All In The Family, For Almost A Century

Awash in local history, a weathered home on Pelletreau Street in Southampton Village is on the market for the first time.The 1,660-square-foot home still has many original features, including glass door knobs, walk-in closets and an ironing board built into the wall. Four sisters, Judy Musnicki, Linda Liehr, Patty Foster and Carol Grugel grew up there, and they inherited the home after their mother, Mary Parker, died in September.

Originally, the house belonged to their grandparents, who were Mary's parents, Maryanna and Peter Zabriski. It was built in 1925 by one of the Zabriskis' neighbors.

At that time, the couple worked hard to stay afloat. Maryanna took in other people's laundry—using the built-in ironing board—so that she could stay home to care for their six children, while Peter served as a caretaker for Rose de Rose, a reputedly eccentric, affluent woman with an estate on Hill Street.

Ms. Musnicki's parents met almost two decades later, during World War II, when her father, Charles Parker, was stationed at the Navy base in Montauk. At the time, the base would organize dances at the Polish Hall in Southampton—now the 230 Elm catering hall—for the servicemen so that they could meet local women.

The boys from the naval base would get on the train to Southampton and walk over to the Polish Hall, which was a short distance," said Ms. Musnicki. Mary lived with her parents at the Pelletreau house, which was around the corner, and she would walk to the Polish Hall with her girlfriends to meet the boys.

One night she met Charles Parker, and they fell in love. "Mom was actually engaged at that time," said Ms. Musnicki. "She and my dad eloped."

The Parkers had bought a home in North Sea when, suddenly, Mary's mother died. The young couple sold their home and moved into the house on Pelletreau Street, with their four daughters in tow, to care for Mary's now-ailing father.

"When we moved into that house, there were all these tubes intertwined and wrapped around each other" in the basement, said Ms. Musnicki, who was 11 at the time. "We asked my mother what it was, and she said it was an ice cream maker."

They later learned that the tubing was part of a contraption their grandfather had used to make alcohol. During the Great Depression and Prohibition era, Mr. Zabriski made gin for additional income. "Supposedly, that is how my grandfather was able to pay for the house," said Ms. Musnicki. The tubes were later taken out.

When Mr. Zabriski died, all his children inherited the house, but Mary and her husband bought out her siblings and raised their four daughters there.

Thinking back to how her mother and her five siblings had grown up in the same house a generation earlier, "I couldn't understand how they lived with such a large family," said Ms. Musnicki, pointing out that it had only four bedrooms for six children plus their parents.

"I remember my mom telling me that the living room was off limits to the kids on Sundays. That was the formal room. It didn't leave a lot of living space for children," Ms. Musnicki said.

Decades later, she and her sisters have moved out and raised families of their own in other places.

"It's sad for all of us," Ms. Musnicki admitted, but she added that they are ready to pass the baton to a new family. Sitting on .33 acre, the American Foursquare-style home—which is in need of updating—has four bedrooms, 1.5 baths and a full basement, as well as a large covered front porch and a detached garage.

"It also has a wonderful attic, original oak floors and all-copper plumbing in the basement," pointed out Joan Tutt of Seashell Real Estate, with whom the house is listed for $1.9 million.

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