Sometimes, it seems like all of the homes in the Hamptons are starting to look alike, rendered in neutral colors with sweeping glass windows, etc., etc. A truly one-of-a-kind property in a coveted area of Water Mill, however, is for those who seek something a little different.
The five-bedroom, 4.5-bath estate was built back in 1885 by Henry Turbell Rose, a pastor from Massachusetts. He named the home Rosemary Lodge, in honor of his wife Mary, The Wall Street Journal reported, and over the years built more than 50 pieces of furniture and cabinetry that are being included in the $14.3 million listing, held by Steven Dorn at Brown Harris Stevens.
The living room and staircase are completely covered in ash wood.
Brown Harris Stevens
On the main floor, many of the main gathering places are decked out in different types of wood. The living room is done up in ash, while the dining room is wrapped in cherry, and an octagonal sitting room is clad in oak. It’s on these paneled walls and wooden accents that Rose etched intricate floral motifs, butterflies, birds, ships, and even poetry. The creative man of the cloth documented his time in a handwritten journal, which the current owner plans to pass down to the next owner.
“Every time you stop and look, you see another little interesting carving,” Thérèse Bernbach, the seller, told the newspaper. “I’ve always thought there has to be a secret panel somewhere—but I’ve yet to find it.”
The kitchen has been updated, but wood details play off the original design of the home.
Brown Harris Stevens
While those special details have been lovingly taken care of over the years, the property has also been modernized in recent decades. Notably, in the 1980s, the owners at the time opted to undertake the extraordinary effort to lift the house and move it half of a mile so that it does not sit so close to Montauk Highway. In its new location, they added a pool and a pool house, the latter of which includes an outdoor shower. Elsewhere, there’s a darkroom for developing film and an electric-vehicle charging station.
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The primary suite comes with a spacious walk-in closet and a terrace that overlooks the surrounding landscape. Up on the second floor, there’s also a modern media room with a big-screen TV, plus one of four fireplaces found throughout the home. It’s really the original details that stand out the most, though, with Rose’s hard work landing Rosemary Lodge on the National Register of Historic Places.
Click here to see all the photos of the historic Hamptons home.
Authors
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Tori Latham