Last week, Old Field Vineyard became the most expensive single-lot sale in Southold Town history, closing at $12.35 million. The property was listed for 48 days before going into contract with an as-yet-unnamed buyer.
The previous single-lot record was set by a Cutchogue mansion that sold for $11.2 million in October. That sale followed another Cutchogue home that closed for $8 million in May 2025.
All three record-setting transactions, which closed within the past 12 months, were handled by Compass agent Bridget Elkin. Elkin also listed the former vineyard, which closed at the end of November.
“What’s really interesting is that all three buyers of those properties tie to the North Fork,” Elkin said. “I think a lot of the public assumes it’s someone coming from the Hamptons or New York. But actually, it was North Forkers pushing the market ahead … People who live and breathe the North Fork are going to value it the highest.”
Elkin said Southold’s zoning laws — and the property’s R-80 zoning with an Agricultural District exception — limit future development. No more than two additional houses could be built on the property, and each would have to sit on approximately two acres.
She said nearly every potential buyer who expressed interest wanted to preserve the property’s character.
“The first contacts this buyer asked for were the people taking care of the grapes and the trees,” Elkin said. “It’s all about preserving the magic of the property.”
The vineyard, owned by Rosamond Phelps Baiz and her late husband, Christian Baiz, who died in February 2025, is referred to as “Old Field” in town records dating back to 1665.
Baiz’s family has owned the property since 1919. Christian and Rosamond Phelps Baiz purchased it from the estate of his grandmother, Clara Lang, in 1996. In the years that followed, they planted 10 acres of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Pinot Noir, beginning the property’s transition into a vineyard.
Over nearly three decades, Old Field became a destination for gatherings — hosting parties and weddings and, for a time, outdoor movie screenings on the front lawn.
The vineyard made its Hollywood debut in the 2010 film The Romantics, starring Josh Duhamel, Katie Holmes and Anna Paquin. According to Wine Enthusiast, about 100 North Fork residents served as extras in the movie.
Elkin said filming took place in the main house, one of two residences on the property. The larger structure, which was moved closer to the bay during the winter of 1919-20, along with the building closest to Main Road, once comprised the Kreutzers’ Park Hotel, which operated from the mid-to-late 1800s until 1915.
The 21.41-acre property sits along Peconic Bay and includes a private beach with nearly 500 feet of shoreline.
“You have this undulating piece of property with vines, open space, a pond and barns, and these historic structures,” Elkin said. “It feels like a time capsule of the North Fork.”
According to Wine Enthusiast, Rosamond Phelps Baiz and Christian Baiz’s children — Ryan Weiss and Perry Bliss — along with Bliss’s husband, Zak, were the fifth generation to work the land.
The Baizes’ move from Bronxville in Westchester County to Southold was a gamble on Long Island’s emerging wine industry. Speaking to Northforker magazine in 2016, Christian Baiz said he knew he could not farm raw crops like potatoes or pumpkins. After learning about Alex and Louisa Hargrave, founders of Hargrave Vineyards — Long Island’s first commercial vineyard — he had his “aha” moment.
In the years that followed, Old Field became deeply woven into the fabric of the community. On Oct. 9, 2025, the vineyard announced its pending closure on Instagram: “It is with heavy heart that we say goodbye to The Old Field Vineyards on November 30th.”
The comments quickly filled with expressions of sadness and personal memories tied to the vineyard. In response to questions about why the winery was closing, the family said it was time to move on to their next adventure.
Its Soloviev unless proven otherwise