Southampton Town Landmarks Board Hears Case for Preserving Dix Windmill in Westhampton Beach

Westhampton Beach officials and preservationists appeared before the Southampton Town Landmarks and Historic Districts Board on May 16 to make their case for a certificate of appropriateness from the board to reconstruct the 150-year-old Governor John Adams Dix Windmill on the Great Lawn in the village — and received glowing marks for the plan.

While the board did not issue the certificate at the meeting, its members said they were optimistic that it would be issued soon.

“It looks good, and we approve of what’s taking place,” Chairman Edward Wesnofske said following the presentation. “What we might have to do is do some paperwork on a certificate of appropriateness to basically say that it has been presented and it is appropriate for the landmark being restored.

“It’s impressive,” he continued. “And it’s novel. It’s not every day that we see a landmark that’s designated and then it’s picked up and moved to another place in pieces and reassembled. So it’s probably part of the unique culture of the Hamptons that this kind of thing takes place.

“The entire board appreciates all that the Village of Westhampton Beach is doing with respect to this. It’s innovative. We hope to see the project be celebrated in the coming years.”

The meeting was the latest chapter in the effort to save the historic windmill, which was donated to the village in June 2021. It formerly sat on a property on Sunswyck Lane, on an estate once owned by 19th century New York Governor John Adams Dix, one of the first “resort-style” homes built in the village — once called Windmill Town because of the prevalence of the structures contained there — in 1873.

The Dix windmill was unique, however, in that it was used to pump water for the estate, rather than mill grain, as was the function of other windmills in the area. It’s thought to be one of the only — if not the only — remaining water pump windmills left on Long Island, according to historians working on the project.

When Adam and Didi Hutt bought the estate and made plans to demolish it to make way for a new house, they decided to donate the structure to the village in June 2021 so that it could be preserved — with one caveat: The village would have to move the windmill.

A series of events unfolded, including having it deemed a landmark by the town, and securing Community Preservation Funds to cover the cost of disassembling it and moving it last July — in four pieces — to the Great Lawn, where the pieces now sit in preparation for the restoration effort.

At the landmarks board meeting, Mayor Maria Moore, Deputy Mayor Ralph Urban, historic preservationist Larry Jones, and a host of engineers and other experts donating their time to the project, detailed plans to save the windmill.

“They’ve all come together, and they’re very enthusiastic,” Moore said of the team. ‘We’ve been having progress meetings every month. We’re just eager to get your feedback.”

Jones noted that once the windmill is restored — it’ll be fully operational — they hope to run a historical museum inside the structure.

“We’re just happy as a clam to have this windmill landmarked,” Jones said. “It’s really important to our community.”

Moore noted that one inside panel would be left open so that visitors could see the mechanical workings of the two-story windmill, and several photographs and artifacts, as well as history of the structure, would be displayed inside the building. “We want to use it as an educational tool,” she said.

The windmill will be sited on the Great Lawn near the Main Street and Potunk Lane intersection, surrounded by a circular path with minimal plantings, so it can be viewed from all angles, according to the presentation. The windmill will be reconstructed using era-appropriate materials.

“It’s really been a team effort,” Moore said, noting that the Westhampton Historical Society and the Chamber of Commerce helped raise the funds to move the windmill. “Everybody’s been involved and helpful.”

Wesnofske asked the mayor who the official steward of the windmill would be.

“It’s going to be the village,” Moore said. “The Historical Society is small, and they don’t have the funds to really be the stewards of it, but we’re certainly making it available to them, whenever they want to use it for tours, or giving out pamphlets. When there’s events on the great lawn, they can sell their hats and water bottles. We want them to be part of the whole process.”

Asked about lighting, Urban, the deputy mayor, said the village hopes to have lighting down from the eaves of the windmill, without violating any dark skies regulations. “We want to have it exposed, prominent and visible through the evening,” he said.

When asked the time frame, Moore said that once the village receives the certificate of appropriateness, it will finalize the bid documents, and “out to bid we go.”

“I’m hopeful we can start this fall,” she said. “I’m very optimistic about things — we’ll see what happens.”