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Transforming a Historic Boarding House into a Family Home

Long Island, NY
2025
Type: Houses
Theme: Transforming Old Buildings / Tranquility in the Country

Project EUI
81%

reduction in energy use compared to the AIA 2030 baseline

Built in 1884, this charming four-story building is considered the best-preserved boarding house or hotel in East Hampton, featuring regularly spaced windows and a generous wraparound porch. Despite being unprotected by landmark status, our sensitive restoration and re-interpretation will ensure that the historically unique structure lives well on into the 21st century.

Though layers of intervention had accumulated over time, when our client acquired the home, its essential qualities were very much still legible. Our approach to the renovation was at once restrained and bold—preserving original elements and the hospitable character of the boarding house, while readying it for life and entertaining today. To start, we moved the building 60 feet back from the street to give it a bit more breathing room. This neighborly gesture made room for a more gracious arrival experience while setting the home closer to the restored meadow cultivated behind it.

Inside, historic details are thoughtfully paired with vintage and contemporary furniture, objects and art; honoring the home’s history while representing today’s inhabitants. Today, the home has remained true to the original use of the building with a variety of gathering spaces — for large groups and private moments for one- or two-people alike — and welcoming friends and family into its many guestrooms, each with their own details and theme.

In the early 1880s, then owner Helen A. Laforest succeeded in receiving publicity for her new boarding house in The Times (Philadelphia) in an article entitled A Faraway Resort which describes the idyllic place:

“A lovelier situation could hardly be found for a quiet summer resort, where one can rest and lounge, stroll on the beach, or float upon the lake and gather lilies. Quiet it is, indeed, removed even for the small excitements of East Hampton, two miles away.”

From a large-scale reconceptualization of the site plan to minute attention to historic detailing, the transformed 1884 House has been interpreted for another century of stewardship.

 

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An East Hampton Landmark
This 1915 postcard shows The Apaquogue Hotel on the right, set closely upon the dirt road, and surrounded by open land and views. Today, the building is the best preserved nineteenth-century hotel or boarding house in East Hampton.
On May 17, 1895, the East Hampton Star published an article on The Apaquogue, detailing the accommodations, and everyday life at the boarding house.

We set out not simply to preserve the house, but to carry forward its enduring spirit of gathering, hospitality, and welcome—allowing it to evolve gracefully for a new generation.

Kiki Dennis, Principal

Key People

Deborah Berke
Lead Designer

Kiki Dennis
Lead Designer

Tori McGovern
Project Manager

Collaborators

TenBerke
Architect and Interior Design

Edwina vonGAL & Company
Landscape Architect

Dilandro Andrews Engineering
Civil Engineer, Structural Engineer, MEP/FP Engineer

Delamere Building Corp
General Contractor

MaGrann Associates
Sustainability

Saskas Surveying Company
Surveyor

Robert Hefner
Historic Preservation Consultant

Kelly Marshall
Photographer

Rebecca Omweg
Stylist

Recognition

Galerie Magazine
May 29, 2026

Context & Drawings

1/1

Related Work

East End Compound
Darby Lane House
Theme: Tranquility in the Country