A pre-Revolution era home in Southampton Village that has become rundown after sitting vacant and neglected for years has been named to the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities' 2013 list of Endangered Historic Places.
The mid-18th century structure, currently located on Windmill Lane, is known as the Rhodes House.
The property has been subject to trespassers, graffiti and illegal dumping, and windows have been broken and boarded up. The Southampton Village Board considered condemning the building in 2012. After the owner was issued a number of village code violations and brought to court, he initiated a cleanup of the property, including removing debris such as mattresses and painting the building white. Bamboo was clearcut, but quickly grew back. The village backed off condemning the building, but it remains in danger of being razed.
"The building is threatened by demolition," SPLIA writes. "A permit was requested but temporarily denied because the Village Code calls for additional review when dealing with buildings 'of historical interest' (older than 75 years). Reuse is complicated by current county environmental regulations that hinder expanded uses at the site — there are sewerage issues affecting underground water and the adjacent Agawam Lake."
Robert Strada, a historic restoration expert who almost bought the building a few years ago, said in interviews last year that the Rhodes House was built circa 1760 at the corner of North Main Street and Hampton Road. When Southampton Town decided around 1920 to build a new town hall there, the Rhodes house was moved to 22 Windmill Lane.
But what can be seen from the street is not part of the original Rhodes House, Strada explained. “When you look at 22 Windmill Lane, there is this odd façade on it. The original building is just that small building beneath the gable roof.”
He said there are many unique features in the original parts of the building that confirm it predates the Revolutionary War. While the identity of who first lived in the house is uncertain, early maps attribute ownership to Henry Rhodes, a sea captain, and after he passed away his family continued to live there through the end of the 18th century and into the 19th century, Strada said.
At one point in its history, the building was a plumbing showroom, he said. “It's last use, going back to the '90s, was as a multifamily dwelling — that's what the [certificate of occupancy] reads.”
According to a cityfeet.com listing, 22 Windmill Lane is on the market for $1.4 million as a redevelopment opportunity. The listing says that the 4,434-square-foot building could be sold separately, or gifted. The lot size is 0.21 acres.
Strada said that his efforts to buy the building in 2006 were sidelined by the recession and Health Department constraints on the property. He said the Rhodes House is worth restoring because it can "easily express that way of life in that period of Southampton Village.”
SPLIA is pushing for Southampton Town to use the Community Preservation Fund to purchase the land and building and give them to Southampton Village for use as a new home for the Southampton Chamber of Commerce. The solution was offered back in 2011 but did not gain any traction.
Strada made a presentation to the Southampton Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review in April requesting landmark status for the Rhodes House, so it can never be demolished. Zachary Studenroth, the historic consultant to the board, said that the building could be granted individual landmark status, or the boundaries of the village's historic district could be altered to pull in 22 Windmill Lane.
Sacred Heart Church, Rectory and Carriage House in Cutchogue was also among the endangered places picked by SPLIA for 2013.
