County purchases, preserves 1830s Moriches house

Bill Roache, left, a trustee with the Mastic Peninsula Historic Society, and carpenter Bob Wedell look over the Hawkins house, a two-century-old structure on a 4.71-acre property in Moriches that has fallen into disrepair. Suffolk County plans to purchase the property and the historic society will use it as its headquarters and open the property for tours. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
A nearly two-century-old Moriches house that has fallen into disrepair may eventually become a Suffolk County historical site open for public tours.
Known locally as the Hawkins house, the abode on Montauk Highway will be purchased by the county and managed by the Mastic Peninsula Historical Society, which plans to use the house as its headquarters. Brookhaven Town will maintain the 4.71-acre property.
The nonprofit historical society plans to open the house for tours and school groups as a kind of living museum tracing life in 19th-century Long Island. Walking and hiking trails also are planned for the site.
William Roache, a historical society trustee, said the group waged a two-year effort to save the house, which had faced possible demolition. The county agreed to buy the property for its drinking water protection program. The group now meets at the Mastic Fire Department.
“We didn’t want to see the house torn down," Roache said. "That’s how it started out.”
Roache said the house dates to 1790, though Suffolk Legis. Rudy Sunderman (R-Shirley), who sponsored the resolution to buy the property, said records show it was built around 1836. He said parts of the house must be restored before it can open to the public.
“It’s exciting for the community to be able to preserve a house that’s been around since 1836,” Sunderman said.
The county Legislature voted 18-0 on March 17 to buy the house for $376,800 from F. Norma Bummer and Gladys Maston, both of upstate Stephentown. Bummer and Maston could not be reached for comment, but county officials said they agreed to sell.
Sunderman said it may take a few months to complete the purchase.
It could take longer before the house is ready for visitors. The property is overgrown with vegetation, and structures in the rear of the property must be removed, Brookhaven Councilman Dan Panico said.
The town parks department and possibly outside contractors will repair the house and grounds, Panico said, adding there was no estimate of how much that work would cost. Repairs will take at least a year, and possibly longer because of delays caused by the coronavirus outbreak, he said.
“What’s important to us is that there’s wetlands on the property," which must be protected, Panico said. "It’s a nice acquisition because it’s adjacent to other properties that the town holds to the east.”
Roache said the property was the domain of the Hawkins family, a prominent 19th-century family of farmers and land owners. Some family members are buried in local graveyards such as the Hawkins-Downs Cemetery, partially named for the family, on James Hawkins Road in Moriches.
Sunderman said the site will give the historical society a permanent home.
"They’re also going to open it up for school groups for educational purposes to show what life was like in those 1836 days,” he said.

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