New Proposal Would Preserve 18th-Century Hedges Home In Sagaponack

The owner of a colonial-era home in Sagaponack that had been targeted for demolition has introduced a new proposal to incorporate a renovation of the structure into his plans for redeveloping the property.

A descendant of Deacon David Hedges, who built the house at 414 Hedges Lane in 1775, has applied to the Sagaponack Village Zoning Board of Appeals for variances that would allow him to renovate the house and leave it in place, but also build an 8,245-square-foot new house farther back on the 3.2-acre property.

John Hedges, who bought the property through a limited liability corporation from other relatives for $3 million last spring, has withdrawn an application to raze the structure in exchange for an application that asks for about 3,900 square feet of relief from the village’s usual cap on development of a lot.

The proposal calls for the removal of a nonhistoric two-story addition and deck at the rear of the house, as well as an adjacent barn, shed and the existing driveway. The application says the historic house and a proposed new pool house to the rear of the larger main house would total about 5,200 square feet. The larger new house, with pool and tennis court would sit about 250 feet back from the road.

Total living space on the property would be more than 13,500 square feet, whereas the village code allows just over 10,300 square feet for a property of 3.2 acres. Keeping the original house as an accessory building would also require a variance allowing the 31.5-foot-high roofline, since village codes cap accessory buildings at 20 feet high.

The approach to saving the old house is similar to one used to save another 18th-century home, at the corner of Sagaponack Road and Sagg Main Street, which was likewise made into an accessory guest house—but connected to the main house by an underground passageway, in that case.

Just to the east, East Hampton Town passed legislation last year that encourages the owners of a handful of landmarked properties to preserve their historic residences in exchange for additional allowances for building new modern homes on the property as well.

In his application to Sagaponack Village, Mr. Hedges’s attorney, Alex Kriegsman, said that the variances requested were critical to the preservation of the Deacon David Hedges house, as a “critical component of the character of the neighborhood.”