New Montauk Point Lighthouse tenant in awe of his 'utopian and priceless' view from the top

It’s a Montauk property with a million-dollar view, but the new tenant won’t pay a penny to live there.

Joseph Gaviola, a Montauk businessman, stockbroker and the longtime chairman of the former Suffolk County National Bank, has signed on to become the next keeper of the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Like his recently retired predecessor, Margaret Winski, Gaviola will watch over the grounds in exchange for his keep in an apartment above the museum next to the 220-year-old lighthouse.

Lighthouse living can be solitary in the off-season, when the structure is closed to the public, and crowded between April and December when it attracts 100,000 annual visitors. But it comes with 365 days of panoramic vistas off Long Island’s easternmost tip.

“I will have one of the most amazing views in all of New York,” Gaviola said in a recent interview at the lighthouse property. “It is utopian and priceless.”

Winski, who began the job in 1987 after the Montauk Historical Society acquired the structure from the U.S. Coast Guard, retired from her longtime position as a Montauk Post Office clerk and moved to Maine in June. There she plans to write a book recounting her experiences, highlighting the messages in bottles she has collected from the shore, nature encounters and the major storms she observed from the top of the tower. She said superstorm Sandy was the first time she felt the lighthouse shake.

"We had high winds and the tower was vibrating," Winski said, adding that she quickly dismissed any fears. "I thought, it's been up for 200 years, it's going to stay."

Gaviola, 63, has for two decades served the lighthouse in a pro bono role as its finance director. The National Historic Landmark, built in 1796 and commissioned by President George Washington, funds most of its $1.5 million annual budget through admission sales, he said. General admission is $11, senior citizens pay $8 and children are admitted for $4.

Gaviola, like Winski, carries a lifelong passion for the lighthouse and its contribution to Montauk’s maritime history, said Greg Donohue, a lighthouse board member and its erosion control director.

“We have a good group taking care of a national historic landmark, and it’s working pretty damn good,” Donohue said. “It is quite an amazing story. The Montauk Historical Society created what is essentially a million-dollar business.”

Gaviola won’t be required to tend to the lens and  its oil lamp  like keepers of the 19th century — the Coast Guard maintains the light today. Instead, he will be expected to make sure the property stays clear of vandals and trespassers and will monitor it during storms.

“It’s not like the old keepers where we’re hauling kerosene to the top of the light,” Gaviola said.

The apartment needs some renovations, and internet and cell service is spotty at best, he said. Gaviola doesn’t quite know how he’ll spend his evenings, save for an Adirondack chair and a glass of cabernet sauvignon enjoyed as the sun sets. He plans to start staying there in September.

“It’ll be an adventure,” he said. “I don’t have it all figured out.”