Michelle Murphy is writing a memoir. Its very first paragraph details the demise of her father’s well-known Aquashow, a water extravaganza that rose to prominence in the 1950s at the Aquacade site in Flushing Meadow, Queens.“It’s the fact that the structure looms as a lingering ode to the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s,” Ms. Murphy said of the amphitheater building, which was built for the 1939 World’s Fair and demolished in 1996. “It serves as my initial inspiration to be the caregiver of historical places.”
Years after the demolition in Flushing Meadow, Ms. Murphy and her husband, Robert Strada, would devote themselves to preserving and renovating buildings, first in New York and then on the East End. And why not? Simply put, according to Ms. Murphy, “Historic structures are in peril of losing their soul and character, of losing their respect for place.”
There was another reason for Ms. Murphy’s love of restoration: her appreciation for architecture, starting when she and her family moved to an English Tudor home in Garden City and continuing when she studied at Alfred University with its lovely historic architecture. Mr. Strada also had a penchant for architecture, attending Parsons School of Design, and by 1974 establishing his own industrial design company.
When the couple first met, their common interests compelled them to take on restoration projects in Manhattan. They started with fixing up Mr. Strada’s 1800s home, a stable in Broadway Alley, and they moved on to a 1850s home on East Ninth Street. But it was a residence on West 13th Street that fulfilled Ms. Murphy’s particular dream of living in a townhouse with original details like marble fireplaces and an old-fashioned stove. The couple redesigned the kitchen, built an art studio and, after 25 years, sold the townhouse to John Lennon’s son, Sean.
The Beatles would enter the picture again when the pair moved to Amagansett and Paul McCartney and his wife Linda Eastman lived next door. Moving to Amagansett not only simplified the lives of their daughters, Alex and Annie, but also allowed them to pursue their restoration activities in an area that needed it. “It seems as though every house Robert and I restored here involved people we knew,” Ms. Murphy explained. “They became part of our family.”
While Mr. Strada and his company, Strada Baxter Design/Build LLC, restored local structures, including the Southampton Historical Society’s Sayre Barn and the Baker House next to East Hampton Town Hall, Mr. Strada and Ms. Murphy focused on an unusual 1894 farmhouse in Amagansett. The original structure, near Amagansett’s former Life-Saving Station, had been relocated to the couple’s property, where the builder, Sam Loper, had constructed an addition to the house. The couple built a second addition, identical in size and shape to the original. Started in 2009 and taking two years to complete, the addition included a new screened porch, art studio, master bedroom, four-car garage for Mr. Strada’s car collection and a music room.
How did Mr. Strada’s company accomplish this feat, considering that the original house had to be raised off the ground for constructing a basement? He explained that the biggest challenge was holding the building up while construction was executed. Blocks were placed under the structure while the crew, including Mr. Strada, shoveled out the ground surrounding the house. Meanwhile, Ms. Murphy encountered another challenge: She and the family had to live in three different houses while the project was under way. The family survived the upheaval, returning home at last but then going on to expand their homestead, by buying an 1910 fisherman’s cottage and adding a porch and pool. A look inside reveals original flooring and old furniture that hark back to a bygone era, one filled with comforting family memories.
Family memories prevail in the couple’s farmhouse as well, both inside and out. The interior is filled with photographs—including a picture of the original dwelling—and Ms. Murphy’s artwork: watercolors of daughter Alex running up a staircase and looking at curtains hung out to dry, and daughter Annie holding a tennis ball, for example. There are also household objects that conjure up memories of festive occasions, like large cups and saucers decorated with flowers that can be seen in the kitchen.
Memories are present outside, too. In the backyard is an abstract sculpture that Ms. Murphy rescued from a Sag Harbor residence she was restoring through her organization, Peconic Historic Preservations Inc. And who knows what magical memories Ms. Murphy and Mr. Strada may re-create in the future through the power of preservation and restoration? We probably won’t have long to wait.
on Nov 20, 2015