Bayside Farm stretches across 225 acres of vineyards, pastures, deep woods, centuries-old gardens, and a mile of Peconic Bay waterfront on Long Island’s North Fork.  For the past 120 years the farm has served as a retreat for just two families, both of whom have prioritized stewardship of the land, gardens and buildings.

Upon taking on responsibility for the property in 2019 the current proprietors, a young New York City family with a keen appreciation for history, set about a renovation plan that would breathe new life into the entire compound, starting from its core, a rambling main house and an adjacent complex of barns.

Before the renovation the main house consisted of the original two-story, four-room house comprising what is now the East wing, a large 1906-1908 modified center-chimney colonial addition, and an undated “el” that connected the house to a masonry structure where cows were led for milking. Renovated once again during the Depression by Mott Shaw an Emerson relative and architect who took a leading role in the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, the house was clad in brick. 

The reimagined house stays close to the spirit of the Mott Shaw iteration while shifting the rooms most used by the family towards the south where new bay windows, French doors and porches open up the house to the garden, sunlight and views towards the bay.  The addition of a new wing to the West wing, with a large gathering room on the first floor and a new primary bedroom on the second, balance the plan and connect the house more closely to the existing gardens.

The barn complex, anchored by a large 1906 gambrel-roofed dairy barn lies across the driveway circle to the North, a short walk when farm operations were a daily routine and equally convenient in its latest incarnation as an entertainment destination.  At the newly-created entry, part of the hay loft floor was cut away to create a soaring double-height central space christened “The Hub”. Radiating off the Hub are a gear room for all manner of sporting equipment, a gym, a library, the farm manager’s office and a wine room, filled with bottles produced from grapes grown on the property. Just past the fireplace in the Hub is a new stair that leads to the massive hay loft above, brightened from all sides by new dormers and a trio of triple-hung windows that look towards the sunset.  Great pains were taken to salvage and retain original materials throughout, from the terra cotta block, to the sandblasted roof trusses, to original doors and hardware.

Interiors: Gerland Bland, Connie Newberry Interiors; Builder: UBS Builders; Photography: Read McKendree