This Italianate Victorian has operated as Quintessentials Bed & Breakfast...

This Italianate Victorian has operated as Quintessentials Bed & Breakfast and Spa since the mid-1990s. It is on the market in October 2016 for $1.2 million. Credit: Douglas Elliman Real Estate

Once a sea captain’s mansion, this 1850s East Marion home was transformed into a bed-and-breakfast. The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom Italianate Victorian is now listed for $1.2 million.

The home has been operating as Quintessentials Bed & Breakfast and Spa since the mid-90s, earning the 2016 TripAdvisor Award of Excellence and other local awards.

“I got the idea to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast after I bought it and realized it was a very big house, and I would like to let other people enjoy it,” says homeowner Sylvia Daley, who transitioned from a career as a financial executive in international banking to Quintessentials’ innkeeper and spa director.

The front door, oak with gold and turquoise stained glass, immediately “puts you into a mode that this is a nice, stately house,” Daley says.

All the bedrooms, including the first-level innkeeper’s quarters, include a full bathroom. Three of the bedrooms offer a private deck overlooking a garden. The house also has two living rooms, a dining room, formal dining room and kitchen that leads to a back deck. Two sunrooms in the house are currently used as spas.

Original wood floors are featured in the 4,000-square-foot home, which also has crafted woodwork throughout and four oak-framed fireplaces, some surrounded by subway-style tile and others in hammered copper.

Winding paths lead to various gardens in the yard, including a meditation garden and an organic vegetable garden. Also on the 0.75-acre property is a restored two-story barn, blacksmith’s cottage, pump house and two covered front porches adorned with gingerbread trim. The property is surrounded by lavender fields and is close to vineyards.

At the peak of the house — originally owned by Captain Leek, whose first name is believed to have been Abraham — is a widow’s walk cupola that offers views of Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay.

Listing agent Victoria Germaise of Douglas Elliman Real Estate says the lot, taxes for which are $6,115, has Hamlet Business Zoning and that the bed-and-breakfast business will be included with the price of the home.

“It’s a very flourishing business, but it would also be a great home for someone with a large family or who enjoys entertaining a lot,” Germaise says.

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