Building a dream

Almost 45 years ago, Jeff Hallock was a kid riding his bike past a creaky old house on South Jamesport Avenue, thinking the same spooky thoughts his friends were thinking. "To all of us kids, it was a haunted house," Hallock says of the 19th century Jamesport mansion. "When we got older, in high school, we'd sneak in on Halloween nights, just for something to do."

For decades, the five-story Italianate villa on South Jamesport Avenue sat vacant, falling deeper and deeper into disrepair. Village residents and summer visitors viewed the rickety structure with a mix of curiosity and creepiness, like a setting from a Stephen King novel.

Today, Captain Jedediah Hawkins' house is a plush restaurant and inn, breathtakingly restored to the tune of nearly $3.5 million. A blend of original materials - virtually all the doors and windows and much of the wood flooring, wall trim and stair rails remain intact - and modern technology, including wireless Internet, plasma televisions in every bedroom and central air-conditioning, the project is more a tribute to builder Jeff Hallock's perseverance than historical preservation.

Yes, the Hallock house is a link to a Long Island of the past, when sea-faring entrepreneurs like Jedediah Hawkins, who died in 1901 at age 63, built sprawling homesteads. But the Hallock house isn't the first area residence from the 1860s to be restored. It probably won't be the last. However, it stands as a testament to Hallock's vision. And it's a story today's children of the North Fork can tell their children and grandchildren.

"I think I feel relief, more than anything," says Hallock, 53, who still makes Jamesport his home and who literally saved the Hawkins house from the wrecking ball. "For almost three years, the house consumed me, took up all of my time. Ever since I was a kid, I had wanted to see it saved. It's good to keep a little history. It's here so everyone can see it, everyone can visit."

Until the recent renovation - the Hawkins house opened to the public last fall - most Jamesport residents had never set foot in the mansion. From 1949 to 2003, it was owned by Stephen Sikorski, a New York City firefighter, and his wife, Helen. Originally, they planned to make a renovated Hawkins house their full-time residence. Hallock says the idea fizzled because the Sikorskis couldn't come up with enough money. Instead, they built a small ranch-style home in front of the Hawkins mansion.

Meanwhile, Hallock watched from a distance, first attending college and then becoming a third-generation builder, following his father, Norm, and his grandfather, Dick. Over time, he befriended the Sikorskis. "They were sort of distant to almost everyone," Hallock says. "But after a while, they opened up to me. I think they realized my intentions were sincere."

For years, curious tourists and passersby would pull into the driveway and ask the Sikorskis to see the Hawkins house. They almost always refused. Hallock believes it was an insurance issue; the house had deteriorated so badly the Sikorskis didn't want anyone to walk through and get injured. Only Hallock, it seemed, had won the Sikorskis' confidence. And as he began to restore other homes in the area, Hallock continued to dream about the Hawkins house.

Then, in 2003, with the Sikorskis in their 90s and the house facing demolition after being declared a safety hazard by the village fire marshal, Hallock came to the rescue. He and a partner, Dr. Frank Arena, a Great Neck oncologist, purchased the house and property, about three acres, for $500,000. The sale allowed the Sikorskis to remain in their ranch-style home, too. (Stephen Sikorski died in April 2004; Helen died in June.)

The deal allowed Hallock to go to work on the mansion. "The first thing we did was put on a temporary roof," Hallock says. "The house had suffered years of water damage, and we had to put a stop to that."

Once the roof was installed, the next task was massive cleanup. All the plaster walls and ceilings were removed. The attic, inhabited by dozens of animals and once struck by lightning, required drastic action. "Every kind of critter native to Long Island had taken up residence here," says Hallock, as he recently toured the attic, which was remade into a two-room bedroom suite.

As the cleanup stretched from August to December and his crew fortified the structure, Hallock mulled several plans. "But you can't really develop a restoration plan until you see what you have," Hallock said. "Cleaning out the interior and removing overgrown shrubs and weeds was a big, big task."

At first, the structure was going to be a premiere show house. Riverhead designers Robert Clark and Raymond Le Cuyer worked with about 30 professionals from Manhattan and Long Island to decorate the interior and landscape the grounds. Last fall, the house opened as part of a Designer Showcase, a six-week public viewing that benefited Central Suffolk Hospital. The response was so great, Hallock and his partners - in addition to Arena, they are Barbara Kammerer, Lia Polites and Frank McVeigh - decided to create the inn and restaurant.

Area residents and visitors still are intrigued by the homesite, Hallock says. "For years, people just went past it, wondering what was inside." Hallock tells of the first time he and his workers opened the home to the public, in the winter of 2004. "We had cleaned it up, but it was still somewhat of a mess," he says. "We had a Christmas party and expected about 40 or 50 people to respond. Almost 300 people walked through the front door."

The restored mansion features a variety of modern materials, such as fiber-cement siding, which replicates wood; slate-like roof shingles of a rubber-plastic composite; radiant heat; PEX (polyethylene) plumbing; a fire-sprinkler system; and propane heat. At the same time, whatever could be salvaged was reused; wood from the demolished barn - the only original building that did not survive - was used to panel the finished basement-wine cellar. Several original pieces of wood siding were used in residing the front entrance. Brick and stone from the foundation also was reused in the basement.

"About 75 to 85 percent of the building is original material," Hallock says.

The five-story mansion has five guest bedrooms, including the attic suite with a belvedere that opens to views of the Great Peconic Bay. The ground floor features a greeting room for the inn, with a concierge, a lounge and a small service bar. The restaurant has three separate dining areas, plus a back patio where guests can dine al fresco.

In addition to the mint-green main house, trimmed in chocolate brown and orange, three original buildings remain - an outhouse (nonfunctional, of course), a small milk barn, and the summer kitchen. The summer kitchen, usually situated at the rear of large homes, was used to prepare meals in warm months. This way, the rest of the home would remain cool. A new barn has been built, and Hallock envisions it being used as guest bedrooms for the inn.

"My crew went from not wanting to be here to never wanting to leave," says Hallock. "And my father was here a lot, too."

Norm Hallock died in July 2005, a few months before the completed project opened to the public. "He didn't get to see us finish," Jeff Hallock says, eyes misting, of his father, mentor, friend and role model. "But I know he would have been really proud of what we have done."

As proud as any father when a son's dream finally comes true.

Tour: Shelter Island Heights Historic House Tour & Tea, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday starts at Union Chapel. Tickets are $25 in advance, $40 at door; 631-749-2315.

While you're in Jamesport ...Go to a tasting at the Jamesport Vineyards, Main Road/ Route 25, 631-722-5256. Open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; tastings, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Buy sweet corn at the Harbes Family Farm Stand, on Main Road opposite the Jamesport Vineyard, 631-722-2022.

Dine at the Jedediah Hawkins Inn & Restaurant, 400 S. Jamesport Ave., 631-722-2900. Dinner: Sunday to Wednesday, 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Thursday to Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. Lunch: Monday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.