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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFI-36 r FOR OFFICE USE ONLY BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM UNIQUE SITE NO. 1631o_&,rb 3 1 + DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION QUAD NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION SERIES ALIIANY,NEW YORK (518) 474-0479 NEG. NO. YOUR NAME: Town of Southold/SPLIA DATE: March 1988 YOUR ADDRESSTown Hall, Main Rd. TELEPHONE: 516 765 1892 Southold, LI NY 11971 ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold Town Community Development Office IDENTIFICATION I. BUILDING NAM[-'(S):— Middle Farms (Fishers Island Estates, inc. ) 2. COUNTY: Suffolk TOWN/CITY:Southold VILLAGE:Fishers Island 3. STREF.T LOCATION: Directly north of East End Rd. , north of Middle Farms Pond. 4. OWNERSHIP: a. public ❑ b. private I—L] 5. PRESENT OWNER: Walter Bohlen ADDRESS: fr. USE: Original: residence/farm Present: residence/vacant farm 7. ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC. Exterior visible from public road: Yes ❑ No 6�private area Interior accessible: Explain private r si rlPnrP DESCRIPTION main house outbuilding barn H. BUILDING a. clapboard 12 b. stone ❑ c. brick ® d. board and batten MATERIAL. e. cobblestone ❑ f. shingles ❑ g. stucco ❑ othervertical board (barn) 1). STRUCTURAL, it. wood frame with interlocking joints X SYSTEM: b. wood frame with light members [:] (if kn(urn) c. masonry load bearing walls L� outbuilding d. metal (explain) e. other h 10. CONDITION. a. excelent good El c. fair El d. deteriorated house oil it 'barn 11. INTEGRITY: a. Of 'l1 s moved ❑ if so,whenry c. list major alterations and dates (if known): House Picture windows added, cement block added' to ground story. 12, PIIOTO: neg: KK XII-5, fm S 13 MAP: NYS DOT Mystic quad rs f COV Spay �J 5 1000 6 0 Pfltr�t Ci e � Ise ys �.. �� ill J��• ,4y � ''�\ \1 - -. jvrn6 ill! �,d Tr cb �N R h TlbiO a I' a! a w Ir Pn�+d ", Beach 6 k `a Isattd w Fon " # a Pond a fji+I.ckyard j, I •� Jl . P� ypb !44 2 d7f 1 w FI 3'f 14. 'THREATS TO BUILDING: a.none known b.zoning ❑ c. roads ❑ d. developers ❑ e. deterioration E� barn f. ether: 15. RELATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY: a, barnO b. carriage house ❑ c. garage ❑ d, privy ❑ e. shed ❑ f. greenhouse ❑ g, shop ❑ h. gardens ❑ i. landscape features: stone terrace walls j. other: brick outbidAdiniz 16. SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING (check more than one if necessary): a,open land KI b, woodland c, scattered buildings ❑ d,densely built-up ❑ e. commercial ❑ f. industrial ❑ g. residential ER h.other: overgrown fields 17. INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS: (Indicate if building or structure is in an historic district) Located in a very low density, private, residential area. House in an open clearing surrounded by woodland and scrub bushes. Barn with dense undergrowth across road. 18. OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (including interior features if known): 2x story, gable roof house built against a bank so that the rear (north) facade is lz stories. Large exterior stone chimney at east end. Shed roof porch across the front. 616 windows except for modern replacements at SE corner of house, SIGNIFICANCE I').. DATE OF INITIAL CONSTRUCTION: Prior to 1838 ARCHITECT: BUILDER: 20. HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAI. IMPORTANCE: Middle Farm dates from the Winthrop days. It was adapted for a dairy herd by the Fergusons. Milk production was abandoned in 1924 when milk became available by truck from Connecticut. In the early 1800's, this house was referred to as "the old brown house at Flat plains". 21. SOURCES: Fishers Island, N.Y. , 1614-1925, by Henry L. Ferguson, 1925, p. 67 *7 2. . U.S. Coast Survey, Fishers Island, 1838. 2 W!_4�s Island, A Book of Memories, by James and Joanne Wall, � p. 234. Form prepared by Kurt Kahofer, research assistant . Middle Farm House Fishers Island FT 36 Y: _ Brick outbuilding - Small, 1-22 story, brick and shingle gable roof build- ing. Diamond shaped '- windows in gable peaks. 212 windows, arched lintels in brick ground story W with stone Bills. —+ws ,� , Stone foundation. (Dormer added) neg: ;.: '' , :. ► . -.t:� - "_ KK XII-4, fm E. l Barn - Large, "Z" ► ! shaped, hip roof barn with gable r•', ,� 1 : . roof wings. 2 story, with jerkinhead H' roof dormers. Clipped exposed rafter ends at eaves. Cupola with pointed, semi- octagonal roof. neg: KK XII-3, fm E. ;r. .} S' I .'fes ��� e l•i 4 •\• � .:f.•• � �.- ���i• r, , • Middle ?arm dairy barn .. dwellings. .. 7i-men gad UOAnne The Middle Farm was the largest farm on • only word to describe it was "elegant," It was a hotel unto itself, The ballroom was formal and impressive. The dining room boasted the most mouth-watering cuisine in the area. W Mrs. Boyce Kelsey, whose family frequently visited the island rA during the summers of the '20's and '30's, recalls that the ca children were put up at the Mansion House; only the adults p! J had accommodations at the club.Memories are all that remain — • (Qca of that impressive structure, for by 1983 it had become too ■a■■■■ tip hi costly to maintain.It was razed and replaced with a contempoa r ; � ■■.■•. L to rary wood structure needing less expensive maintenance. '>z1 Summer Places y '► �# ��. �sa C-r When the members of the Fishers Island Corporation began j' O their efforts to develop the eastern end, just a few old A i — ! structures and some abandoned foundations occupied the land. 0 The old Winthrop place,used by the overseer of the farm,was s =ter, O located behind the barns where the ninth fairway of the big taG' course now lies. Until recently the summer home of Mr. and _ _ ) tephen O Mrs. Gerold Bryce,it is now owned by Mr,and Mrs. S FJ �-•b Kelsey Jr. The middle farm cam lex with its barns and outbuildings existed, as the o ace Dose an a resent ome of Mrs. John Templetom A bit farther west is a structure CD that may Fe one of the four oldest buildings on the island.the ,,h.,a b.ch.r:�M©rsa H O Brickyard House. The present owners are Mr. and Mrs. "Grey Culls," currently the home of ,fix N. Reynolds duPont Jr.In the woods behind their house,between Mrs. Reynolds duPont Sr. N) (tr the pond and the paved east end road, are old foundations once part of the homes supplied for employees of the early the reverse of the other and with a few more closets. It has brickworks. recently been purchased from Mr.and Mrs. j. Fife Symington To the west of the brickyard site is what has been known in by Mr.and Mrs. john Irwin III. recent years as Camp Tabor.This crumbling,massive structure Another home with an interesting history is the current r-sidence of Mr. and Mrs. Denis O'Brien. With no slight to the was formerly used to house members of the Boys'Club of New now owners,old-timers still refer to this structure as Simmons' York who acted as caddies for Hay Harbor and the Fishers (,rw o This formidable till ref is ]phis structure an the far easterly Island Golf Clubs.Before that,this area was the old Wilderness Farm and the buildings included the old red barn, still point of the island. When Mr. and Mrs. Grant Simmons chose this spot in the early 1930's,much thought went into the type of standing, and an overseer's cottage. home that should be built.The idea of a castle won out because Once the east end was opened to home building by members the Simmonses had been impressed by the castles they visited of the corporation, some of the most impressive homes on the on the continent, But where to get the stones All castles are island—joined the old structures in this area. One was Grey built of stone. Gulls, the home now owned by Mrs. Reynolds duPont and `lithe island did not have enough of the proper building stone, constructed by the first president of the Fishers Island: Corporation, Mortimer Buckner. Built on the site of what had; thin a quarry in Stonington, Connecticut did. Grant Simmons once been part of the brickworks,it was to be a surprise for his: visited the quarry and found that cast-off rocks could be wife who was visiting in Europe-Unfortunately,Mrs.Buckner, obtained by arranging to carry them away. All parties were on her return, preferred the south side of the island over the pleased: Simmons had his stones and the quarry operators northerly exposure her husband had chosen. Her second were rid of something they did not want, European stonema. sons who had recently emigrated to America were hired to complaint was that the house lacked closet space.However,th: oversee the building. � � I basic design of the house pleased her,so a site was chosen an ovInterior floors of the castle were oak and slate, Flue-lined W the island's south side overlooking Barley Field Cove. 1 fireplaces were constructed in the dining, living, and master house erected was identical except that it was constructed ' B7