1708 House, Southampton / A Boutique Hotel / Bed & Breakfast

1708house.com

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The History of The 1708 House

In 1640 the first English settlement on “Longe Island” was establised near a spring feeding what is now Old Town Pond. By 1648, these founding families parceled the land on either side of New Town Lane, now known as Main Street, for their homesteads. On this location Jonas Bower built his house, with the basement surviving to become our present day wine cellar. In 1698 a more ambitious Issac Bower took title and built a large 12-post dwelling over that original cellar.

Histories of Long Island refer to the present structure as “having been occupied” by 1708, which led to its name.

The prominent Huntting family of local whaling fame took possession of the house in 1799. By 1880 the Fosters, another founding family consisting of doctors and teachers, became the owners through marriage to the Hunttings.

The house was expanded and renovated at this time. Finally in 1993, Skip and Lorraine Ralph purchased the property from the Fosters and commenced a painstaking and faithful restoration of this once glorious building.

The remarkable result is the 1708 House, a true boutique hotel with 15 charming units.

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