THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, August 2, 2019 |M1
which is widely believed to have been built using
timbers recovered from the ship which carried the
Pilgrims to the New World in 1620.
Knapfield’s property, Old Jordans, is a former
farmhouse once owned by the Quaker church, and
the Mayflower Barn isn’t its only historical draw.
Abutting his property is one of the oldest Quaker
cemeteries in Britain, and the burial site of William
Please turn to page M10MANSION
$27 Million
Bruce Willis sells
Turks and Caicos
estate. M2Creature
Comfort
These showings
got wild. M6HOMES|MARKETS|PEOPLE|REDOS|SALESA Slice of American
History in England
Modern interiors fill this historic estate, which
links to the earliest days of the New World—and
the ship that brought the Pilgrims thereIT HAPPENSall the time. While hard at work, Paul
Knapfield is interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s
sightseers, showing up at his house 25 miles north-
west of London, asking if he can give them a glimpse
of American history.
His house isn’t of any particular interest to tour-
ists. What they want to see is his Mayflower Barn,BYRUTHBLOOMFIELDOn the ancient
property of Old
Jordans, the
Mayflower
Barn houses
some of the
owner’s car
collection, far
left. The
floating
staircase in the
main house,
left.VANESSA BERBERIAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)
D
own a single-lane pebbled road near the
tip of the Long Island peninsula—largely
invisible to traffic, unknown to most visi-
tors—a historic collection of wood-shin-
gled homes hearkens to the Hamptons of
more than a century ago. It was a time before air-condi-
tioning and infinity pools, when herds of cattle and
sheep roamed Montauk’s ranches.
Known as the Seven Sisters, the properties date to the
early 1880s, when Arthur Benson, the wealthy developer
of Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood, bought 10,000
acres around the Montauk area for $151,000, and estab-
lished a summer fishing retreat for himself and six of his
friends. They would arrive by horse and buggy, stay for
the summer and, when the weather turned, drain the
pipes and head back to the city until the following year.
The friends built their homes around a central club-
house, where they gathered for meals and parties.
Newly formed architecture firm McKim, Mead &
White—which would later become famous for projects
like the original Pennsylvania Station in New York
City—designed the houses with Queen Anne-style de-
tails, small turrets, cupolas and wraparound porches.
Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect best
known for New York’s Central Park, planned the
grounds, scoping out sites that took best advantage of
the ocean views.
The prominence of this small cluster of homes has
grown over time. And the area has changed from ranches
to a quiet fishing area to a hip vacation resort for cock-
tail-imbibing New Yorkers.
Befitting its current status, the Seven Sisters belong to
a number of high-profile owners. They include artist Ju-
lian Schnabel, fashion photographer Bruce Weber and his
Please turn to page M4The Most Famous Group of
Homes You’ve Never Heard Of
Tucked down a single-lane road in Montauk, the Seven Sisters have an architectural
pedigree, a hot location and a number of high-profile owners.BYKATHERINECLARKEHoyt House Sanger HouseBenson House Agnew HouseDeForest HouseTV personality Dick Cavett
Price: Undisclosed; bought in 1968Artist Julian Schnabel
Price: $1.1 million in 1998Photographer Bruce Weber and Nan Bush
Price: $4.55 million in 2004Family of HazeAnn Smith
Price: $85,000 in 1977Lyn Brillo
Price: $700,000 in 1995Sandra Brant
Price: $5 million in 2000David Zander
Price: $6.995 million in 2012Designed by McKim, Mead & White in the 19th century, these seven homes are named after their original owners—seven friends who would get to the then-rural area by horse and buggy.BRIAN BERKOWITZ FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (7); MET MUSEUM/PUBLIC DOMAIN (CYANOTYPE)Captain’s door
Orr HouseFOR
SALEAndrews HouseFOR
SALE