Maycroft Estate

Though it has had many purposes over the course of its long life, the sprawling Maycroft estate was originally built as a private residence. Constructed in 1886, the home was the private residence of James Herman Aldrich, a successful Manhattan merchant. The home was designed by Edward D. Lindsey in 1880 and it was completed in 1886. The home is a 12,000 square foot Queen Anne manor, characterized by plunging roof lines and a tower topped with a distinctive, hat-shaped cupola. The 18-room home looks out over 1,000 feet of coastline.

Following Aldrich's death in 1917, his widow donated the property to the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. The diocese eventually granted the property to the Teachers of the Children of God, an order of nuns, in 1952. The nuns ran a school out of the estate that was named for their founding mother, Abbie Loveland Tuller. Over the years, attendance at the school declined and the last nun left the estate in 1993. At that time, according to the diocese, the property reverted to the diocese because the original deed granted the nuns ownership only so long as they used the manor house as the mother house, which they had ceased to do by 1993. The diocese requested that the nuns return the property and they refused, arguing that the the manor house actually ceased to be used as the mother house back in 1970, when Mother Tuller moved away. The nuns argued that because the ten-year statute of limitations had already run out, the property was theirs, and sued the diocese for $70 million.

The ensuing court case lasted for more than a decade, when an agreement forced the diocese and nuns to sell the estate and split the proceeds 55-45, respectively. The Tuller school was compelled to find a new location for their remaining students. In the immediate aftermath of the court's ruling, the village of North Haven scrambled to get the funds to buy the property, with hopes of restoring it and using it for a community center. By that time, the property had declined to the point that it was recommended for demolition rather than restoration.

The property sold in 2004 for $20 million to an unnamed buyer. Remarkably, in the early 2000s, Sag Harbor-based James Merrell Architects undertook a thorough restoration of the property. The restoration included moving the manor house roughly 100 yards on the same lot to a new foundation, which would allow the home better views of the property's stellar coastline. The home was also reoriented approximately 260 degrees.

Maycroft is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ratner, Ian. Maycroft Mansion Earns James Merrell Architects an Award , Curbed NY. August 4th 2010. Accessed April 3rd 2021. https://hamptons.curbed.com/2010/8/4/10507686/maycroft-mansion-earns-james-merrell-architects-an-award.

Lee, Denny . Havens; Goodbye Nuns, Hello Hamptoms , New York Times . March 26th 2004. Accessed April 3rd 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/26/travel/havens-goodbye-nuns-hello-hamptons.html.

Scott, Debra. The Little Village that Could , East Hampton Star . March 6th 2014. Accessed April 3rd 2021. https://www.easthamptonstar.com/archive/little-village-could.