Mindy Gray, owner of the Sagaponack General Store, celebrated its reopening on April 16 to an outpouring of community support, confirming her heartfelt vision for the space while validating her efforts and planning.
The 1878 building, which underwent a four-year renovation, exudes a nostalgic atmosphere with a soft-serve ice cream station and a large penny candy selection in retrofitted post office boxes, blended with modern offerings like a coffee station, fresh baked goods, sandwiches, and locally made provisions, ensuring that its rich and meaningful history continues to be celebrated and preserved for the present and future. In addition to the building’s move back 15 feet from the road, Gray collaborated with architect Frank Greenwald and builder Zappola Construction on installing a floor-to-ceiling glass window to flood the back of the store with natural light, highlighting the original beams and rustic charm while offering unobstructed views of the farmland beyond, thus transporting guests to a simpler, pastoral past.
The addition of a front porch nods to the outpost history of the historic building.
Vintage signage and artisanal provisions create an inviting space to shop before ordering at the ice cream counter.
Mary Hildreth’s dollhouse beckons nostalgia. Repurposed post office boxes hold a variety of penny candy.
A modern floor-to-ceiling glass wall floods the formerly dark space with light while offering expansive farmland views.
Fresh bread and baked goods welcome visitors to the order counter.
Mindy Gray, owner of the Sagaponack General Store, pauses with fresh flowers grown on the property, displayed on a vintage ice sled also found on the property.
“My vision and hope is that this would become a place for people to gather by design, but also serendipitously,” explains Gray. “—to break bread (and biscuits) together and meet friends, old and new.”
Emphasizing the store’s historical connection as a trading post, Gray, who credits her father Philip Basser for a deep appreciation for craftsmanship, sourced and repurposed many of the antiques throughout the space, mixing meaningful details into the design by hanging historic signage for Shaw and Truesdell feed, displaying Mary Hildreth’s dollhouse and reimagining a vintage ice sled (found in the Hildreths barn located behind the store) as a property-grown fresh flower holder.
“The use of the sled for me is a perfect marriage of the old, cherished history of what this store has always meant to Sagaponack and is now literally blooming in a new way for the current community,” explains Gray. “Planting our flowers behind the barn, along with fresh herbs, serves as perfect sustenance for the 10 honeybee hives managed by local beekeeper Chris Kelly while supplying ingredients for cooking and selling.”
Downstairs houses a restaurant-worthy commercial kitchen designed to “feed as many people as possible,” explains Gray, while maintaining long-term durability and sustainability. “Chef Daniel Eddy has been an incredible partner, and I was confident that the menu he helped me develop would be one people would travel to.”
The creation of the welcoming porch represents that ethos, further emphasizing the desire for community gathering. “The oldest iteration of the store was known as Chamberlain Bros., and it had a front porch,” says Gray of the new addition. “I loved the idea of restoring this original element but also that it would be a place for people to linger and relax.”
