Renovated Whaler's House Stars In Southampton Village House Tour

They say seven is a special number, a prime with wide significance in the natural, spiritual and man-made world, and from the look of things, Tom Edmonds, director of the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center, feels confident that the seven houses on the seventh Southampton “Insider’s View” House Tour on Saturday, June 4—one of the most prestigious events of the season—will live up to, if not surpass, expectations.

All of the “quintessential” houses this year are located inside the village, he pointed out, “making it easier for ticket holders to find them.” In the past, the homes were scattered farther apart between Water Mill and Shinnecock Hills.

This year, also, a distinguishing feature of the tour is the inclusion of “the White House,” the Main Street home of whaling captain and local hero George White, who lived from 1819 to 1893. Last May, Hampton Bays builder Marco Robert purchased the residence from the Southampton Historical Museum, and he went on restore the exterior “to within a 16th of an inch” of the way it appeared more than a century ago, at the same time making exterior additions.

The project is “a model for our village and others,” exemplifying restoration at its best, Mr. Edmonds said.

And also exemplifying it at its most accessible, as much of the work went on right in view of passers-by who witnessed history in the re-making, including seeing the house suspended aloft as a new foundation was put in. The result is a fitting tribute to Captain White, who was not only a legendary risk-taker, rushing out to save survivors from vessels stranded on the outer bar, but a man of “dauntless courage,” as archival manuscripts report, a tireless defender of local bays, beaches and stretches of land against commercial plans that would have destroyed the character and history of the village.

The restoration pays homage to White’s legacy while also realizing an intelligent mix of historical and contemporary design. “The house lasted 300 years, it should now last another 300,” Mr. Robert said.

A history major at Princeton—he did a thesis on the tragedy of the commons in 17th-century New England, about the plight of the fishing industry’s reliance on common property and resources—he said he inevitably gravitated to the cute little corner house on the narrow street,” meaning Jagger Lane, that he had passed many times.

He read as much as he could about the house, local whaling—an authentic whale blubber tub sits in the middle of an English garden he created—and the town itself. He was committed to adapting where he could incorporate 18th- and 19th-century features and additions. “I think over the past year I slept maybe six hours,” he said.

The result: a substantial but still modest three-story home, plus basement and attic. Who would have thought a Stop & Shop is but a block away!

As the tour will reveal, history ruled renovation inside as well as out, though not always. There were no master suites in the old days, Mr. Robert noted, but he created one in 1920s style.

Throughout, however, he paid exacting attention to period detail, including stonework, trim and moldings as well as using re-purposed wood from old Pennsylvania barns and bricks from 160-year-old Brooklyn brownstones. Floors became ceilings, ceilings became floors.

He’s especially proud of all the work that was done by hand, especially the varying white and slightly grayish walls that subtly reflect lamp and sunlight. “Absolutely no recessed lighting in the entire house, that would have flown in the face of history,” he said.

Even the detached garage and an original structure on the property in the back that is now an art studio for his foreman, as well as a newly built pool house “with a 1900s look,” keep to historical design and evidence a unified aesthetic. Mr. Robert said he is amazed and proud of how everything looks—“shapes, appliances, all cool.”

Other buildings on the tour include:

Belvedere Cottage, a shingled Victorian on Lake Agawam with a long secluded driveway and graceful wrap-around porch, was once owned by an original summer colonist, Frederic Betts, who built six other cottages on farmland “considered worthless because of the amount of sand in the soil,” says David Goddard in his book “Colonizing Southampton.” Kept in the family until 1969, it was eventually sold to President Clinton’s envoy to Hungary, who had international designer Mica Ertegun update it, with care, while adding various amenities.

A home the Southampton Historical Museum calls “a village jewel,” also known as “Sound-o-Sea,” was built around 1900 in the Dutch Colonial Revival style. With its wide front porch supported by paired Doric columns and a graceful balustrade, it was once the home of military educator Brigadier General Samuel Escue Tillman (who died in 1942) and later Walter Mann Jr., one of the founding members of the Southampton Association.

“Sanctuary” was renovated from a shore home into a space-enhanced year-round residence said to be suffused with calm and comforting neutrals set off by bold artwork. Of particular interest is what interior designer Suzanne Friday did with a challenging master bedroom.

In the heart of Southampton’s estate district sits a classic 9,000-square-foot, Shingle-Style, Dutch Colonial cottage that incorporates the original house of Norwegian American scholar and writer Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen Sr. (who died in 1895) and features a custom-painted mural in the living room depicting a nearby preserve.

The Thomas Halsey Homestead, Southampton’s oldest home, dates to 1648 and was the site of a prosperous farm run by generations of Halseys. The property is owned by the Southampton Historical Museum, which maintains it with authentic furnishings and tools and a colonial-style herb garden in the back.

St. Andrew’s Dune Church, at 12 Gin Lane, was restored and moved back from the sea two times. Originally a life-saving station, it has, since 1879, been arguably Long Island’s most picturesque house of worship, boasting 11 Tiffany windows and a rustic interior built by a local carpenter.

The tour, co-chaired by Mary Lynch, will take place Saturday, June 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. Following the tour, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., a champagne reception sponsored by Sant Ambroeus Restaurant will be held at the museum’s Rogers Mansion, located at 17 Meeting House Lane.

Tickets are $95 in advance, $110 the day of the tour, and may be purchased at southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org or by calling 631-283-2494 or, starting at 10 a.m. on the day of the tour, at the Thomas Halsey Homestead, 249 South Main Street.