Famous artist couple lists their 1797 Sag Harbor house for $3.5M

If you’ve been looking to buy property outside the city, here’s your chance to do it before summer starts AND own a piece of history. This Federal-style home in Sag Harbor was built in 1797 as the original “pastor’s manse” that belonged to the Presbyterian Church. In the 20th century, its history turned more artistic; it was owned by screen actor Hurd Hatfield from 1951 to 1972 and then by celebrated Jazz musician Hal McKusick until 2017. Famed artist couple Eric Fischl and April Gornik bought it after that and undertook an extensive renovation that modernized the home while preserving its early American architectural features. They’ve now listed it for $3.5 million.

As the listing explains, the two-and-a-half-story house “is named for Nathaniel Prime who was Pastor beginning in 1806.” Throughout are period moldings, 200-year-old floors, beamed ceilings, exposed brick, and four wood-burning fireplaces.

Upon entering are the living room and dining room. Off the dining room is a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom.

Past the dining room is the kitchen, which has been modernized with industrial-style open shelves and high-end appliances.

In total, the home has six bedrooms and four bathrooms.

On the second floor, a cozy writing studio with a skylight is lofted above the bedroom.

There’s also a finished third floor with two small bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a storage area.

The home also comes with a detached barn that, as the listing says, can be “used as an artist’s studio, workshop, or furniture retail space.”

Eric Fischl is an acclaimed painter and sculptor best known for his 1980s figurative paintings depicting suburban life and sexuality. April Gornik is a landscape painter known for her cloud scenes. The couple has lived in Sag Harbor for decades. They purchased this home in 2017 for $2,495,000. In 2018, they made headlines when they bought the former Sag Harbor United Methodist Church just down the street for $7 million with plans to turn it into an arts center. A Sag Harbor Express article published at the time explained that the couple planned to preserve its historic bones and undertake “an ambitious project meant to create an arts incubator to complement other cultural institutions peppering the village.” Called The Church, the center was planned to open this year.

[Listing: 31 Madison Street by Shannan M. North of Brown Harris Stevens and Lori Schiaffino for Compass]

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Listing images courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens