This residence is described as the “J. D. Voorhees House” in the East Hampton’s Heritage Book, written by Robert A.M. Stern, Robert Hefner and Clay Lancaster.

JD Voorhees or Dr. James Ditmars Voorhees, was a highly prominent New York City Physician and Obstetrician who graduated from Princeton University and earned his medical degree at Colombia. He married Louise Brown, the daughter of Samuel Q Brown, who was the incredibly wealthy president of the Tidewater Oil Company. The Voorhees family became fixtures of the turn of the century Hamptons “summer colony” elite, who were heavily involved in the social and charitable scene. This home hosted fundraisers, high society concerts and benefits for the nearby Southampton hospital.

The architect was John Custis Lawrence, an East Hampton native who contributed more than 60 summer colony residences. Lawrence’s highly prolific work in the 1910’s heralded the development of the attenuated house, a trend toward unusually long, narrow and sweeping residences like the Dr. Frederick K Hollister Cottage built in 1913 on Lily Pond Lane. This style set a precedent for the construction of linear homes, which still exists to this day.

The date of the initial construction was 1912 to 1913, built by Edward M Gay. Gay established himself as one of the go-to contractors and built many iconic large scale summer homes that defined this era. His mother Annie Gay operated a prominent local boarding house on Main Street and later Gay Lane, where the post office is currently located, was named after her. The Gay family continued their legacy with the Amaden Gay Agency which was a fixture in real estate and is now known for insurance today.

Unlike the classic gray cedar shingle homes that dominate East Hampton, 80 Dunemere Lane was intentionally constructed with a grand formal stucco exterior. In the early 1900’s, wealthy New York families used stucco to capture a sense of European permanence, similar to the robust manor homes of the French and Mediterranean coastline. The use of stucco allowed for crisp, clean lines, prominent chimneys, and deep set window openings that made the home a highly recognizable landmark along Dunemere

Lane. Listed in the inventory for the Division for Historic Preservation in 1979, this home overlooks Hook Pond and the Maidstone Club in the Dunemere Lane Historic District.

The current sellers have owned this legacy property for over 40 years.