Duckwood Lodge And The Wainwrights

The New York Times first took notice of activities at Duckwood Lodge in Hampton Bays in the 1930s when it was a center of summer social activities. “Parties Mark Day at Southampton” was a 1935 headline, with the article detailing how the lodge’s owners, Stuyvesant Wainwright and his wife, were part of a gala honoring Prince and Princess Irbain-Khan along with the Tuckermans, Warners, Morices and Sargents. The following summer, the Times proclaimed “Week-End Gayety at Southampton,” with the Wainwrights hosting a dinner and a game of bridge for guests who included Charles H. Mellon and others of Southampton blueblood society.

Though Duckwood Lodge was still an operating hunting headquarters, the structure itself existed long before the Wainwrights began holding gay (in the 1930s sense) parties there. It was built around 1740 and had a connection to the whaling industry, as home to ship captains and merchants, as well as to hunting parties. When it was mostly a lodge, guests would find ducks and other fowl being smoked in the fireplace.

The Wainwright family has been one of the more prominent ones on eastern Long Island, dating back to the late 1800s. Its members include Stuyvesant Wainwright II, who represented the 1st Congressional District from 1953 to 1961 (he died six years ago), and folk singer Loudon Wainwright III and his equally musical children. Eventually, Duckwood Lodge passed out of the family. A decade ago, Marlena Wood and her late husband, David, purchased the property and set about restoring it to its present state, which is a smart and tasteful combination of the historic and the modern.

The entire property is 7.3 acres, including a 3-acre pond. What makes the property seem even more expansive is that it is adjacent to a 100-acre nature preserve and there is access to Red Creek Pond. The 5,800-square-foot main house has a Provence Tuscan interior design with four bedrooms and five baths, and for those crisp, cool nights there are five fireplaces. Among the modern amenities are a granite and stainless-steel kitchen, first-floor sunroom, and a media room. Outside you will find an all-weather tennis court, a gazebo, in-ground pool, and a wraparound deck. If the new owner expects extra company, the overflow can be accommodated in a 1,600-square-foot cottage with three bedrooms and 1.5 baths.

The former Duckwood Lodge and its unique history are for sale via Corcoran for slightly less than $3.8 million. Anne V. Orton is the listing agent.