Barbara Smithen, owner of Sherwood House Vineyards, above, has sold the Mattituck property. (Credit: Kendall Stark)
Barbara Smithen, who founded Sherwood House Vineyards with her late husband, Dr. Charles Smithen, has sold the 38-acre Mattituck property, which includes her home and vineyard.
The Oregon Road property, which features a three-bedroom farmhouse built in 1860 as well as 36 acres of vines, sold for $1,835,000, according to public records. The deal closed on Wednesday, May 20.
“There is just this thing about Oregon Road,” said Sheri Winter Clarry of The Corcoran Group, the property’s listing agent. “It’s spectacular.”
Sherwood House Vineyards will continue to operate out of its tasting room on Main Road in Jamesport, Smithen said. The company will purchase grapes from the Oregon Road property and winemaker Gilles Martin will continue to make its wine at Premium Wine Group in Mattituck.
“We will still make our award-winning wines and sell them at our tasting room,” Smithen told northforker Thursday afternoon. “My husband passed away and it was just too much for me. I figured I don’t need the vineyard, I don’t need the big house. So, c’est la vie.”
Clarry didn’t name the buyers who purchased the property by using an LLC. She said the buyers plan to keep the vines, which take up 36 of the 38 acres, in place.
“We had a ton of interest, even when it was in contract,” Clarry said of the property.
Smithen has also bought out her two partners at Sherwood House and named former tasting room manager Kristen Hand as general manager.
“It was very amicable,” she said of the buyout. “I think this is great. There is a lot of young blood in here and it will be, just, different. We have such a great clientele and they’ve been very supportive of us.”
This is the second Oregon Road vineyard property to change hands this year. The Damianos family, which owns Pindar and Duck Walk Vineyards, sold 90 acres of land including 30 acres of vines for $6.5 million in February.
Smithen described the feeling of selling the home she shared with her husband since 1996 as “wild.”
“When I closed that door, you know, that’s really tough. A lot of things were going through my head,” she said. “But when you close a chapter in your life, one door closes and another opens.”
Dr. Smithen, a cardiologist who who was known for his commitment to the local wine community as well as to making exceptional wines, died while body surfing in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 14, 2015. He was 72.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
