Southampton’s wonderful old Village Latch Inn has finally been sold, after a number of years on the market. (Six, we think.) It’s been acquired by developers George Benedict and Steven Dubb, who built the Bishops Pond complex in the village. We were worried about the fate of the lovely main building; Steven told Curbed, “We appreciate the history of the Village Latch, which will be reflected in our plans and include the main building.”The inn is steeped in local history, once serving as the Grand Annex to Southampton’s famed Irving Hotel. It was completely renovated in the 1970s, and expanded to include nearby homes, two of which came from the former Merrill Lynch estate. In all, there are seven separate buildings on 5.24 acres. The last asking price was $23M.

Why couldn’t the inn stay an inn? In order to make a return on investment, a new owner would have to renovate the inn and add services like a restaurant and/or spa, and there’s no available real estate to do that. Also, condos will involve less traffic on Hill Street. All in all, this is good news.