Anyone seeking an example of “if you build it, they will come,” need look no further than the projects in RLW4 Builders’ portfolio. The Southampton-based contracting company has rebuilt East End landmarks such as Baron’s Cove, The Pridwin, Dune Deck Beach Club, Temple Adas Israel and the Southampton Fresh Air Home.
Roy “Buddy” Wines created the company based on experience growing up with his father and grandfather, who owned a plumbing business. He also credits his 19th-century tradesmen forebears for his building gene.
“Our family is multi-generational in Southampton,” he says. “It was primarily a plumbing business, but we did have relatives a few generations back that were carpenters.”
When all four Roys across the generations were alive, the youngest Roy was known as Buddy, and the name stuck into adulthood. That family heritage inspired his company name: the “4” signifying the youngest of the Roy L. Wines.
Wines grew up helping his dad, learning to dig trenches and irrigation systems, and other house-handy tasks. But calling himself “the rebel in the family,” he detoured from plumbing into building and was working other construction gigs from 1993 to 2002 before founding his current company.
“I started with me swinging the hammer by myself,” he says, recalling how he and some high school buddies took on handyman jobs in the off season, which provided the experience needed to develop a full-time, all-year enterprise. But, he says, it was as much about building relationships as houses.
“A lot of architects have their contractors and builders that they like to work with,” says Wines, “and when you are in a relationship of that nature, everyone knows what’s expected and knows how each other works, and it’s very hard to break through and earn the trust.”
But it was his foresight in seeing a change in the trade that helped him boost his business.
Building bones
“In 2007 I saw an opening—a niche that nobody else was really doing, and that was residential/commercial,” he explains. “The [tides] were turning with people coming out for vacation and hospitality wasn’t really available because a lot of big hotels had burned down or gone away.”
He saw an opportunity to help hotels expand their offerings either by increasing existing footprint or constructing hotel condominiums. The latter served a market of vacationers who were unable to buy or build their own homes. The Harbor’s Edge condominium in Sag Harbor was an early project that helped cement Wines’ reputation and from there, he says, “we started to become known for being able to do this type of construction.”
Recent projects include the complete rebuild of Dune Deck and the restoration of two significant landmarks: Baron’s Cove and the Pridwin Hotel, mainstays of Sag Harbor and Shelter Island, respectively. For the restoration projects, RLW4 was called in to expand and update the existing sites while preserving their historic character.
Saving Steinbeck’s spot
The rebuilding of Baron’s Cove, a 67-room hotel built in 1958 and known for famous guests like John Steinbeck, involved updating both common spaces and guest rooms and rebuilding the main antebellum-style building.
The new architecture is in keeping with the other buildings on the property, using cedar shingles and keeping the theme and cadence of triangle dormers. The new building maintains the spirit of the old, but adds a welcoming lobby area with a bar and a reception desk, a restaurant with a walkout deck and a swimming pool/spa area. The renovation made room for a raised-bed vegetable garden to serve the restaurant and also give a nod to local history.
“The owners wanted to build a product that was in keeping with the history of not only the property but that also fit within the community,” Wines says, adding, “so the interiors have a lot of details that harken back to Sag Harbor’s history as a whaling community.”
Baron’s Cove owners, Cape Resorts, called upon Wines for their sister project, The Pridwin, a classic waterside resort built in 1927 on Peconic Bay. The eight-acre site on Crescent Beach included a 33-room main building and 16 guest cottages that needed overhauling to improve the overall guest experience — from accommodations to common areas such as reception and the on-premises restaurant.
“The place was in remarkably good condition, but it was just dated,” Wines says. Over the decades, there had been additions and modifications to the building he says, but “this was the first full renovation that changed the flow and this is the first time that the building was adjusted to [optimize] its size.”
His team rebuilt a previously open space in the front to create a new lobby with a welcoming grand staircase and a restaurant and open deck area from which guests could enjoy bay views and gorgeous sunsets. The new windows and doors were in keeping with the style of the original building, as were the interior renovations such as coffered ceilings, new built-ins, finishings and moldings.
“A lot of decisions were made based on looking at old pictures of the hotel,” Wines says. “Now there’s more formality to the place, but overall keeping a classic feel.”
Building for the people
Though known for hospitality projects, Wines has also worked on other public-facing historic properties.
One such project was the Southampton Fresh Air Home, which Wines calls “historic and extremely important.” Founded in 1901, the facility provides summer experiences for youth with physical disabilities on its four-acre campus.
“We were fortune enough to be selected to rebuild this and this was a great project that really benefited the children and staff,” he said.
RLW4 replaced the old building with one that included a new kitchen and cafeteria, staff quarters for counselors, a manager’s apartment and updated residential buildings for the campers. The project included a new elevator, and rebuilding ramps and walkways to ease access throughout the campus.
For Temple Adas Israel, Long Island’s oldest synagogue, RLW4 replaced an addition in the Gothic Revival style that was no longer serving the needs of the congregation and community. Two of the three stories in the new addition were constructed below the surface so as not to interrupt the line of the original architecture. They secured the original building, brought it up to code and preserved all the historic materials, including the stained glass windows, which were reframed and are now weather-tight and structure secure.
“I really enjoy being part of the business. It’s not about just telling people what to do and making decisions; I enjoy physically being at the job site,” Wines says, adding that when he’s wearing a tool belt and swinging a hammer, he’s in his happy place.
“These [projects] are all my children, and they all hold a special place in my heart. I love seeing an owner’s reaction when they see it completed,” he says.
One of the keys to success, Wines says, is having owner involvement and input and ensuring they understand each other’s priorities and principles. For Wines, that includes an understanding of workmanship and craft.
“There are three words you can’t put in the same sentence: cheap, fast and quality. If you want it fast, it’s not going to be cheap. If you want quality, it’s not going be fast,” he says. “None of those can go in the same sentence together. “At the end of the day, if we have to modify the finish date, I’d rather a client be mad at me for an extra week or two because we finished it correctly than be mad at me for the next six months because something cracked or failed.”
