which originally stood on North Main Street and was used as a clock shop by the Dominy family who where famous for building furniture including clocks. The grounds are now being landscaped with the addition of a large pond and numerous specimen plantings. Of particular interest is the "blow-out dune" in front of the house. Eventually, a new house will be constructed on the site.

A Georgian Inspiration

Architects Griefenstein/Boyce have created a traditional one-room-deep, two-story structure complete with columned porch, symmetrically placed windows and other exterior design details in classic Georgian style. A large center hall runs the length of the house on the first floor. On one side a kitchen doubles as a dining room and on the other is the living room. To give this 2,700 square-foot cottage an eighteenth-century English atmosphere, the foyer floor was paved with 18-inch black and white marble squares, walls were covered with custom paneling, ceilings were coffered and oversized doors installed. "The owner wanted a Georgian-style house but not a museum piece".

Seaside Cottage

Originally built in 1870 by Reverend Stephen Mershon, the Presbyterian minister in East Hampton from 1854-1866. Mershon selected a gently rising plot of land which was still a cornfield for his home, much to the amusement of many in East Hampton who thought the location was too far out of town. It was the second summer home to be built in what is now called the estate section, and its original appearance was very much in the Italianate villa style popular at the time. The property was sold several times and each owner renovated parts of the house. The current owners restored the house to its 1901 appearance. A superior example of an original East Hampton summer cottage.

Shingle-Style

This Shingle-Styled, Long Island residence is nestled into a wooded site, surrounded by massive and ancient beech, walnut, hickory and maple trees. Both sophisticated and casual, in addition to being formal and playful, the house is ultimately immensely livable. Grand staircases, double height paneled foyer, extrordinary country kitchen - all custom detailing designed around the owners' important collection of 19th and early 20th Century American art, including works by Frederick Childe Hassam, Alfred Wadsworth Thompson, Edward Moran and other distinguished Long Island painters.