UPDATE!
A new era for the Canoe Place Inn began in 2018 as rehabilitation of the property commenced after a comprehensive 12-year planning and review process. The project seeks to return the inn to its early-to-mid 20th-century appearance while incorporating modern amenities to support its use as a year-round destination for East End visitors. Plans for the rehabilitated venue feature a 350-seat catering hall, a 90-seat restaurant and tap room with outdoor seating for 120 guests, 20 guest suites, and five cottages.
The long-vacant Canoe Place Inn was designed by William L. Bottomley in the early 1920s. Bottomley’s Dutch Colonial Revival-style complex replaced an earlier colonial-era inn, built near an early Native American portage site, that was destroyed by a fire in 1921. A popular hot spot for NYC politicians and celebrities during the first half of the 20th century, the Canoe Place Inn operated as a nightclub into the 1990s. Between 2007 and 2009, the property owner sought approval for demolition and redevelopment of the site as a time-share community, claiming that the building was not sound for reuse. However, local community members and preservationists disagreed. Subsequent negotiations with Southampton Town, including the Landmarks and Historic Districts Board, led to an alternative plan that would rehabilitate the inn’s historic structures in exchange for a cluster zoning variance on the property.
