In July 2003, through the generosity of 272 members of the community,
The Bridge Hampton Historical Society helped
The Town of Southampton acquire the c.1840 Hampton House,
located on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton.
The BHHS has become the steward and manager of this wonderful
example of Greek Revival architecture that, when restored,
will assume its rightful place on historic Main Street.
Latest developments:
The Town, in partnership with the Bridge Hampton Historical Society,
has just been awarded $250,000 from New York State.
This brings to over a million dollars of money raised for
the purchase, stabilization and restoration
of the Hampton House, one of the gateways into Bridgehampton.
The BHHS is also very pleased to report the Hampton House's listing
on both the National and New York State Register of Historic Places.
If you would like to help with this most worthy restoration project,
please contact the BHHS at (631) 537-1088 or
We are waiting for the completion of a Historic Structures
Report and a Structural Engineer's Report that will guide us in
our on-going deliberations for the future of the
Hampton House.
A Brief History of the Hampton House:
(Researched and written by Geoffrey Fleming)
The building known as Hampton House was built for Nathaniel Rogers (1787-1844) in about 1840. Rogers was born in Bridgehampton, the son of John Topping Rogers (1752-1816) and Sarah Brown (1757-1823). John Topping was the son of John Rogers (1731-1798) a patriot who served under Col. Smith in the Revolutionary War and who signed the Woolworth Agreement in 1787.
Sarah was the daughter of the Rev. James Brown (1720-1788) who was the second pastor of the Church of Christ (Presbyterian Church) in Bridgehampton. Nathaniel was initially involved with the ship building industry, though later, due to a knee injury, he returned to Bridgehampton.
Soon after his return he began to study painting under Mr. Wood in New York City, and eventually became one of the foremost miniature painters in New York. By the late 1830’s, suffering from ill health, Rogers decided to return to Bridgehampton where he built Hampton House. The house was impressive for its day, a full three stories with a fourth-story cupola, an Ionic two-story porch across the front, and elegant roof top balustrades.
Following Rogers’ death in 1844, the house was occupied by his widow Caroline Denison. Following her death, Capt. James Huntting purchased the house and lived there until he built a new house on Ocean Road in the 1870’s. Following his ownership, the De Bost family lived in the house, and then in 1885 a man named Storms purchased the house and opened it as “Hampton House,” a hotel that was equipped with a bar. Hampton House did not flourish under his ownership and after his death, Frank Hopping and Capt. John N. Hedges purchased the building, renovated it, and re-opened it as a first-class hotel and boarding house with the same name.
Until July 2003, the house continued to be owned by members of the Hopping family. The house was badly damaged in the 1938 hurricane, during which it lost its main roof balustrade and cupola. In 1969 New York State prepared a book entitled Long Island Landmarks, in which the State featured the most important structures on the Island. In this book Hampton House was illustrated and described as:
“. . . one of the best Greek Revival structures in the state, with its two story ionic columns across the front center. The local pride typified by its recent repainting holds out a bright future for the area.”
SPLIA (Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities) agrees, and has stated that Hampton House is one of the TWO most important Greek Revival structures still in existence on Long Island (the other is the Onderdonk House, which is located up-Island).
Hampton House front porch, 1921