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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPE-40 BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM I:012 OFFICE USE ONLY PF 44 UNIQUE SITE NO. k-30. "110f> DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION QUAD NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION SERIES ALBANY,NEW YORK (51 K) 474-0479 NEG. NO. YOUR NAME:_. .own of Southold/SPLIA DATE: October 1986 YOUR ADDRESS:Town Hall, Main—JR-o-adTELEPHONE: (516)76 5-1892 Southold, L. I. , N.Y. 11971 ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold Town Community Development Office * All * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IDENTIFICATION 1. BUILDING NAME(S): Case house 2. COUNTY: Suffolk TOWN/CITY: Southold VILLAGE: Peconic 3. STRI;.ET LOCATION: Peconic Lane, east side, north of LIRR 4. OWNERSHIP: a. public ❑ b. private ❑ 5. PRESENT OWNER: '' ' ; ADDRESS: 6. USE: Original: Residence Present: Residence 7. ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC Exterior visible from public road: Yes ® No ❑ Interior accessible: Explain DESCRIPTION K. BUILDING; a. clapboard ❑ b. stone ❑ c. brick ❑ d. board and batten MATERIAL: e. cobblestone ❑ f. shingles CK g. stucco ❑ other: 1). STRUCTURAL a. wood frame with interlocking joints ❑ SYSTEM: b. wood Frame with light members ❑ (if known) c. masonry load bearing walls ❑ d. mgtal (explain) e. other Brick foundation 10. CONDITION: it. excellent El b. good a c. fair ❑ d. deteriorated ❑ 11. INTEGRITY: a. original site ❑ b. moved ❑ if so,when7 c. list major alterations and dates (if known): Porch altered and new wood shingles. P"' RSM III-17 from SW 12. PH®TO: Front (west) and 13. MAP: N.Y.S. DOT Southold Quad south elevation Peconic;f .s• �� ���� 6 a y Peconic Sch. 0 t a u 9L 11 � � on - a SPp'� a 25 Q . LANE as Sn ®M P f .d 29 'a . ra YF 40 14. THREATS TO BUILDING: a. none known 12 b.zoning❑ c. roads ❑ d. developers ❑ e. deterioration f. other: 15, RELATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY: a. barn EO b. carriage house ❑ c. garage ❑ d. privy ❑ e. shed & f. greenhouse ❑ g. shop ❑ h. gardens ❑ i. landscape features: j. other: 16. SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING (check more than one if necessary): a.open land ® b. woodland EX c.scattered buildings ❑ d.densely built-up ❑ e. commercial ❑ f. industrial ❑ g. residential ❑ h.other: 17. INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS: (Indicate if building or structure is in an historic district) This house stands on Peconic Lane which is the main road of the Hamlet of Peconic, known as Hermitage in the nine= tPPnth century. It is a historic district. 18. OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (including interior features if known): 2--story, L-shaped gable roof house. Group of 3 windows in gable peak under bracketed window head. 4/4 window sash throughout. Floor length windows opening on to front porch. Original front door with round topped upper panels. Original porch with open work spandrels survives on south wing. SIGNIFICANCE itt. DATE. OF INITIAL CONSTRUCTION: Built 1867 * / Remodeled 1887 ARCHITECT: BUILDER: '0. HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE: Was L.R. Case in 1873. This was the childhood home of Rosalind Case Newell who has described the houses in her book A Rose of the Nineties. 21. SOURCES: Beers, Comstock, Cline. Atlas of Long Island. 1873 R.C. Newell. A Rose of the Nineties. 19 2. Pp. 8-15. ?2. THLMF Form prepared by Rosemary Skye Moritt, research assistant PF 40 the big Ply r � and remo I through a 4 ll in at the �I 4 length of r at the ba- 0 � r � 5er' ,ide, a 511 �lq S' nuts, app r ,vood fro a link re dogwood OLVK Clusters My mother and father and I lived with my paternal grand- house. . pa-ents and Papa's maiden sister, Aunt Ida, It was quite cus- shelter. tomary for different generations to live together. Houses were place to large and all members of the family had their duties and re- playhou sponsibilities. I don't remember anything but amicable rela- while I tions. We were a happy family. I know that my mother was a dolls br sweet, adaptable and capable person. The only remark I ever an only knew "F T Y- knew her to make about family relationships was in a letter a � I to me a few ars after I was married. It was after the death the No of my grandparents and Aunt Ida had gone away for a visit. put in Mamma wrote,"This is the first time in the twenty-eight years n Pecs of our married life -hat your father and I have been alone in in Dar our own home." `There was no bitterness apparent. There were boards no psychiatris.s then and people worked out their own prob- flushes lems. Mamma had great self-control whether in pain or emo- marble tion, and a great capacity for happiness in daily life. One of A, my pleasantest recollections is that she was always singing feet sq as she bustled about dusting or doing other household duties. fed b) Mamma had bright blue eyes and pink cheeks and a lovely wall r expression,—ready _o smile. Even when she got to be an old lleatec lady she was "Pret-y Cousin Kitty" to all the relatives. f pt ke Our home was a welcoming kind of house, — long and kept j many-windowed. It was on Peconic Lane north of the railroad, nkes R.C . Newell. A Rose of the Nineties. 1962 PE 4o the big pleasant house built in 1867 which Grandpa had bought and remodeled in 1887. The footpath led in from the road through a small gate in the picket fence. The driveway curved in at the wide front gate between two cherry trees, skirted the length of the house on the south side and turned into the barn at the back. There were many trees in the yard,—tall firs on the north side, a shapely cedar at the footpath angle, maples, black wal- nuts, apple, pear and plum trees. Grandpa transplanted a dog- wood from his woodlot and placed it so that a copper beech, a pink redbud (Grandma called it "Judas Tree") and the white dogwood made a beautiful spring picture from the diningroom window. A long cedar hedge fenced off` the place on each side. Clusters of lavendar wistaria hung profusely over the summer- ial grand- house. A "summerhouse" was a small decorative outdoor quite cus- shelter. It had seats all around the inside edges and was a cool uses were place to sit on a hot summer afternoon. I often used it as a s and re- playhouse, putting my doll where I could keep an eye on her able rela- while I made mudpies. Some children have whole families of ier was a dolls but I was faithful to one. Perhaps it was because I was rk I ever an only child and thought it appropriate that I have one child I a letter also. "Florence" had "go-to-sleep" eyes and a real hair wig. the death When Grandpa moved out of the old family homestead on jr a visit. the Forth Road and remodeled the house on Peconic Lane he ght years put in that wonderful new convenience, a bathroom, the first alone in in Peconic. The tin tub •.vas built in with varnished sealing tere were boards; the water-closet, as the toilet was then called, was .vn prob- encased in walnut sheathing with a tank of water above, which or emo- flushed when you pulled the chain. The hand-basin was in a One of marble slab, with shining brass faucets. singing Above, in the attic,was a deep lead-lined tank at least eight d duties, feet square. The roof gutters drained rain water into this, which a lovely fed by gravity down to bathroom and kitchen sink; and in a e an old wall recess in the kitchen stood a tall copper hot water boiler ,es. heated by pipes running through the coal range that was always ong and kept going. At the kitchen sink was also a hand pump from a railroad, sunken well, and in dry weather every one in the family had a 9 R.C. Newell. A Rose of the Nineties. 1962 was the "side stoop", and the "horseblock stoop", and the daily stint of fifty strokes on the long handle to keep up the "kitchen stoop." er hei ht supply in the garret tank. During a summer drought we were The horseblock was a raised platform of the prop g very sparing of water. to enable the ladies to step right into the wagons.of a small For drinking water we had an outside well on the horse- the surrey (with-the-fringe-on-top) and the buggy block stoop. Two wooden "moss-covered" buckets hung at the iron step between the wheels, but to get into the box-wagon ends of a long chain which you pulled with strong strokes over you had to climb over the front wheel by way of the shafts, an overhead wheel, the full one coming up heavy and brim- and the horseblock saved effort and possible soiling of skirts. f the house were used ming with cool water while the empty one went down until it The parlors being on the north side o struck the surface with a splash. If you leaned over the wooden in summer but shut off in winter by wide folding doors, thus barrier when the light was right you could see a reflection on providing good insulation to keep diningroom and sittingroom the water 'way, 'way down the deep brick-lined cylinder. warm.The term"livingroom" came into style later. The sitting- The house was plenty big enough for all the family and room on the south side was sunny and bright with a bay win- always a hired girl too. The upstairs had seven bedrooms with dow in addition to two others so we had a comprehensive view a long hall down the middle. Every room had at least two of the stores, railroad station, and the neighbors' activities. windows and three rooms had four windows, so you can ima- The kitchen and diningroom had been added by Grandpa gine their size. The furnishings were a double bed, a side table, to the rear of the original house. They were enormous rooms, a bureau, a rocking-chair, straight chairs, in some a spindly- each the full width of the house, about twenty-four feet long legged desk. In every one, of course, was a wash-stand. This with windows at both ends and oh! so many doors. We never held a china wash-bowl and pitcher, toothbrush mug and soap- had a butler but we had a butler's pantry. It was the custom dish. There was also a slop jar, not to mention the round then, and it was a convenience to hand the hot food from the necessity under the bed. One bathroom couldn't serve all that kitchen through the pantry's sliding panel. Then it was only a family and we often had overnight company, too. The old-time few steps to the dining table. Otherwise we had to walk around privy behind the barn, convenient in emergency, was not through two doors of the horseblock entry between kitchen and abandoned. diningroom or,worse still,at the north end where the back stairs parlors flanked the front hall and stair- Downstairs two p came down there were three doors--diningroom, pantry and way. They were called the Front Parlor and the Back Parlor. kitchen to go through! Both had marble fireplaces. They were furnished with elegant The butler's pantry was used as a china closet and store- carved rosewood chairs with oval backs upholstered in horse- room, also; and on its wide shelves was stacked a variety of hair, and marble topped tables and a piano. A ceiling-high dishes and glassware. I have now (and this is 1960) a japanned pier glass mirror separated the two tall, lace curtained French tin box which had been relegated to the top shelf, containing windows which looked out onto the front piazza. Found a piece of Papa and Mamma's wedding fruit cake of 1889, still columns on pedestals supported the roof of this, which had a smelling good and spicy. fancy balustrade around it and steps with curving hand-rails At the north end of the diningroom stretched the long going down to the front lawn. The other porches, (then called cherry wood table with fat, ornately carved legs and intricate "stoops", not porches) were roofed also, but were smalllat- lattice work (hard to dust). It was always set for six and forms leading into the entries where you could leave your coat expandable, with broad leaves, to seat a dozen people. The and rubbers before going into the rooms of the house. There li o io R.G. NPWP11. A Rose of the Ninptips. 1962 china closet held the "company" china used for parties, — around and around, sitting down to wash tier face when he Haviland plates with their dainty flowered pattern, fragile stopped to exercise. d p leasant but we had teacups, the lemonade set of thumbnail glass pitcher and cups I recall the lamplight as warm an in clear blue or amber, the etched water goblets. One thing in all sorts of lighting systems through the years. At first, when closet determined for me what is "a few" and what is I was very small, metal arms stuck out from the walls with several." Often on an upper shelf would be a box of candy a Y-shaped affair which burned a blue gas flame. It was piped " which I could reach by climbing on a chair. I dutifully asked into the house from a low-roofed shanty in the side yard. The my mother if I could have some, and if I had eaten a good din- little building held a big copper tank, and in a pit below hung ner the answer was "Yes." If she said, "A few", I took three. a heavy wire cable with weights strung on it that looked to me If I had a playmate to share with and she said, "You may have like malted milk lozenges,—only they were a foot in diameter several", I took six. and two inches thick. I don't understand how they made gas, low someone went Recessed in he side wall next to the butler's antr was but when the gas pressure in the house got the brown marble-topped sideboard, displaying a full set of out and rotated a handle on the copper tank, bringing the silver-plated tea things — teapot, hot water pot, coffee urn, lozenges up on the cable which wound around a drum. This osene sugar bowl, cream pitcher, condiment set, pickle dish and gas machine eventually faildaandhtthenas weuhad sosed many we spoon holder, lamps. Tending these was quite Next to the sideboard recess was he smooth red-brick rooms to light, so sometimes we carried candles upstairs to fireplace, and the room was so large that at the south end light our way to bed. About every other morning the big table Grandma had arranged a sociable group of chairs, table and in the kitchen was covered with newspapers, the lams were couch. The walls wvere wainscotted with handsome redwood brought there to be cleaned and filled, and the glass chimneys panelling that Grandpa had had shipped from California. were washed and polished. In the early nineteen hundreds Around the plain glass of the windows squares of colored glass acetylene gas was piped through the East End villages, and were set. It was a warm-looking, homey room. finally the Long Island Lighting Company installed electricity Winter evenings were good times for pleasant family ac- throughout Eastern Long Island. Our house had five doors. The front door had a bell. You tivirant a in Papa was the kitchen,—pulled] at t taffy and crunchcandy anutthe brittle. gave a hard yank on the white china knob and a spring pulled a g P Y YP wire which made a little hammer strike the bell inside at the In u the din ngrnt Ida oom, over he hearthus but Mamma caramels.corn to of the door. If the bell went "Ding!" we knew it was a g popped corn P for molasses popcorn balls to add to the feast. Grandma sat stranger because friends never used the front door, they came sewing while the cats, Stripey and Tibby, lay in the warm glow to the sittingroom entry, and the carriages drove past the bay of the kerosene lamp on the table beside her, ww•indow and stopped at the horseblock by the side door. From Grandpa would walk around the dining table, and into he the back stoop another door led into the kitchen and the fifth sittingroom and around its center table on his regular evening door was at the very back. constitutional. Every little while he'd stop and do a few cal- Papa's office was in a separate building close to the reg whileisthenics,—Arms out! Arms in! Arms up! Arms down! Then of the house- A red brick path from the hack door ran alon he'd jump up and down and the loose change in his pockets side it under the grape arbor which in the Fall was festooned }ingled. Nfammy Jinny, the little mother cat, followed him with long handsome clusters of blue Concord and red Catawba 1 12 3 Irl t� R. C . Nowell. A Rose of the Nineties. 1962 0 ing grapes. In a pouring rain I could make it from the hack door Furniture was moved outdoors orBings carpet with a ' to Papa's office door in one jump without getting wet. Dozens of tacks were pulled out of the rus A one-story addition to Papa's office was the laundry. Two tack puller and Johnny hung the long strips on the backyard days each week Kate came to wash and iron. At the corner of clothesline where he beat the dusto t of bare f withrds pwere ecial the building stood the huge rainwater barrel from which water curly-cue wicker beater. The was dipped for washday. There Kate was Queen of all she scrubbed with soap and water and the sun shining in the open surveyed. The hired man kept the woodbox full to stoke the windows soon dried them. Long rolls of clean, thick red paper fire, and carried water for her. The fire in the iron stove roared, were spread on the floor, the carpet was stretched over it and keeping the copper boiler for the wash going all day Monday tacked down neatly for another year. Johnny washed the many- and heating the flatirons for the Tuesday ironing. The hired Paned windows outside with a long-handled, round brush girl helped. Long benches held the round wooden tubs, (they dipped in soapsuds, and then brought many a pail of fresh water were always painted red), one for hot soapsuds holding the from the well to throw on them, streaming off until it left every scrubbing board, a second for hot water rinsing, and a third pane clear and shining. The freshly starched and stretched lace curtains were s for cold water blueing. The hand-propelled clothes wringers hung again s the long windows. The polished furniture was on the tub edges were hard to turn, but somehow there was g g always the sound of singing and laughter. moved back in, the ornaments and books were dusted and re- With what loving care and skill Kate finished the men's placed on the mantel and in the shelves of the tall What-not- I starched shirts and the ladies' fine lawn ruffles! To me she liked to be around and see what came out of the bottom art was a great woman. She worked hard all her life, had nine of Grandpa's secretary desk and salvage a few treasures from children and with that large family suffered many tribulations the collection of music, books and discarded oddments which and tragedies; but even when she was over eighty years old she Mamma sorted out and re-arranged. g y. had no gray hair and her laugh was as jolly as ever. Going back to the back door, it gave access to a bi entry. Kate, her husband Johnny, and their children were almost Here stood an immense red icebox which held several hundred a part of our family. They lived across the road from our back pounds of ice. This was filled only in hot weather because garden and some one of them seemed to be with us most of the all through the other months the milkroom, with north and time. Johnny worked with Grandpa in the garden. Papa gave east windows, was cool enough to keep the Toad. perishSometables the older girls piano lessons. Katie, a few years older than I during hot spells Grandma put butter and other perishables in ails and hung them on cords down the cool depths of was a forerunner of "Baby Sitters" then called "nursemaids". the outside water well, From the back entry we could go down She is still a dear friend. Willie often helped with the barn chores. We were very fond of them all. into the cellar which stretched the full length of the house. Here, on the south side, where the noonday sun shone HOUSE CLEANING through the small ground-level windows, Grandma wintered House-cleaning time was exciting, — there was such a her delicate plants which she put out-of-doors in the summer. bustle of activity. When the trees were budding and the birds The furnace with tentacles of pipes sprouting from its head were singing and a spell of fine weather came in the Spring, in all directions like the arms of an octopus kept most of Grandma would get Johnny and Kate to come to help and she, the cellar warm. Two room-like bins were filled with coal. Mamma, and the hired girl pitched in, too. Split wood for the kitchen stove was piled against the walls. 14 15 R.C . Newpll. A Rose of the Nineties. 1962 a PF 4o Photo P'�; RSM III-18 L.R. Case house Front door from 1887 r�. .P�� �+ +_ � tel,- 't• �-! � • C