Tick Hall is is sited on the highest point of the nearly 20 acre lot, making for stellar views in all directions.
Compass
Montauk’s Tick Hall, one of the fabled “Seven Sisters” and the longtime home of talk show host and author Dick Cavett, is on the market for $33,950,000 million.
The original home and landscape were created by 19th century superstars: architect Stanford White, a partner at the historic and legendary firm McKim, Mead & White, designed the house, while landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, famous for his design of New York’s Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace, created the extensive grounds. It was part of the Montauk Association’s “Seven Sisters,” a group of Shingle-style houses constructed between 1881 and 1883 for a real estate developer named Arthur Benson as hunting and fishing cottages for a group of well-to-do New Yorkers. The cluster, at the eastern tip of Long Island, was known as the Montauk Point Association Houses. They had wide porches that embraced the sea, generous dormers, exquisite detailing, abundant natural light. Originally accompanied by a clubhouse, the houses were among the earliest designed by the firm, which White and his partners had just formed in 1879.
The original Tick Hall burned down in 1997. Owners Dick Cavett and his wife, Carrie Nye, built an exact replica in its place, relying on photographs and their memories to reconstruct the house down to its most minute details. Their rebuilding journey was the subject of a 2003 documentary entitled From the Ashes: The Life and Times of Tick Hall.
“When they rebuilt Tick Hall, they even made sure that the staircase would have the same creak,” says listing broker Matt Burns. He and his brothers, Ryan and Greg Burns, comprise the Burns Team at Compass Real Estate and act as co-brokers on the property.
“They did slightly expand the kitchen,” Burns adds. “And, in 2013, they added a sleeping porch upstairs. Dick Cavett said that it was his favorite place to sleep.”
The 7,000 square foot house features 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and boasts over 900 feet of ocean frontage, including a private cove known as “Cavett’s Cove.” The house is sited on the highest point of its 19.8-acre parcel, which makes for unparalleled views.
An aerial view of Tick Hall
Compass
“This is one of the most important properties in the area, with a very special historic lineage,” Burns says. “It is protected by the Montauk Association Historic District, so the house can’t be torn down.”
The house got its name when its first owner paid wry tribute to the many tiny inhabitants with whom he shared his space. Today, the ticks are long gone, leaving only their name.