The pandemic made the restoration project take longer than planned, but Shelter Island will finally get its most historic Peconic Bay-front resort back this summer.
On June 17, The Pridwin will begin receiving guests for the first time since November 2019. But it won’t be exactly the same property that pre-pandemic guests may remember. The $28 million redevelopment on Crescent Beach by Curtis Bashaw’s Cape Resorts is an inside-and-out upgrade of the beloved but run-down hotel that first opened in 1929.
The new Pridwin will boast 16 private cottages on the seven-acre grounds, 49 guest rooms in the main building, a restored lobby and public areas, and a stylish restaurant, as well as a private beach and pool services.
Colleen Bashaw, Cape Advisors’ vice president of design who is Curtis’s sister, created Pridwin’s new look. It retains the original structure’s bones and some of its fixtures but introduces modern motifs to complement the historic elements. Three chandeliers reclaimed from the 1927 dining room will be re-hung in the restored upper lobby.
The property aims to exploit swelling demand for Shelter Island lodging. The island’s most famous inn, the celebrity-magnet Sunset Beach Hotel, has only 20 guest rooms.
Pridwin will have a more discreet ambience. It will likely draw new clientele to the limited-access island, which can be reached only by ferries from Sag Harbor in the Hamptons or from Greenport on the North Fork.
Bashaw’s Pridwin partner is the Petry family, who have owned and operated the resort since 1961.
“They have an enormous legacy role,” Bashaw said.
Cape Resorts is the operating partner.
Bashaw planned to take over Pridwin nearly three years ago but the project was unsurprisingly delayed by the arrival of the coronavirus.
He likened Pridwin’s revival to the reopening of Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel by different developers.
“Like at the Chelsea, we’re bringing back a legacy. Pridwin was an icon but it wasn’t renovated since the 1970s. We love restoring old places and this one has the old-school charm and vibe,” he said.
Cape also owns Sag Harbor’s Barron’s Cove resort and several others in Cape May, New Jersey.