Wrecking ball decision on historic Brentwood home delayed

The Town of Islip has postponed a decision on the potential demolition of a historic Brentwood home, after local historians raised objections to the owner's plan to knock down the dilapidated structure and build office space.

The Brentwood Historical Society and Islip's town historian say Shutt House, which dates back to the mid-19th century, should be preserved. The nonprofit Preservation Long Island recently put the structure on its list of endangered local historic places.

At a meeting last week, Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter granted the Brentwood Historical Society a month to hire a historic preservation architect to evaluate the building. It is one of the few remaining structures from Modern Times, a utopian settlement of about 150 people who, from 1851 to 1864, lived on 90 acres in what is now Brentwood.

The Modern Times society had no criminal justice system, money or taxes, and women could vote. The egalitarian society unraveled during the Civil War due to economic pressures and an influx of outsiders with different philosophies.

Eugene De Nicola, an attorney representing the building's owner, said at last week's meeting that an engineering inspection of the dwelling determined that — at an estimated cost of more than $1.7 million — restoration “is not a feasible alternative.”

After knocking down the structure, the owner wants to build a two-story office building that, at the request of town planning staff, would pay homage to the architecture of Shutt House with a plaque acknowledging the site’s historical significance.

Shutt House has been vacant since around 2002, De Nicola said.

“We don't believe that it's historic. It's old, yes, but there doesn't appear to be anything really historic in terms of the occupants of the house. There were people who lived there and were active in their community,” De Nicola said in an interview Tuesday. "It's in extremely bad shape, in terms of construction. It almost cannot be rehabilitated and if it is, the cost is prohibitive.”

Islip Town Principal Planner Sean Colgan said at last week's meeting the owner has demonstrated that restoration “is technically infeasible.”

Colgan added that the structure has water damage, foundation damage and termite damage and that it was the opinion of the town’s chief building inspector “that it couldn't be salvaged.”

But Islip Town Historian George Munkenbeck said he's opposed to demolition of the structure. 

The loss of Shutt House would “remove a reminder of what the area once was and the unique history of Brentwood,” he said.

Munkenbeck added the town should consider legislative protection for the building as a landmark.

Jason Klosowicz, who authored a book on Brentwood's history, spoke at the meeting about the involvement of Ellen Shutt, an original occupant of the residence, in the “social movements and philosophical debates of the day, with many of these debates taking place inside the house.” 

Last month, Peter Ward, a librarian at Brentwood Public Library, described Shutt's participation in the “great reforms of the day” in a newsletter from the town historian's office. It noted Shutt at one time lived in an experimental Massachusetts community of which author Nathaniel Hawthorne was an original shareholder.

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.