You are invited to have a wonderful time in this Southold, Long Island beach house. You will have a fabulous time of sun, beach, good food, lots of wines, and mostly friendships. It sleeps 8 with 4 bedrooms: 2 with queens and 2 with twins. There are 2 Full Baths and 2 Half Baths + a fabulous hot water outdoor shower. (No big parties please because the septic system will not handle those crowds.)
There is a high-end new kitchen. Everything has been updated with modern mechanicals while trying to maintain the delightful historic architectural feel. This includes all newer plumbing and most of the electrical. (Note: This is not the house for you if you need uber-modern, austere, sterile, white walls and glass.) This house oozes natural historic character both inside and outside. The pictures in this Vrbo system are representative of the property; no AI has been used to modify them.
TOURISTY ATTRACTIONS:
www.southoldhistoricalsociety.org has many local sites to visit, including a majestic lighthouse commissioned by George Washington. www.oysterpondshistoricalsociety.org has colonial buildings at Orient Point and original art & furniture. Just west of Mattituck, there is the Hallockville Museum Farm dating back to the Revolutionary War with lots of historic farm buildings and equipment that is available for touring from about 11 AM to 3 PM and a calendar of special events https://hallockville.com. First Presbyterian Church of Southold, founded by the Puritans in 1640, is one of the oldest cemeteries in New York with 20 graves from the 1600’s www.fpcsouthold.org. The Town of Southold maintains an Osprey Nest website map for looking for the birds: http://tos.maps.arcgis.com/apps/OnePane/basicviewer/index.html?appid=b5c37c048815427b883f67e708c08928
The Town of Southold has public trails for hiking. http://www.southoldtownny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/130/NorthForkTrails?bidId=
SHOPPING:
www.greenportvillage.com is the next big town with lots of luxury boats, antique shops, restaurants, ferry rides to Shelter Island. If you are into antiques, then visit Lydia’s in Greenport: http://www.greenportvillage.com/lydias-antiques-stained-glass. In Greenport find the famous boating gear and art of S.T. Preston’s & Son http://www.prestons.com. Groupon has various types of places that have deals: restaurants, golf, vineyards, and museums; we search for “Greenport NY” to see the deals.
EATING & GROCERIES:
www.liwines.com has all the vineyards and wineries on the North Fork. With the death of my brother Christian Baiz, my family’s ancestral farm and “Old Field Vineyards” is being sold. My back deck of the house looks onto the grape vine fields. At the head of Bay Home Road, across from the vineyard entrance is KK’s The Farm – open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9-5 for a CSA organic farm using biodynamic practices http://www.kkthefarm.com. Another ½ mile is the Southold Fishing Market https://www.facebook.com/southoldfishmarket with a great assortment of fresh fish and a family-friendly restaurant. For meat lovers, less than one mile away in Southold is the specialty Wayside Butcher shop https://www.facebook.com/SoutholdWaysideMarket. There are lots of vegetable stands on the North Road a.k.a. Route 48. The parallel road is the “Main Road” a.k.a Route 25 which goes through the center of every village. Catapano Dairy Farm has goat dairy and cosmetics products www.catapanodairyfarm.com. The New York Times has this article on animal farming from snails, to sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, cheese, etc. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/dining/livestock-returns-to-north-fork-farms-long-island.html.
BOATING & BEACHING & WATER & GOLF:
Half a mile from the house is Port Of Egypt www.poemarine.com; rent motor boats, Heron Suites Guest Rooms for overflow guests, Allure Restaurant. Fifteen minutes away is a large and very natural beach park called Orient Beach State Park: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/106/details.aspx or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Orient-Beach-State-Park/107655819264115?rf=105781372796184. Ten minutes away is the large village of Greenport with lots of shops and docks for walking beside luxury yachts and a fabulous enclosed carousel: http://villageofgreenport.org/carousel-greenport-village.php. Two full-day, major expeditions are to be a foot passenger to go to 1) Block Island via a high-speed ferry www.vikingfleet.com or to New London CT, and there are special boats from both ports that tour 12 lighthouses and forts. https://www.longislandferry.com; parking is free on Orient Point and the round trip tickets across the Sound are free if you buy the lighthouse tour. The nearest public course is Islands End in Greenport on the Long Island Sound: https://islandsendgolf.com/
ART:
In addition to sun and water, the East End of Long Island has ART. Acting theaters, galleries, museums: http://www.hamptons.com/The-Arts.
PUBLICATIONS & TV NEWS:
There are several websites for local news.
1) An internet-only site is www.danspapers.com with current info on community event, arts & entertainment.
2) The newspaper of record for the area is the Suffolk Times http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/category/news/.
3) On-line news, weather, Lifestyle about the North Fork is found at https://patch.com/new-york/northfork.
4) “News 12” is the local Long Island TV station.
TECHNOLOGY:
a) The house has fast Wi-Fi from Optimum 100 Mbps with a dual-band router with 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, but it does not reach down to the beach; the password is friendlycheese559 and it is posted on the refrigerator. It is a good idea to enable your cell phones to use Wi-Fi Calling.
b) There are 2 TVs attached to cable with lots of stations; Channel 12 is local Long Island news.
c) You are welcome to bring an Apple TV-like device to watch Netflix, etc.
d) You can also bring Amazon Alexa-like devices.
e) There is a HP Printer-Scanner with 8 ½ x11 paper, data cable, and the software disk is in the desk drawer.
f) All the bedrooms are on central air conditioning which has a significant trickle-down cooling effect on the first floor, too. Each bedroom has a table-top fan.
Supplies & Services that are provided:
a) The cleaning staff will put out an initial supply of facial tissues, toilet paper, heavy-paper dinner napkins, a big container of clothes washer pods, a box of dishwasher pods, plenty of aluminum foil, and plastic wrap. I can schedule mid-stay or even weekly house cleanings at cost.
b) There are spices in the cabinet over the gas stove.
c) The big Weber gas grill will have propane gas with an extra tank in the garage.
d) There is a detailed PDF inventory of furnishings and kitchen equipment.
e) At the beach are 3 chaise longues and a big sea chest with chairs, kids’ beach toys, umbrellas, etc.
f) Down by the beach are 2 one-person kayaks; use at your own risk.
g) Included in the rent is that North Fork Sanitation will pick up the trash (but you must use the provided special yellow bags; pick up is once a week (usually a Tuesday early morning) but can be expanded to twice a week if you need it; the trash man opens the garage door, so don’t lock that door.
h) The lawn cutters come irregularly, dependent on when it rains and how high the grass is.
i) Firewood is stored in a chest beside the garage. Make sure the spring-operated chain-pull fireplace damper is released so the smoke goes up the chimney.
FINANCIAL:
A) If you rent by the month or more, then you will be billed for electricity; otherwise, all utilities are included.
B) If you stay less than a month, then Suffolk County has a 5.5% tax. Also, in 2025 New York started taxing tenants; this is built into the Vrbo system.
C) Monthly rentals also include at least 1 Mid-Stay clean @ $250. More cleanings can be arranged.