Perched over Shelter Island’s Dering Harbor, the Boat House is an enchanting waterfront retreat – and the site of our rental home in collaboration with Boutique. Originally built in the 1920s and carefully renovated nearly a century later, today the three-bedroom home captures the spirit of an idyllic summer Out East, furnished by DWR to reflect the cadence of coastal living.
Tour the Boat House
Dining room
Leisurely gatherings take shape around the warmth of Møller’s solid wood Otto Dining Table. Cushioned and upholstered Model 82 Chairs invite you to linger long after the meal ends.
Parlor
The heart of the home, the parlor fosters analog connections over table games, books, and vintage vinyl. HAY’s modular Amanta Sofa lets you tailor seating to the activity at hand.
Primary bedroom
Tactile materials welcome guests in the primary, clad in white oak reclaimed from a Pennsylvania Mennonite barn. The pure wool All Hands Rug brings soft comfort to every step.
Back deck
Take in the sounds of the harbor – the gentle lap of the tide, the call of seagulls – from the airy comfort of HAY’s Palissade Dining Set, a perch for every meal and moment outdoors.
Still sheltered
At the turn of the century, steamships ferried travelers from Manhattan to Shelter Island’s grand hotel and casino. At the time, Long Island’s South Fork was still fishing shacks and farmland; Shelter Island was where society summered. That legacy remains – not in manicured estates, but in what the island refuses to become.
No traffic lights. One gas station. Farm stands and roadside oyster coolers that operate on the honor system. Here, days unfold naturally – from waking with the sounds of the harbor and cycling to Crescent Beach to afternoon walks at Mashomack Preserve and sunset dinners under open skies.
Take in the full picture on YouTube.
Framing
history
Originally part of Shelter Island’s working waterfront in the 1920s, the Boat House was deeply sentimental to its first owner, Dick Driscoll, for whom it was a family home. In his late 80s, Driscoll sold the property to Scott Murphy, a builder and designer who sought to preserve the soul of the home.
Murphy planned to increase the square footage but leave the back of the home – the original Boat House – untouched. When Hurricane Sandy changed the elevation requirements for the area, keeping it intact became impossible. Instead, he rebuilt it exactly as it was – “like a movie set,” he notes.
The home’s original boat house is complemented by Murphy’s carefully considered new construction, where floor-to-ceiling glass walls frame the harbor. “It’s not just the location – it’s about the feeling people get when they’re there. I look at myself as just a steward, holding down the fort."
Digital detox
Life on Shelter Island is made for taking it easy – a sentiment beautifully captured in the parlor of the Boat House, where a curated collection of vintage vinyl and meticulously crafted, hi-fi Wrensilva record console nod to simple living – unedited and unfiltered. Stop scrolling, start spinning.