A unique Montauk house with a storied history, enviable oceanfront location, and distinct architecture is now up for grabs in the Hamptons.
The Cotswold-style house — widely known as The Stone House, thanks to its distinctive stone and wood facade — sits on a bluff towering over the Atlantic Ocean.
Tracing its history all the way back to the early 1900s, when it was built (or rather, enlarged) for a member of the Morgan banking family by prolific architect Grosvenor Atterbury, the property was once owned by celebrated designer Tony Ingrao, who revived the home to its past glory.
Now, the timeless oceanfront home is up for grabs at $18 million, with Kyle Rokso and Marcy Braun of Douglas Elliman holding the listing.
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The Montauk house sits on 3.2 acres with generous ocean frontage
Located at 408 Old Montauk Highway, the Stone House sits on a large 3.2-acre lot with 178 feet of ocean frontage.
Perched on a nearly 70-foot bluff, the home is “protected by a rare rock revetment on the Atlantic Ocean“, per the listing, and enjoys unobstructed ocean views — with a little porch built into the bluff offering a front-row seat to vibrant sunrises.
It was built in the 1900s, but thoughtfully restored in recent decades
The historic stone cottage is said to have been originally built in 1912 as a storage house for the Montauk Point Lighthouse, before being converted into a private home for a member of the Morgan banking family.
Later on, in 1987, famed interior designer Tony Ingrao bought the property and restored the historic home to its former glory.
Even after it was devastated by a fire in 1991
Ingrao’s original restoration work proved to be short-lived, as the house was engulfed in flames soon after the three-year renovation was completed in 1991. Rather than let himself be discouraged, Tony Ingrao set out to restore it once again, this time deciding to make bigger changes to the century-old home and incorporate more modern conveniences without infringing on the house’s timeless design.
“The upside of the fire was that having already decorated a house once, you learn what you really like and what you wouldn’t do again,” Ingrao told Architectural Digest at the time. “It’s a process of refining.”
The home has 3 bedrooms across 3,063 square feet of living space
The two-story main house has a total of 3,063 square feet of living space with an almost fairytale-like quality, with its interiors oozing character and historic charm — much like its exterior architecture.
Inside, we find 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, and 1 half bath, along with a renovated kitchen, an inviting living room, and a beautiful dining room with spectacular furnishings that the seller bought from former owner Tony Ingrao.
With a rustic kitchen full of antique pieces
The first floor of the main house features an eat-in kitchen with elevated details such as marble countertops, hand-painted custom cabinets, and high-end stainless-steel appliances.
But it also features antique pieces carefully curated by the home’s former designer owner, including antique English hardware, doors, and 19th-century English stools around the island counter.
A dining room with rustic appeal in spades
The entrance hallway leads to a formal dining room with wooden beam ceilings and era-appropriate furnishings, as well as one of the three large wood-burning stone fireplaces found throughout the house.
The bedroom is a rustic retreat
A meticulously crafted hand-painted wood staircase in the entry hall leads to the second-floor primary bedroom suite.
Here, we find an enchanting room with 14-foot vaulted ceilings, a spacious marble and stone bath with a separate soaking tub, a steam shower with glass walls overlooking the ocean, and a private wood balcony overlooking the Montauk Lighthouse and Block Island.
Boasting unobstructed ocean views
“The best thing about the reconfigured upstairs is the 360-degree view of the grounds and the sea,” Ingrao once said of the revamped primary bedroom suite. “Plus I get marvelous cross breezes all year round.”
There’s also a media room, office, and laundry
A second antique wood staircase on the east wing of the house leads from the media room/den to a guest bedroom, a bathroom, a laundry, and another room suitable for either a home office or a gym.
Two other buildings sit on the grounds of the property
There are two other buildings on the gated grounds, each with its own purpose — and equipped with kitchenettes.
See also: Newly completed, $25M East Hampton house comes fully (and beautifully) furnished — antiques included
Including a cute pool house
The 186-square-foot pool house — which sits amidst expansive lawns and gardens — has one full bath and an outdoor shower and overlooks a pond-shaped 35 x 15 saltwater pool lined with large stones.
And a 608-square-foot artist studio
The property also boasts a separate 608-square-foot lofted studio with a full bath and a covered porch overlooking an open meadow.
A bluff porch offers the best views in the house
According to the New York Times, whose Vivian Marino first covered the house when it launched on the market, the home sits around 15 feet from a cliff, where “there is a rambling wooden staircase, with a built-in bluff porch partway down, to provide access to the beach.”
Famous people have stayed here over the years
Montauk’s Stone House is also a bit of a local legend, with its distinct architecture and idyllic location attracting several well-known people over the years, including famed individuals like Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, John Lennon, and John F. Kennedy who are all said to have stayed here.
The Montauk house is also cited frequently in Andy Warhol’s famous diaries.
A unique listing in the Hamptons
The current owner poetically describes her experience at the Stone House as “living on your own island with nothing but vistas to the east and magnificent sunrises and moon rises over the ocean. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the steward of one of the most private, rare and collectible estates in the world.” The cost to experience this for yourself: $18,000,000.
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Source: fancypantshomes.com