Oyster Bay, December 12, 2004, Sunday

A display of architectual heritage

By Rhoda Amon
Staff Writer

The Oyster Bay Historical Society has set out to make residents of the 350-year-old hamlet aware of the need to preserve surviving architectural treasures, some dating back to the days when President Teddy Roosevelt rode horseback into town.

As in most older Long Island communities, Oyster Bay saw much of its vintage architecture fall to the bulldozer in the development booms of the '50s, '60s and '70s.

"We had a staggering loss of 30, 40 buildings replaced with parking lots," said society executive director Thomas Kuehhas. "We want to see a groundswell of public awareness so people will pause before they tear down more of our architectural heritage."

"Once a piece of our architectural heritage is gone, it's lost forever," warn Kuehhas and co-chair Maureen Monck in a foreword to a book, "The Architecture of Oyster Bay."

A "Then and Now" exhibit mounted in the society's 1720 Earle-Wightman House shows early structures that were bulldozed or stripped of their detail in a "modernization" process. The 1851 Octagon Hotel, once the largest octagonal building in the country, gradually lost its cupola, front porch, windows and trim. Now, it's reduced to a nondescript structure, denuded of its architectural detail and housing an auto detailing shop.

However, the exhibit also points to a shining example of adaptive re-use in the Moore executive office building, where Roosevelt housed his staff when nearby Sagamore Hill was the Summer White House. After years of disrepair, the building was restored by new owners in 1995. It became the Book Mark Cafe, now the Wild Honey Cafe.

"It's a well-maintained building with nice apartments upstairs," said board president Susan Peterson Neuhaus.

The exhibit contains artifacts from demolished or denuded buildings, such as a Gothic pointed-top gable window from a house on Route 25A that was bulldozed during a road widening.

Program events culminate with a candlelight tour of early 20th-century homes in the Florence Park area 4 to 6 p.m. today. The holiday tour is $35 with proceeds going to building an annex for expanding the society's exhibition and collections space. For information, call 516-922-5032.

The exhibit will continue through February in the Earle-Wightman House at 20 Summit St. and is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

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