About Us





  
Cleaves Point is a beautiful condominium community at the water’s edge of Shipyard Lane in East Marion, NY. It consists of 62 units within six buildings. There are 36 condominium units with either one or two bedrooms and 26 townhouse units with two bedrooms all with breathtaking views of Gardiner’s Bay, Shelter Island, and the countless sailboats, pleasure boats, yachts, fishing boats, and ferries that grace the waters outside of Greenport, beautiful waterfront village. 
  • In the late 1800s, Orange Cleaves began building mansions in East Marion and Greenport - one on Shipyard Lane, one on Front Street (next to St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church) and one on what is now Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport.
  • The land situated on Gardiner's Bay, to the west of Shipyard Lane, was officially named "Cleaves Point" by its original owner, Latham A. Fish, a wealthy businessman from NYC. 
  • The land situated on Gardiner's Bay, to the west of Shipyard Lane, was officially named "Cleaves Point" by its original owner, Latham A. Fish, a wealthy businessman from NYC. In 1889, Mr. Fish hired Parker Moore to build a three-story bay front home - where Buildings 2 and 3 are today.
  • The rear of the house faced the bay and had large columns and a huge porch designed to catch the southeasterly winds. The house had a circular drive and two entrances on Shipyard Lane. (For those of you who like to explore, you might look for remnants of old pilings from the Fish family's boat dock at low tide.)
  • The Fish family used Cleaves Point as a summer home for several decades, commuting from Wall Street by train (and even by private hydroplane).
  • The caretaker and gardener, Martin Beck, planted maple trees that formed a canopy over Shipyard Lane, which was a rural, unpaved road at the time. Unfortunately, hurricanes and nor'easters eventually decimated the maple trees.
  • Mr. Beck also managed a large greenhouse on Cleaves Point.  Thus, residents and guests had an abundance of vegetables and flowers.  (Our garden plots today are quite modest in comparison!)
  • On the northernmost border of the property (past our boat trailers and sheds) was a grape arbor, a flagstone path, an ornamental fishpond, and a 30-foot-long cement bench. This site has recently been cleared and the goldfish pond and bench have been destroyed.
  • Fun fact: In the present day, in digging for a foundation to build a new house on that northern border, the crew found two small, marked graves.  This is where the Fish family's two pet doggies were buried.
  • At the end of the 1930s with the beginning of the Great Depression, the Fish family's fortune decreased and continued to decline after World War II. Furthermore, the 1938 Hurricane devastated the surrounding land and homes. As a result, in the late 1940s, Mr. and Mrs. Fish stopped coming to Cleaves Point and the mansion fell into disrepair.  A fire in 1965 destroyed what was left. 
  • Opposite the Fish estate was the Blue Point Oyster Farm that included a small boat building operation.  In the 1940s, Mr. Wallace King sold bait and rented rowboats at the end of Shipyard Lane.
  • Today, as you walk west along the beach past the Cleaves Point Condominiums, you can see a seasonal cottage community.  In the late 1800s, it was the Trowbridge Hollister mansion, which included a large dairy farm.
  • Walking even further west, you'll find a large restored Victorian home, which once was part of the Merkel meat (and Hormel ham) family fortune. Prior to becoming the caretaker for the Cleaves Point estate, Mr. Beck was a caretaker for the Merkels.  He built an icehouse, which eventually became a children's playhouse.
  • The yellow house still standing at 1895 Shipyard Lane used to be on the Merkel estate - as a carriage house.  Mr. Beck had it moved to Shipyard Land and gave it to his daughter and son-in-law as a wedding gift.
  • 1978, Mr. Emmanuel (Manny) Kontokosta of Brooklyn and Greenport purchased a parcel of property in front of Gardiners Bay on the west side of Shipyard Lane.
  • And the rest … is history! To learn more about how Cleaves Point Condominiums developed, please refer to Donna Kenny's excellent research in your owner's manual, section 2.1.
As the premiere condominium community on the North Fork, Cleaves Point has wonderful amenities, including a pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, recreation courts, a marina, and a beach. 
Cleaves Point enjoys the distinction of being the eastern most waterfront condominium community on the North Fork and is blessed to be part of this little slice of heaven on earth.
With the launch of the The Cleaves Pointer website, we thought it would be interesting to include some highlights of Cleaves Point history.