HISTORIC 18th C. SAG HARBOR HOUSE TO BE SOLD?

By David Lion Rattiner

It is a home that has been the center of tremendous controversy because of the very public and wildly high prices that have been put on it, the legal battle between the sisters who own and have rights to it, and the fact that it is completely run down and in terrible condition. It is a home in Sag Harbor known as The Morpurgo House and it has been on the market depending on where you look, for $1 million to $100 million. The home sticks out because it is so run down, and when you see it, you say to yourself, “Somebody should really do something about this.”

The house is an 18th century sea-captains house, built in 1775 on a quarter acre plot of land and is around 4,500 square feet. It is located on Union Street, right behind the John Jermain Library, just a block from Sag Harbors Main Street. It is also the home of the Savant Garde Institute, a futurist organization whose mission is to help solve the problems of the next century. As of right now however, it is run by a skeleton staff with very little funding.

This week the house is in the news again. It is in the final stages of contract preparation, after an undisclosed person made an acceptable offer to buy it for an undisclosed sum, according to a press release we have received from Managing Broker Ted Seiter at Agawam Century 21. On the other hand, according to the owner Annselm Morpurgo, nothing yet has been signed.

Why would somebody find this house of interest? Well, for one thing, it is grandfathered for multiple dwellings, which means that a savvy investor could buy it, make four condos and then sell those for a profit if the price was set right. And it is a historic house, over 200 years old. However, that is about it. You certainly could not live in it comfortably in its condition today.

Also, Sag Harbor code enforcement officer Timothy Platt, this past week deemed the house as uninhabitable, and cited it for numerous violations. Basic things like running water throughout the house, a septic system and heating system for the hot water do not work properly. From the outside you can see broken windows and glass on the ground and the porch is caving into itself. It seems almost silly to think that anybody would pay millions for such a disastrous home, but all of the wild press that has surrounded the house has certainly raised the eyebrows of investors and maybe a history buff or two.

Annselm Morpurgo, an artist that goes by the name of Artemis Smith, currently lives in the run down home and is also the owner. “You can’t call me a starving artist because I’m not starving, I’ve just been very resourceful. The conditions I have here are much better than the conditions I was living in when I was living in the East Village in the 1950s. This is like the Ritz compared to that. I’ve turned off the gas to prevent arson and I’m the head of the security staff to protect this place. I’m an artist, I’m adaptable and I’m a naturalist.”

According to the law, you can’t remove somebody from their own home for code violations. That Artemis (Annselm) has chosen to live in this dangerous setting for such a long time has made her friends, including her sister, worry for her. However she cares deeply about the house and wants it to thrive again. She is also willing to defend it from vandals.

Artemis’s sister, Helga Morpurgo, technically has the right to get 37.5 percent of the net profits from the property and has finally accomplished finding a price that her sister will agree to and a buyer to take it, she thinks. In the past, the two tried to price the property, but could not agree.

The numbers, for some of the asking prices, are a lot of money. The home is listed on eBay with an asking price of $19 million or more. Nobody has made any offers. The house is also currently listed on yahoo.com. The asking price there is $100 million, but no offers have been made there either. “Yahoo doesn’t have a price limit and eBay does, that’s why it is listed there for $100 million,” Artemis told me.

On more than one occasion, a judge has tried to auction the house for more than $1 million, but nobody waved a hand.

The house has also been for sale the old fashioned way with a “For Sale” sign out in front of the decrepit home, by Century21 Real Estate.

The sale of this home to someone that can do some good with it under terms that makes Artemis happy is a good thing and making a dangerous piece of property livable and nice again will be good for the village of Sag Harbor.

“The best thing to happen would be for somebody to buy this property and to restore it, save it and save the whole triangle here, such as the library and then put in a cultural complex here with an artists dwelling and funding for the Savant Garde Institute. The worst could be for somebody to do it in,” Artemis said.