On May 5, 1800, Nathaniel V billed John Lyon Gardiner (1770–1816) £20.8s. for making this desk-and-bookcase. The charge included crating and carting it to a waterfront area of East Hampton Village known as Fireplace and loading it onto a sloop bound for Gardiner’s Island. The most ambitious—and most expensive—piece of furniture ever made in the Dominy shop, it took approximately eighteen days to build.

In 1806 Nathaniel V built a wind-powered gristmill in the East Hampton enclave of Sandy Hook (later truncated to “The Hook”), where it remained in continuous operation until 1908. In 1939 his great-grandson, Charles Mulford Dominy, restored the structure for the town, ensuring its preservation as an important local landmark.