The Brewster House, A Dilapidated Memory of Sportsmen’s Flanders Past, is Demolished

Pictured Above: The Brewster House in Flanders in late October of this year.

A long-abandoned bright blue former boarding house on Flanders Road was demolished by Southampton Town contractors on Friday, paving the way for the property to be used for water quality improvement purposes.

The town purchased the property through its Community Preservation Fund for $400,000 in 2021, with the stated purpose of using it for water quality improvement because it “is an important parcel for planned neighborhood sewage treatment plant infrastructure.”

The massive rambling building was constructed in many parts over the decades since 1880, when it was known as The Grove House.

The building, at three-and-a-half stories and 2,040 square feet, was once at the center of Flanders life when the sleepy hamlet served as a getaway for sportsmen who fished and hunted with local guides, and slept at either the Brewster House or other nearby boarding houses.

It also includes a two-story, 650-square-foot addition, which likely predates the main building.

Parts of the rear portion of the building date back to the 18th Century and much of the building was constructed in the mid-19th Century, according to former Southampton Town Landmarks & Historic Districts Board Chair Sally Spanburgh, who gave a report on the history of the building back in 2016, when the town had sought the demolition of the building but its former owners had planned to renovate it and turn it into a boutique hotel.

At the time it was purchased by the town in 2021, the property was owned by a Limited Liability Company, SSG RE Holdings LLC, incorporated in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The building was most recently clad in asbestos shingles, which were removed and disposed of prior to Friday’s demolition.