Prefab Home—and Local Landmark—on New York’s Shelter Island Sells for a Record $12.95 Million

Aug 23, 2023

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A Mid-Century Modern “marvel” on New York’s Shelter Island has sold for $12.95 million—a record price for the town at the eastern tip of Long Island—according to Sotheby’s International Realty’s East Hampton Brokerage.

First listed in February for $13.95 million, the home was removed from the market in mid-August, listing records show. The record sale closed on Monday, according to the listing agency, which declined to identify the buyer. A deed for the deal has not yet appeared in online property records.

The record price for a single-family home on Shelter Island—located between the North and South Forks of Long Island, about 100 miles from New York City—had been $11.6 million for a 16,000-square-foot megamansion that sold in 2021, according to records with Zillow.

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Now that record has been shattered—and by an abode created from plywood and prefabricated housing units.

Dubbed the Snyder House, the 1952 mansion was designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg for John Snyder, the CEO of the Pressed Steel Car Company, which manufactured the Unishelter housing units created by Goldberg, according to the Bertrand Goldberg website.

“The prefabricated units, complete with bathroom, kitchen, plumbing and HVAC, were fabricated in Chicago, shipped by rail, then by boat and finally assembled on Shelter Island,” according to the site. “Two separate units, the guest and main houses, were glued together on site. The prefabricated elements were built of naturally finished mahogany plywood, which gave the exterior a dramatic sheen.”

Inside, the home is anchored by a stone fireplace surrounded by flagstone flooring.

“The natural materials provided a dramatic contrast to the glass-and-steel exterior of the main living space. The focal point of the house was a dramatic cantilever, composed of the prefabricated units, which jutted out over Long Island Sound,” the website continued. The site was eventually “recognized as a mid-century marvel, both in design and waterfront location, offering magnificent panoramic water views of West Neck Harbor and Long Island Sound.”

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In 2000, the home was sold to the current owners for $2.55 million, according to records with PropertyShark. In 2002, they started an extensive but sympathetic renovation of the property, according to the listing with Nick Brown of Sotheby’s International Realty’s East Hampton Brokerage.

The original footprint, as well as many elements of its original design were preserved, but it was also updated for modern living.

Sitting on 3.4 acres, the home is just over 6,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, a chef’s kitchen, a game room and numerous reception areas.

Outside, there is a heated saltwater gunite pool, a private beach, and, “something truly rare and unusual: a 235-foot deep water dock,” the listing said.

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