In 2010, the Indian Harbor Yacht Club was designated a landmark property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As an historic property, we were able to establish a tax-exempt Foundation whose purpose is to restore and preserve the Club’s façade and notable exterior elements. Indian Harbor’s historic clubhouse and related structures and property have been home to an unusually rich history. After the 1919 fire that destroyed the original clubhouse on the present site, it was replaced by a new building designed and built in the Mediterranean style of the time and resembling the Breakers Hotel. The architect, Henry C. Pelton, was a renowned New York City practitioner, particularly remembered for the design of New York City’s Riverside Cathedral, the Cloisters, Park Avenue Central Presbyterian Church, Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, Yale University’s Boardman Administration Center and Rosemary Hall in Greenwich. Many of these buildings can also be found on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the early years, the Foundation focused on funding Club requests to restore external structures following natural disasters, such as the extensive damage to the seawalls from Hurricane Irene in 2011. Repairs to the seawall and other exterior elements after this and similar storms required quick project funding turnaround. Officers of the Club and the Foundation board worked closely following those events to enable the Foundation to respond with grants for necessary repairs on tight deadlines.

In early 2014, the Foundation entered a new phase of restoration grant making as the Club sought a Foundation grant to renovate the front entrance. Rather than responding to emergency repairs as the Foundation had done in the past, the front entrance restoration project tied into the Club’s long-term capital improvement plan. Later that year, the Foundation board and Club directors began to explore the feasibility of much larger, longer-range projects spanning several years. The first such restoration project was the 2016-2017 South Seawall project, which included 1) the renovation of the South Seawall; 2) the construction of an innovative subterranean structure that ties the seawall to the Clubhouse; and 3) the South Patio installation. In 2019, the Foundation substantially funded the full restoration of the Club’s South Porch area. This important work included the restoration of the historic South-facing stone wall, the exterior stone stairs, railings and various structural elements supporting the Southern exterior of the Club building. A plaque commemorating Foundation donors is mounted on the exterior West side of the Clubhouse along the South Seawall.