Peninsula In Passage

Obici House When Amedeo and Louise Obici moved to Suffolk to build his career in peanuts they also built their new life on the riverfront Bay Point Farm in Sleepy Hole. In December 1924, Obici purchased the 260+ acre estate from Leila A. Wagner, a widow who had inherited the farm from her late husband. Obici moved the circa 1870 farm house to its current setting and built a 7000 square foot Italian inspired mansion around the original structure. An elegant staircase sized to Obici’s diminutive stature, stained glass panels (one depicting a peanut plant in bloom), fluted columns and large windows enhanced the house’s Italian flair. The Obicis decorated with sculpture and paintings collected on trips to Italy and added amenities, then hi-tech, such as central heat and air conditioning and a fire alarm system. A winding tree lined lane led to the main entrance, flanked by brick pedestals and a pair of cast concrete lions. It was a beautiful place to entertain and a home to enjoy. The Obicis did both. They had no children but Louise’s niece, Louise, visited often from Pennsylvania. “Even though she was two years younger than me, I was invited to play,” says Frances Jones Cleveland who grew up in Driver. “The chauffeur picked me up to go to the mansion. I remember that Obici kept two pet goats in the kitchen and had one bear in the barn.” Louise Obici enjoyed an extensive garden of exotic plants. In 1936 Obici registered the Bay Point Dairy Farm and marketed milk from his herd of Guernseys. Their world was shattered when Louise Obici died in 1938 and Amedeo, broken-hearted, locked the door and moved into the Hotel Elliot. When he died in 1947 the estate went to his brother in-law Mario Peruzzi with instructions to sell the contents of the house, cows, and anything else he wished. John H. Sheally II

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