You've driven past it many times, but maybe you've never looked at it closely. That cool old dilapidated house across from Town Pond in East Hampton was actually the first artist's studio built in East Hampton. Painter Thomas Moran (1837–1926), his wife Mary Nimmo Moran (1842–1899), also an artist, and their children lived there. It was designed by Moran as both a home, in the Queen Anne style then so popular (which is related to the Shingle Style known so well on the East End), and as an artist's studio, which was unusual at the time. Indeed, the house is known as "The Studio."
Moran liked modern conveniences including indoor plumbing and electricity, and he imported a gondola from Venice that he used on Hook Pond. Now the house and gardens are being restored by the Thomas Moran Trust.
"The Studio is one of the very few structures that have been restored from that summer colony period," says Richard Barons, Executive Director of the Thomas Moran Trust.
The Morans' daughter Ruth lived in The Studio until her death in 1948, at which point the property was bought by Condie and Elizabeth Lamb. In 2008, the Studio, outbuildings and gardens were deeded to the Moran Trust to assure "restoration, preservation and accessibility to the public." Sadly, that probably does not include gondola rides.
· Thomas Moran Trust renovation progressing [Dan's]