Historic Shelter Island - The Farmstead at 45 Burns Road

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The listing for 45 Burns Road

In an idyllic marriage of past and present, this historic Shelter Island farmstead which overlooks 10 +/- acres of preserved land diagonal to 30 +/- more acres of preserved space, features three separate, elegant, and very different buildings that make it a special hideaway. Situated on 1.3+/- acres rich in flowering shrubs and established trees, this compound with B & B potential is located approximately 200 yards from Coecles Harbor on one of the quietest lanes on Shelter Island. 

The first floor of the main house, built in 1880, has a large, open layout with a sunny, L-shaped living room with entertaining areas, a wood burning stove and a powder room. The spacious country kitchen has a commercial grade range and a sunny breakfast area. The adjacent dining room has five French doors that open to a slate patio with an outdoor stone fireplace-grill and a wisteria arbor. 

The second floor has two large bedrooms, master bath, a loft bedroom and a library-bedroom with doors leading to a balcony that wraps around to a wide second-floor deck. In the rear of the grounds is a converted barn-guesthouse with beautiful, original hardwood floors, a kitchenette, full bath with vintage ball and claw tub, two bedrooms, and a sitting area. 

Beside it sits a cottage which was rolled from a nearby property on two locust trees in the 1940s to its present site, which could be used as a pool house that includes a kitchen and bath. Many recent upgrades and renovations include central air, roofs, well and septic system, making this a modernized, turn-key home. The main house is 3,142+/- sq. ft., the guesthouse 650+/- sq. ft. and the studio 300 sq. ft. Located just up the lane from town boat landing and popular kayak trail, this is a rare offering, equally well suited as a country compound or an artist's retreat. 

Featured in the exhibition at The Grenning Gallery at 17 Washington Street, Sag Harbor of paintings, watercolors and woodblock prints from historic Shelter Island homes.

Written by owner Michaela Muntean, a prolific writer best known for her work with Jim Henson and the Muppets, here is a colorful history of the property...

45 Burns Road

Few homes on Shelter Island have such an intriguing past as 45 Burns Road. How a farmhouse evolved into an Italian restaurant, a cocktail lounge, a roadhouse, and eventually a popular Island hangout is a story worth telling.

Shelter Island in the late 19^th and early 20^th century seems to have been a real estate Wild West. Apparently people built what they wanted, where they wanted. If there were regulations, they are lost to time, and for many properties there are no existing records whatsoever. Such is the case with 45 Burns.

The best guess is that the house and barn were built as a farmstead between 1890 and 1900, probably by the Mitchell family, who may have subdivided a parcel of land they owned on Burns Road. What is known is that at some point the property was purchased by Benjamin and Julia Walther. 

1947-1961

In 1947 the property was sold to Joseph and Josephine Margiotta. They did extensive renovations to turn the main house into a restaurant they called the Harbor Inn. They enclosed the front porch, extended the kitchen, and added a bar and dining area. The second floor of the main house became an apartment, and they converted the barn to living quarters by building bedrooms, adding a bathroom and kitchen, and installing heating.

When the Margiottas grandmother in Brooklyn died, grandpa needed a place to live, so they purchased a small cottage, built by Homer Griffing, located across the road. The Margiottas felled two locust trees, stripped them, set the cottage atop the logs and rolled it across the street to its present location. The Margiotta family ran the Harbor Inn as an Italian restaurant and cocktail lounge until 1961. 

1961-1965

Eddie and Vicki Pertile purchased the Harbor Inn in 1961. The “Gracious Dining” feature in the Shelter Island Reporter (in existence only since June, 1959) lists the Harbor Inn as “Under New Management” in the August 12, 1961 issue. The Pertiles not only advertise Fine Food and Cocktails, but also Fine Lodging.

1966-1984

On January 1, 1966 Jack and Beverly Cahill took over the management of the Coecles Harbor Inn. It would begin 18 years of what to this day many Islanders remember as one of the best bars ever.

Gone were Fine Food and Fine Lodging. The new Harbor Inn had a jukebox, a pool table, a dartboard, and a shuffleboard game. It was more roadhouse than restaurant, serving bar snacks, burgers and fries. And, according to the matchbook copy, there was air conditioning and dancing!

On December 31, 1984, the Cahills gave a farewell New Year’s Eve party and on the morning of January 1, 1985, Coecles Harbor Inn closed its doors forever.