The New, Old House

Flipping a property in the Hamptons often involves a wrecking ball and starting from scratch. But sometimes the goal of a flip isn’t just to maximize square footage and get top dollar.

In the case of 130 Madison Street in Sag Harbor, the goal was to bring a historic home back to its former grandeur, while still providing all the amenities of a home built today.

And that’s just what Anthony Cappa and Greg Baker of Cappa Baker Design & Development did. The 1850 captain’s house, typical of Sag Harbor, had been added onto and partitioned at different times in its long history; it was a multi-family home when Mr. Cappa and Mr. Baker got their hands on it in 2017.

Now, the structure has been pieced back together as a single-family home and put back on the market.

“We believe in the concept of the new, old house,” Mr. Cappa said. To them, that means restoring or building homes with character and adding modern conveniences.

The house at 130 Madison Street was a prime candidate. “All the history had been covered up with aluminum siding,” Mr. Baker noted.

Now, it has cedar clapboards—but it was much more than the exterior that needed work.

Based on the age of the materials, they believe that the gabled portion of the house came first, and then the portion to the left—from street view—was added later.

There were newer additions to the rear of the property, with a courtyard in the middle. And the house had been divided into four apartments, with four incongruous personalities.

“It was carved into multiple dwellings, all over the course of time,” and each had different period finishes, Mr. Baker said.

They said their intention to put the house back together was well received when they went before the Sag Harbor Village Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board.

“When we bought the house, it really was totally stripped of any character or detail,” Mr. Cappa said. “And when we met with the Architectural Review Board, they were really quite pleased that we actually went to them before we even bought the house in order to discuss what we were thinking of doing.”

Cappa Baker Design & Development enlisted Michael James Palladino Architect P.C. of Stony Brook for the designs.

As work went on, neighbors would come by, reminiscing about the house and impressed that the team was putting it back together as a single-family home.

The two additions off the back were removed. Then, the rear of the house was bumped out, but with enough room left to put in a pool—a challenge, Mr. Baker and Mr. Cappa noted, considering maximum lot coverage requirements.

New to the front are three dormers. The front porch that had been there was removed to conform to modern setback requirements, though they said they had wanted to put it back on.

The 9-inch-wide plank oak flooring complements the neutral tones throughout the interior, with gray and taupe accents. The dining room sideboard is outfitted with a sink, an ice maker and a wine cooler, and the kitchen has a Wolf range, a paneled Sub-Zero refrigerator and marble countertops.

The first floor also features a guest suite and a cabana, while glass doors throughout the rear provide an easy flow between the indoors and the pool area.

On the second floor, the master suite has four paneled closets, a sitting area and a marble bathroom with a soaking tub and a frameless glass shower. Sharing the second floor are the junior master suite and two additional suites, each with a marble bathroom.

The house has also been fully staged with furnishings selected by Chris Mead of English Country Home in Bridgehampton, and can be purchased furnished.

Mr. Cappa and Mr. Baker noted that buyers would much rather have move-in ready homes than go through a two-year permitting and renovation process. So, after spending nine years in the business of project managing on behalf of clients, they launched their new venture two years ago with the intention of restoring homes themselves—with the assistance of investors who have a passion for preserving historic homes.

Madison Street was their first project, and Mr. Baker said they want to find more homes in need of love and restoration.