Montauk Association Historic District

Above the Atlantic bluffs east of Ditch Plains, in Montauk, seven large shingled cottages mark what was once an exclusive summer colony. A group of wealthy New Yorkers formed the Montauk Association in 1881. Frederick Law Olmsted laid out the site to follow the natural contours, marshes and scrub, with unpaved roads and trails linking the buildings. McKim, Mead, and White designed the cottages, which were built by the end of 1883, along with a central clubhouse that burned in 1933. The rambling, gable-roofed houses have wide verandas and shingle cladding, and they are regarded as early examples of the shingle style. Sites of a laundry and a stable also survive as archaeological resources. Association members enjoyed fishing, yachting and other outdoor leisure for decades before properties changed hands. The district covers about 100 acres, and the cottages remain private residences that keep their sense of interrelationship and their coastal setting.