A $56 million transaction was finalized this week for the Town of East Hampton’s purchase of 30 acres along Wainscott Pond, the town’s largest acquisition using Community Preservation Fund (CPF) money. However, a change in plans to only designate the farmhouse and barn as historic landmarks, as opposed to the entire 30-acre property has become a point of contention between the Town Board and community members.
The purchase of 66 Wainscott Main Street is the second-biggest-known, non-commercial deal on the East End of 2024.
“These types of acquisitions are important to the preservation of the beautiful landscapes that make the Hamptons the iconic destination that it is,” says Cody Vichinsky, founding partner at Bespoke, the luxury real estate firm based in Water Mill, which handled the off-market deal. “We are grateful to be able to facilitate transactions like this ensuring that these landscapes are preserved in perpetuity for future generations to enjoy.”
Though the property, which includes the 1904 Louisa Edwards Osborn House and a two-story barn built in 1915, is considered the Osborn family property, billionaire businessman Ronald Lauder, an heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics company, was the seller. He bought the land from the Osborns in 2021 for $66 million reportedly intending to prevent development, as he owns neighboring parcels.
The property encompasses roughly one-third of the pond’s shoreline and would allow for public access and enable further water quality monitoring through the town’s CPF Water Quality Improvement program, town officials have said.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation identified Wainscott Pod as an impaired water body under its Priority Waterbodies List. The pond has experienced frequent harmful algal blooms, posing serious threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health, according to a press release from the town.
The town board approved the purchase in late October.
This is the second deal like this that Bespoke brokered this year. The firm also represented the Topping family in the preservation of 27 acres of Bridgehampton farmland earlier this year, purchased partially by Southampton Tonw’s Community Preservation money for $48 million.
In a public-private partnership, the nonprofit Peconic Land Trust structured a deal to purchase the fee title on three parcels, located at 181 and 305 Halsey Lane, for a total of $48 million and to partner with the town to simultaneously buy the enhanced development right for $30 million. Meanwhile, another $18 million funded the acquisition with private donations, mainly from neighbors who did not want to see the land developed and the viewshed lost.
That deal closed in April 2024, about a year after it first went on the market for $69.995 million, making it the most expensive piece of vacant property on the South Fork.
Town Board Designates Only Distinct Structures Historic
The original proposition discussed at several public hearings in October included purchasing the entire 30-acre property of farmland that the Louisa Edwards Osborn farmhouse, Osborn Hedges garage (formerly a barn) and accessory building sit on.
Earlier this month, members of the Wainscott Heritage Project (WHP) shared statements of gracious approval regarding the current acquisition, but emphasized the importance of the town making this distinction for the entirety of the farmland.
“The fields surrounding Wainscott pond comprise a cultural landscape that is a significant feature of the site and integral to the historic designation,” said Esperanza Leon, a member of WHP. “One can say that the farm goes with the farmhouse…the land and the buildings go together and contribute to the historic meaning of the site.”
Carolyn Logan Gluck, co-secretary of WHP, was “disturbed” to hear that the town board only designated the two largest structures as historic.
“WHP strongly urges the Town Board to revise the historic designation to include not merely the two main most visible existing structures but the entire property itself,” said Gluck. “A barn is not a barn without farmland on which to stand, even if it has been repurposed as a garage.”
Leon and Gluck also shared the Wainscott Heritage Project’s plans to eventually establish a Wainscott Historic District, and said that the preservation of 66 Wainscott Main Street and its entire 30-acre farm will serve as a “cornerstone” to this mission.
The town board did not discuss their reasons for excluding the farmland in the historic designation.
Despite residents’ concerns of the limited designation, there was an overarching thankfulness of the board’s steps toward preserving the main structures.
Hilary Osborn Malecki, a descendant of the Osborn family, has served as a centerpoint for sharing the rich history of her family’s land and its foundational impacts on Wainscott. At a Dec. 5 meeting, she shared a historical presentation about the Homestead and thanked the board and Lauder for making the acquisition possible.
“The stars have aligned and I think there was only one chance to grab it,” she said. “Our family is thrilled this slice of Wainscott’s history will be preserved for future generations.”
The Osborn family has held a connection to the land since the 17th century, as John Osborn, who’s credited as founder of Wainscott, established a homestead in the area in 1668. The farmhouse that stands today was built in 1904 by Luisa Edwards Osborn and her son Thomas to start a summer boarding house. Estimates for the age of the barn date back as early as the 1700s, and after landing in its current spot in 1926, the barn was repurposed by the Hedges family into a garage used for repairing automobiles and tractors. Over the years, the land has been passed down through generations, serving as the plot for a successful potato farming business throughout the 20th century.
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