Southampton Town is purchasing the property where the demolished Pyrrhus Concer house stood for $4.3M, using Community Preservation Fund monies. The plan is to build a museum honoring Mr. Concer and the region's African-American heritage. It's nice that the town is honoring Mr. Concer, but it seems a huge shame that the house was demolished.
To recap the story until now: in 2013 owners David Hermer and Silvia Campo purchased the 0.82-acre property for $2.75M. They applied to demolish the existing house, which had belonged to Pyrrhus Concer, a former slave who became a whaler, becoming one of the first Americans and African Americans to visit Japan. After months of debate, the Southampton Village Architectural Review Board refused to allow the demolition, after which the homeowners filed a $10M lawsuit, stating their property rights were being infringed. Eventually the two sides came to an agreement and historic artifacts from the house were saved, before the place was demolished. And then the homeowners decided they didn't want to build a new home after all and placed the property on the market. Now the town is buying it, netting them a hefty profit.
· Southampton Town Board Approves Purchase Of Pyrrhus Concer Property [27E]
· All posts about Pyrrhus Concer [CH]