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BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM NP-4
UNIQUE SITE NO.in 0 - D YJ,Z_
DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION QUAD
NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RE-CREATION SERIES
ALBANY,NEW YORK (51 til 474.0479 NEG. NO.
YOUR NAME: Town of Southold / SPLIA DATE:March 20, 1986
YOUR ADDRESS: Town Hall, Main_ Road TELEPHONE: 516/765-1892
Southold L.I. , N,Y. 11971
ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold Town Community Dpvplopmpnt OfficQ
IDENTIFICATION
1. BUILDING NAME(S): Carrington house "Crestwood"
2. COUNTY: Suffolk TOWNICITY: Southold VILLAGE: r
3. STREET LOCATION:_ Carrington 0-, 5 510E/ Ar vAN.s-rk/ 51p�
4. OWNERSHIP: a. public ❑ b. private Fil
S. PRESENT OWNER: Smith -, Charlp*___ ADDRESS:_S.ae
6. USE: Original: a Present: RAsidence
7, ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLW( Exterior visible from public road: Yes PP No ❑
Interior accessible: Explain
DESCRIPTION
ti_ BUILDING a. clapboard ❑ b_ stone ❑ c. brick ❑ d. board and batten
MATf.RIAL: e. cobblestone ❑ f. shingles ❑ g. stucco ❑ other:
1l. STRUCTURAL a. wood frame with interlocking joints A
SYSTEM: b. wood frame with light members
(if known) c_ masonry load bearing walls
d. metal (explain)
e. other arched brick construction in cellar.
10. CONDITION: a. excellent C) b. good ® c. fair ❑ d. deteriorated ❑
I I_ INTFGRITY: a. original site 21 b. moved ❑ if so.when?
c, list major alterations and dates (if known):
Modern chimney at west end. Shed roof dormer and
2nd floor pavillion over front entrance are not
original.
12. PIIU'ro: NP-rsm XI-23 - from W 13. MAI': N.Y.S . DOT Southold Quad.
South & western elevation
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14. THREATS TO BUILDING: a.none known Xl b. zoning❑ c. roads El
d. developers ❑ e. deterioration ❑
1. Cather:
15 1RELATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY: barn w.
a. barn® b. carriage house ❑ c. garage ❑ corral
d.privy ❑ e. shed ❑ f. greenhouse [�
g. shop ❑ h. gardens ❑
i. landscape features: wooded lailltop site,
j. other:
16. SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING (check more than one if necessary):
a.open land ❑ b. woodland
c_ scattered buildings X
d.densely built-up ❑ e. commercial ❑
f. industrial ❑ g. residential IN
h.other:
17. INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS:
(Indicate if building or structure is in an historic district)
The house dominates a wooded hilltop.
18. OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (including interior features if known):
22-story, 3-bay gable roof board-and-batten house on brick
foundation.
Unusual 2/2 windows with very wide center muntins. Windows
in gable match those in Carrington cottage (see NP-3)
SIGNIFICANCE
IQ- DATE Of INITIAL CONSTRUCTION: 1868
ARCHITECT:
BUILDER:
't1. HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE:
Originally the residence of John Carrin&n, who owned
Nassau Point. In the early 1900s it was a boarding
house for elderly people and was known as the "Old
Carrington House" .
Rooms have wide , hand carvad moldings.'
_'I. SOURCES: Report by Ralph Williams, John Stack and Joy Bear,
Feb. 1, 1986
*Form prepared by Mrs. Warren J. HallF for Cutchogue-
New Suffolk Historical Council. 12/1/74,
?. TH! %if_ Form prepared By Rosemary Skye Moritt, research
assistant.
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SOUTHOLD LANDMARK COMMISSION
HOME OF CHARLES AND JOAN SMITH
Corner of Carrington & Vanston Roads
Nassau Point, Cutchogue, N.Y. 11935
Analyzed by Ralph Williams & John Stack
Reported by Joy Bear
February 1, 1986
Although it was built as a summer home, "Crestwood" was indeed an
elegant house, with spacious rooms, high ceilings, large windows and intricate
molding. It was built c . 1868, and appears to have undergone two periods of
alteration the first around 1900, when the house was modernized, and again
around 193 , when Mrs . Adele Posner converted the building into a boarding
house . The original home consisted of the entrance hall, flanked by the
parlor to the west and the music room to the east. Behind the parlor was the
dining room and behind the music room was the kitchen, with an ell. The second
floor consisted of bedrooms, and the third floor was an attic . The present
greenhouse off the dining room was an open porch on the original house . The
master bedroom to the east of the music room was once a separate building
This legendary home is the oldest house on Nassau Point, and one of the
two first houses to be built on the peninsula, according to researcher Barry
Everett. It was built by John Carrington, who gave his name to one of the
streets bounding the property. Carrington and his real estate partner
Edward Burr bought all of Nassau Point in 1857, and built their homes c . 1863.
Burr' s home is no longer in existence .
ENTRANCE AND STAIRWAY
The front door and the moldings in this area date back to the original
house, 1868. The door, with its flat panels, matches the rear door in the
kitchen. The molding, seen around the front door, up the wall side of the
stairway and framing the wide opening leading into the parlor, west, and the
music room, east, is typical 1868 vintage, ornate and wide .
The present staircase appears to be a 1938 addition. It has a square
topped newel post with paneled sides, and square balusters . Its style matches
the pillars on the entrance porch.
SERVICE STAIRWAY
A service stairway dating to the original building, 1868, may be seen
only through a peep-hole cut in the east wall of the powder room to the rear
of the entrance hall. Its wood-grain finish is faixx bois - painted on. The
baseboard of the staircase makes a gentle curve as it rises along the wall to
the corner at the turn of the stairs.
SMITH HONK, page 2 NP-4 \`_%
Originally the second floor larding of this service stairway was about
where the doorway to the second floor bathroom is today. The stairway's
original access door on the first floor was located on the south wall of the
kitchen.
The service stairway continued to the basement through a door also
located on the south wall of the kitchen, beside the door to the up flight.
However, today the door to the service stairs to the basement is located
in the breakfast room alcove off the kitchen.
PARLOR
The focus of the parlor is its fireplace on the west wall. The fireplace
is supported by an arched brick foundation in the basement. The chimney
extends outside the exterior wall of the house . The hearth dates to the
original house, 1363, and is of red brick laid on edge. The fireplace was
refaced with tapestry brick and a new wood mantel, at the same time that the
entrance stairway was built .
French windows installed when the house was built adorn the front wall
of the parlor and the music room. Other windows are airy, with four large
panes and extra wide muntins, also dating from 1868.
MUSIC ROOM
Access to the present music room, formerly a second parlor, is through
a wide entrance to the east of the front door. The hall side of this entrance
is framed in ornate molding which matches that in the parlor. Intereatingly,
the molding on the inside of the wide entrance is 1938 . However, all molding
in the balance of this room is from 1868, as are the French doors .
Originally this room had a fireplace that matched the one in the parlor,
except that it was slightly narrower. All traces of this fireplace have
disappeared except for its arched brick support in the basement.
DINING ROOM
The dining room, to the rear of the parlor, also is trimmed with the --
wide
he =wide ornate molding seen in the front rooms . The dining room opens into a
greenhouse to the west. The greenhouse was an open porch in the original
home .
KITCHEN
The wall between the kitchen and dining room encloses a brick chimney.
used in the original house to vent a stove. Stoves were becoming accepted
and popular when the home was built. The basement shows the foundation and
support for this chimney, and indicates that the room was the original
kitchen.
The present south wall of the kitchen. has been changed . The original
wall held two doors leading to service stairways, up and down. A breakfast
nook is located in an ell off the kitchen. When Mrs . Posner ran a boarding
house in the building, after 1938, the breakfast nook held a public telephone
NP-4
SMITH HOME page 3
for the boarders, and a private bathroom for her personal use. She used the
adjoining music room as her bedroom, making a little apartment for herself.
SECOND AND THIRD FLOORS
Mrs . Posner divided the second floor into small bedrooms to accommodate
the Crestwood boarding house clients. Small bedrooms were not typical for the
period of the original construction of the house but reflect the boarding
house needs. The treatment of the doors here is �1hotel style", not as fine
as the first floor woodwork.
The third floor seems to have been used as maid ' s quarters, and the
stairway leading to this area is also a c . 1938 addition. Originally the
third floor was simply an attic .
BASEMENT
The basement reflects the 1868 roots of the house . It is a de-luxe
cellar with a red brick floor and 12-inch walls laid with double Flemish
Bond . The old wood sills are mortised and tenoned and support vertically
sawn beams . Catting betty ee n earns may ave been applied later. Remains
of arched brick construction to hold up fireplaces are seen under the
parlor and the music room. Joists in the ceiling and ghosts on the brick wall:
indicate that the entire basement once was plastered and finished ..
EXTERIOR
The exterior finish is board and batten. It is in excellent condition
for century-and-a-quarter year old wood, and may be the original siding.
Eight inch eyebrows held up by brackets top the four-pane windows.
The porch has been extensively repaired, but appears to preserve its
original form.The wainscot ceiling on the front porch is a later addition,
as are the square porch pillars . These pillars are similar in style to the
newel post in the entrance hall, and appear to have been installed in the
1938 renovation.
Exposed rafters adorn the roof on all four sides . On the east and west,
the gable ends, the rafters are stubs, and appear to be replacements, as do
the roof boards . In the original house the exposed rafters may well have
carried vergeboards that strongly emphasized the Gothic Revival style of
the house .