Proposed change may allow bed-and-breakfasts on busy road

Head of the Harbor trustees are considering changing village code to allow some homes along Route 25A to be operated as bed-and-breakfasts.

Mayor Douglas Dahlgard early this month proposed a “floating” zone that would allow trustees to consider applications individually from homeowners along the village’s largest road, where Dahlgard said high traffic has depressed real estate values. About 13,000 vehicles daily travel the stretch of Route 25A between Van Buren Street and the Smithtown-Brookhaven town line, according to the New York State Department of Transportation. 

The home that inspired the idea is called Innisfallen — a 10-bedroom, eight-bathroom Gothic Revival mansion off Three Sisters Road that once belonged to Joel Smith, a member of Smithtown's founding family — and is for selling for $929,000.  

Some of the majesty of the 1851 home — it boasts a 30-by-17-foot living room with 12-foot ceilings and two marble fireplaces — has been marred, at least from the outside, by a troublesome stand of bamboo and a fence that is falling down.

“We’re the fiduciaries for the village, and we want to maintain historic structures,” Dahlgard said at a Nov. 7 work session. “It needs someone with deep pockets to come in and renovate it, bring it back to what it was.” He reasoned that the house might attract more interest with the income potential of a bed-and-breakfast than solely as a restoration project. 

The village will base its code on New York State law for bed-and-breakfasts, Dahlgard said. Under state law, bed-and-breakfasts with an owner who lives on site and five or fewer bedrooms for paying lodgers can be considered an accessory use; larger operations face heightened regulations.   

Trustees will hold a public hearing before making any change to the village code, he said. That meeting could come as soon as December.

Owner Lance Mallamo, the former Suffolk County historian and Vanderbilt Museum director who now lives in Virginia, described Innisfallen in an interview as "the perfect house for an extended family." His parents and mother-in-law had lived there for a time, he said, and "there were times, literally, when I didn't see them for weeks, because it's a big enough house."  

The home comes with a rich history. One of Joel Smith's indirect descendants, Nissequogue Mayor Richard Smith, said his ancestor built it after suffering the loss of two wives in four years at nearby Deepwells Mansion. "He was so crushed by this he vowed never to live in that house. He sold it and went down 25A and built" Innisfallen, Smith said.

In 1924, Mallamo said, then-owner Alice Throckmorton McLean — philanthropist and founder of one of the largest women's auxiliary groups in history — added a servants' wing in preparation for a visit from the Prince of Wales. The visit never occurred.   

Elyse and Marty Buchman, owners of the Stony Brookside Bed and Bike Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Stony Brook, said that while there is a lodging shortage in the area and they knew of no bed-and-breakfasts in Smithtown, anyone who took over Innisfallen would have to market the home to compete with more established tourist destinations such as Long Island’s North Fork.  

Innisfallen’s large size could make it an attractive prospect for someone familiar with the industry, they said, and a successful bed-and-breakfast there could mean a win for neighbors. “It would probably be advantageous to the immediate area," Elyse Buchman said. "Your house has to look pristine to attract those guests.”

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.