If you’ve noticed some of the Hamptons’ oldest institutions looking new again over the past few years, chances are high the contracting firm of Ben Krupinski Builder had something to do with it. Founded by Hamptons native Ben Krupinski, the firm has been charged with updating and upgrading some of the East End’s most revered historic sites: East Hampton’s Guild Hall and 1770 Hedges-Edward Barn, the East Hampton Library, the East Hampton Historical Society, the Amagansett Life-Saving & Coast Guard Station Museum, and Scoville Hall, also in Amagansett. Additionally, the firm oversaw the 2012 construction of Water Mill’s Parrish Art Museum.
Krupinski died in a plane crash in 2018, but his legacy and passion for historic preservation live on in the firm’s principals, Stratton Schellinger and Ray Harden, who, after 31 and 16 years, respectively, of working for Krupinski, now own the company. Since then, the partners have executed a seamless transition into a new era, but one with a firm regard for the past.
Carrying On
“Benny made things happen and Stratton and I have both learned from him, so we keep that legacy going,” says Harden. “Benny would have wanted us to keep it going as if he was still there.”
Harden and Schellinger both come from local stock. Born in Hempstead, Harden moved to East Hampton when he was two and graduated from the now-closed Mercy High School (as did Krupinski.) He recalls, “As a kid, I always wanted to be either an Oakland Raider or in construction. I certainly don’t have the size to be a football player, so construction it was.” Harden went right to it after high school and learned on the job, starting his career with Krupinski before spending 16 years working at Riverhead Building Supply, where he learned the ins and outs of the trade, from materials and process to sales and estimating. He returned to work for Krupinski in 2002.
Schellinger, a carpenter by trade, grew up in Sag Harbor and is the current generation in a long line of skilled tradesmen. “[We have a] history of carpenters spread out, dating all the way back to my ancestors settling in Amagansett in the 1700s,” he says. “It wasn’t long before I realized I wanted to build. I fell in love with carpentry and building right away.” He began working with Krupinski in 1986, the year he started the company.
A passion for history
Ben Krupinski Builder is headquartered in East Hampton with 42 employees and has a satellite office in Greenwich, Conn. Harden says about 85% of the company’s portfolio is residential construction, with the remainder focused on public institutions. Harden has made preservation somewhat of a passion project: He sits on the board of the East Hampton Historical Society and has led the building and grounds committee since 2022. With his experience and personal interest working in tandem, Harden expects Ben Krupinski Builder will become an even more important player when it comes to conserving East End history and culture.
“I think growing that portion of the business will happen naturally through word-of-mouth and reputation,” he says.
The company has refined its expertise with its ability to navigate the rigid rules of historic preservation and problem solve, leading to respectful renovations and repairs. In 2014, for the 9,000-square-foot children’s reading room addition to the East Hampton Library designed by Robert Stern and Lee Skolnick, library executive director Dennis Fabiszak says the challenge was not only to create more storage for books and materials, but to provide an “educational space for community children that would blend in seamlessly with the rest of the historical building.”
Outside, that included creating replicas of the library’s original leaded glass windows. Harden knew of a company that specialized in such work, but matching the new roof tiles to the original required some creative problem solving.
“This was a very detailed slate roof, so there was a challenge to get the colors matched up,” he says. His firm procured samples in various shades of red and, by blending them as they were laid, were able to replicate the original closely enough to pass muster. It wasn’t a pure color match as much as it was an effects match in concert with the original 1912 neo-Elizabethan building.
Interior work for the addition required mimicking some of the original details, such as exposed wood beams, mill work and finishes, while incorporating whimsical features that echo local history — a windmill reading area, a lighthouse and a ship’s hull desk.
This year, the Krupinski team was called back to the East Hampton Library to work on the young adults room, used as a space for public seminars and gathering, but with creative nods to the historic fabric such as the ceiling pattern, which mirrors the pattern of the floor.
“Ray was fully in charge and continued with the same mindset and process as before,” Fabiszak recalls. “It needed to be done quickly with a hard opening date of June because he wanted the kids who helped plan it to see it before they graduated. I can’t imagine finding another company that would have dropped everything and do that because they knew how important it was to the kids and the community.”
Harden says, “Anything in the historic district we love to do because it is a challenge and we’re always up for it. The more challenging the project, the more we want to do it because we like to use our minds and figure things out.”
Updating a community’s cultural space
The firm had the opportunity to work on the circa 1931 Guild Hall cultural center twice: the first under Krupinski’s oversight, and more recently when the building’s technology became outdated.
The contractors, says Guild Hall executive director Andrea Grover, “knew the building inside and out and are like family to us, so we trusted them on this project. We are a historic building — 94 years old this year — so you’re dealing with a property that has century-old construction and was built during the Great Depression without a lot of flourishes and with an economy of means, so they have to be sensitive to that and yet introduce all these modern-day technologies.”
Harden remembers that during the first renovation they were instructed to preserve the Guild Hall’s existing projector, which was somewhat of a relic but authentic to the theater. The second renovation replaced it with equipment that is smaller, lighter and delivers a better picture.
Working with architect Peter Pennoyer, the Krupinski team began the second renovation about three years ago and finished last June. Round two opened up the basement-level offices to create more light, overhauled the lighting in the gallery space and expanded the lobby area to improve the flow into the theater. The signature circus-tent ceiling was preserved.
“It was like trying to put a new dress on an old skeleton.” Grover says, and in the end, “It was a magic trick, what they did, and it was all done with incredible grace.”
Housing a cultural heritage
A current project with the East Hampton Historical Society involves designing and building the Museum Collections Storage Center at Mulford Farm.
“Our community’s cultural heritage is stewarded by the historical society and we have nearly 20,000 artifacts — everything including the kitchen sink — bicycles, farm implements, harpoons, musical instruments,” says historical society executive director Steve Long. “Not a real lot of effort had gone into making sure these objects were cared for the way they ought to be.”
After a 2021 capital campaign, funds were raised to construct a 5,700-square-foot building to not only house the items but to create a space that could help tell the public their stories. Long says that Harden’s experience on the historical society’s board gave Harden insight into the organization’s long-term goals. By estimating and reviewing plans, he was able to save the institution about 20% on an alternate construction. And Harden has delivered phase one of the project ahead of schedule — and in time for fundraising season, which began in late spring.
Long says, “We didn’t have all the money we needed, but Ray said he would make sure the project was complete, and you hear this over and over: He makes sure it’s finished the way it’s supposed to. And he does not toot his own horn.”
Carrying on a legacy
Schellinger says the firm’s goals are to “deliver the highest-quality workmanship for the best possible price through knowledge and experience in the building trade, hard work and negotiation.”
Harden agrees. “We are very involved in every project and we take pride in the work that we do. We’re a strong company and we’re holding on to the legacy from our teacher,” he says.
“These places have history and that represents something that you can pass on down through the generations and share with the generations. The work has really opened my eyes to being a great part of history.”
