“The Ponderosa” The Taussig House Est. 1957.
407/408 Ocean Walk
Known as “The Ponderosa” after the ranch home on the television show “Bonanza.” Built by Ted & Doris Taussig and designed by Architect Felix Augenfeld in 1957.
Ted & Doris Taussig
Ted Taussig was one of the early Realtors in the selling of the new Fire Island Pines Community.
Ted’s wife Doris Taussig arrived on Fire Island in 1939. Her father was a dentist who never got to practice his dentistry because landholdings and real estate. The then valueless land between Lone Hill and Talisman was owned by Doris’s father Dr. Warren Smadbeck.
In 1952 her fathers company Home Guardian of NY started selling Pines plots. Her husband Ted Taussig was hired to be the realtor.
The home had prominent location right on the ocean. Designed by Architect Felix Augenfeld it took advantage of the sweeping view.
Felix Augenfeld (1893-1984) was a Viennese architect and designer active in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Croatia prior to 1938, in London from 1938-1939, and in the United States from 1939 until his death. His work consists primarily of residential projects, including apartments, weekend homes, beach houses, and residences, and includes both architecture and interior design. Like other architect-designers of the time, his work included original furniture and textiles to create a cohesive design experience.
The homes interior was featured in Design magazines.
Doris was deeply involved in the growing Pines community, and would host many a party here. After her husband died in 1975 Doris took over the Real Estate and would move to a smaller home on Midway Walk.
1975
The home would be bought by Bruce Camay (L) and John Stimmel (R).
After decades of meticulous ownership they sold the home in 2023…
