“The History Behind the Facades: Our Buildings Tell Our Stories,” the East Hampton Historical Society’s winter lecture series, will kick off Friday at 7 p.m. with a talk by Robert Hefner on the Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran Studio.
Mr. Hefner, East Hampton Village's director of historic services, will tell the story of the restoration of the Moran Studio, from 2012 to 2018. If anyone is qualified to tell that tale it is Mr. Hefner, who told the village board as early as 2008 that the house was “locally and nationally as important as East Hampton's windmills and the Montauk Lighthouse,” as reported by The Star.
The restoration was perhaps the most significant ever undertaken in the village. Discoveries made during the work revealed the character of both The Studio, as the house was called, and the artist. "The personality of that place was unbelievable," Mr. Hefner told The Star. "So haphazard. The turret was just toenailed on. His frugality shone right through." Many of the materials were salvaged from the streets and building sites of New York City.
In subsequent talks, Jacqueline Marks, the archivist at the Amagansett Library, will discuss the East Hampton Town Marine Museum (Feb. 25); David Cataletto, a town trustee, will consider Clinton Academy and the Schoolhouses (March 25), and Hilary Osborn-Malecki, president of the Wainscott Sewing Society, will talk about Mulford Farm (April 29).
All talks will take place at the East Hampton Library and are free to the public.
