Southampton Village ZBA Poised To Follow ARB In Approving New Changes To Mocomanto

The Southampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals is expected to green-light a new proposal to make changes to Mocomanto, a Victorian estate that abuts Lake Agawam.

The Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation had already advanced the expansion and renovation plan earlier this month.

The resolutions overwrite decisions made by the two village regulatory boards earlier this year that approved the doubling in size of the 125-year-old home by adding first- and second-story additions to the northern side of the property.

Opponents sued the two village regulatory boards, contending that the renovations would have overwhelmed the property and fail to preserve the architectural significance of the historic home.

In November, a new proposal was presented to the regulatory boards, which reconfigured the overall mass of the building in an attempt to reduce the visual impact to neighbors. Opponents dropped the lawsuits in favor of the home’s new design.

The ground floor is poised to include a west-facing porch to match an existing wrap-around porch to the south and east. The second-floor footprint also has been significantly reduced from the approved northerly expansion. Under the revised plans, the roof will be pyramidal in shape instead of being flat.

For two years, Ken and Ana Fox have tried to restore and expand their home. They had originally wanted to increase the square footage of the home from 4,717 to 7,190. The addition would have turned the structure into an L-shape. At the request of the Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation, the L-shape of the home was removed.

Instead, Mr. Fox sought to expand the home to the north, which would give it the same look it had in the 1920s—but that also was shot down, with the board in favor of Mocomanto’s original 1880 aesthetic.

Even though he got a plan to renovate Mocomanto approved earlier this year, Mr. Fox decided to submit a different proposal, hoping to appease the concerns of neighbors.

The new configuration is designed to put more emphasis on to the first floor and into constructing a third floor, which did not exist in the plans that were formerly approved. The new design is only 120 square feet less than what was approved earlier this year.