Politics & Government

Historic Village House Ready for Facelift

Purchased five years, the Lamb-Baker house will be turned into office space.

Plans to convert an historic house on the corner of Newtown and Osborne lanes into government office space is moving forward nearly five years after the Village of East Hampton made the purchase.

Historical consultant Robert Hefner told the village board on Thursday that plans to restore the late 18th century Baker-Lamb house, are finished and advised the board could put work out to bid. An application is before the planning board.

The village paid $1.4 million for the old Isaac Osborne farmstead in July of 2007, according to Larry Cantwell, the village administrator. Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach said the board did not want the property, which is zoned commercial, to be developed when sold. Carol and David Baker had inherited from Adele Lamb, the longtime owner.

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The work was estimated to cost about $418,000 in 2008, according to an article in the at the time.

Hefner, who has worked with engineering consultant Drew Bennett on the project for over four years, said the house as built as "an ambitious Greek Revival cottage." The original front door is in tact. The proposal is to lower the roof line to restore its original appearance.

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The first floor will be structurally upgraded and reinforced. A bathroom on each floor will allow two seperate office spaces, if necessary.

The exact use of the building is not quite clear. The mayor said various ideas are being floated, though it will be somesort of adjunct location for village government. is located in the Lyman Beecher House on Main Street.

There is a structure behind the house that is actually two buildings of different significance behind the buidling. One is a 19th century workshop and another is a garage built between 1910 and 1920. Hefner said the would like to have the workshop for Mulford Farm. The garage will be used for storage and moved to face Newtown Lane and make way for a parking lot.

An exisiting driveway on Osborne Lane will be abandoed, replaced with another driveway further down that will lead to a parking lot with a total of 15 spaces. Hefner said only nine parking spaces are required for an office building. Parking will be split into two sections in the rear of the house.


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