Originally built in the 1920s as a boat house serving a larger waterfront estate, a house on Shelter Island was rebuilt and expanded by owner Scott Murphy following Hurricane Sandy. The 2,400-square-foot structure combines a reconstruction of the original boat house with a modern addition, preserving the building’s maritime character while introducing reclaimed white oak interiors, floor-to-ceiling glazing, and a black exterior finished in a traditional Scandinavian pine tar and linseed oil treatment.
Recently furnished by Design Within Reach (DWR) and made available as a vacation rental through Boutique, the three-bedroom house sits directly on Dering Harbor. Guests can stay among a curated selection of DWR pieces, many of which are available for purchase. Inside are several unexpected details, including a rope-suspended guest bed, ship’s windows overlooking the harbor, and a glass floor panel above the water. Here’s a look inside.
Owner Scott Murphy bought the home from a man he became friendly with over sailing stories—who had lived the majority of his life in the house. Murphy had wanted to improve and winterize the house, and began renovating after Hurricane Sandy. When flood elevation requirements for the area changed, Murphy was forced to raise the entire house two feet higher than where it originally sat. This would mean having it knock it down and start over. Being that it held sentimental value to the previous owner, Murphy decided to rebuild it almost like a movie set, with the original boat house built back in its original form.
DWR partnered with Boutique last year on a Palm Desert home; this project is their East Coast extension of that initial project. The idea is a living showroom, to an extent, where guests can live among pieces from the DWR collections—both classics and newer designs.
Restore Basket.
For more Shelter Island houses and interiors, see our posts:
- A Low-Key but Subtly Luxe Beach House on Shelter Island, Courtesy of Workstead
- Escape to Shelter Island: A Design Couple’s Reinvented Seaside Retreat
- Farmhouse Refresh: An Antiques Dealer’s Clean and Simple Family Retreat on Shelter Island
- A Fashion Buyer’s Danish-Inspired Getaway on Shelter Island, Before and After
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