Board member, restoration co-chair and architect Guillermo Gomez with restoration architect Stephen Tilly. (Douglas Harrington)

East Hampton - Yes, there is a Yellowstone National Park and we can credit its existence, at least partially, to an East End artist. Frankly, the very creation of the National Parks System as we know it today can be traced to the work of Thomas Moran and at the turn of the 20th century you could have addressed your thank you note personally to him at 229 Main Street, East Hampton, New York.

You might have perhaps thought the works of the artist that chronicled the untouched beauty of the barely inhabited West in the mid 1800s would have been Ansel Adams, but in truth it was Moran whose art, years before its existence, was used to convince Congress to create the National Parks Service in 1916.

Adams first set his eyes upon Yosemite National Park in that same year of 1916 during a trip with his parents. Adams was only 14 years old at the time and had not yet even wrapped his very creative fingers around a camera. Although a member of the iconic Hudson River School, Moran had been painting the West since the 1870s. It was not an easy trip for an ardent surveyor, much less a curious artist who called East Hampton home.

Many East End artists donated works for the event's silent auction.

Last week at a cocktail party dominated by social not celebrity names, East Hamptonites gathered in support of a restoration project dear to their hearts! It was a cocktail party in support of a landmark; it was a cocktail party at the legendary, exclusive and very private Maidstone Tennis Club in support of the preservation of the art and homestead of Britain-born Thomas Moran and his equally significant Scottish-born artist wife Mary Nimmo Moran. It was a party populated by Hamptons' legacy and co-chaired by Kim Donaldson and Michael Braverman.

With the backdrop of 16 perfectly trimmed Wimbledon like grass tennis courts, over 100 passionate East Hampton historical-residential-preservationists joined in support of the Thomas Moran Trust. The trust's mission is to restore the Thomas Moran House, the first acknowledged studio/artist residence ever established in the Hamptons. Indeed, what can be considered the genesis of the Hampton's very rich and fertile artistic history from William Merritt Chase to Willem de Kooning to Jackson Pollack to Andy Warhol to April Gornik and beyond.

vent co-chair Kim Donaldson with Thomas Moran Trust Trustee Director Peter Wolf.

Built in 1884, Moran was taken by the beauty of the East End and, although his artistic voyages beckoned him west, he made this self-designed house his primary home until his death in 1926. Mary died in 1899 from typhoid fever and like her husband is buried in East Hampton.

Legendary band leader, socialite and historical preservationist Peter Duchin stopped by in support of the Thomas Moran Trust.

Although having fallen into disrepair, the house was designated as a National Historical Landmark in 1965. The Thomas Moran House was given over to Guild Hall in 2004 upon the death of the owner at the time Elizabeth Lamb in her will and then ownership was transferred to the trust in 2008.

More than just a shrine to an artist, the Thomas Moran Trust Board of Trustees Director and founder explained, "We are not envisioning just a traditional historic house, we are envisioning a place that celebrates creativity." Further noting, based on the Moran's use of the house as an artistic salon, Peter M. Wolf, PhD said, "The Moran's themselves not only painted here, they did etchings and engravings. They had theatricals, they had meetings, they had all kinds of fun events, dress-up parties and so forth. We want to have a very high level of intellectually promising and compelling use of the house from everything from children's painting and education to adult events like concerts and adult workshops."

Based on the turnout for this evening's event, the very potent support is there and the passion for the project is just as formidable. Not an inexpensive undertaking, $4 million has been raised and there is another $4 million to go. Whether blue blood or new blood, every donation counts in support of what very well may be deemed the house from which all the art we call, or should call, the "Hamptons School" first originated.

For more information go to www.thomasmorantrust.org.

Blue blazers and designer sun dresses were the apparel of choice at the very exclusive Maidstone Tennis Club.