Halsey House Takes Back Bragging Rights As Oldest House On Long Island, For Now

Determining the age of a very old house is very tricky business, something Tom Edmonds and Zachary Studenroth know all too well.

Opinions, expertise, science, interpretation and good old fashioned human fallibility have mixed and mingled over the course of more than a century in an ongoing battle to determine which Long Island town—Southampton or Southold—can claim to have the oldest English-style home in New York State. Mr. Edmonds, the executive director of the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center, and Mr. Studenroth, the director of the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Historical Council, have been at the forefront of this rivalry.

Until recently, the town of Southold has insisted that the Old House, located in Cutchogue, was built in 1649, while the Halsey House in Southampton was built some time between the late 1670s and early 1680s, according to its historians.

Mr. Studenroth recently discovered information that seems to indicate that the Old House was actually built in 1698, which would give bragging rights, so to speak, to Halsey House.

But Mr. Studenroth and his colleagues aren’t ready to relinquish the title just yet.

At issue are the methods used to date the houses. The updated information on the age of the Old House came to Mr. Studenroth’s attention recently, when he got hold of a dendrochronology report that was completed on the house in 2006, before the Old House was under his management. Dendrochronology is the study of patterns in tree growth rings used to determine the age of certain artifacts. In 2006, dendrochronologists from Oxford University in England were working on a study to determine the age of Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island and had taken samples from wooden beams in the Old House—as well as other old houses on Long Island—to use as a basis for comparison. According to Mr. Studenroth, dendrochronology is one of the more exact and scientific methods available to accurately date old structures, but because the report on the Old House was done mainly to provide a comparison for Sylvester Manor, he hired another dendrochronologist, Peter Flynt, two months ago to do an official report on the Old House. Mr. Studenroth said that Mr. Flynt’s report should be complete in the fall.

Mr. Studenroth said it was important to establish an accurate date for the Old House not to settle the rivalry between the towns but because he and his colleagues are in the midst of a reinterpretation of the house. The Old House is a museum, one of the few colonial structures on Long Island that is open to visitors. It’s been set up with historical furniture and other items intended to give an accurate portrayal of life at the time, and Mr. Studenroth said he wants to make sure the picture they are painting is true to the time period. The rivalry between the towns on the issue is real, but Mr. Studenroth said historical accuracy is his primary focus.

“We are educational institutions, and our purpose is not to tell stories; we need to be fact-based,” he said. “We need to provide as much real information as we can. If this study confirms the British study, then that’s fine.”

There has been no dendrochronology report done on the Halsey House, mainly for financial reasons—they aren’t cheap. Like the Old House, it’s been revealed in the past that the stated age of the house wasn’t always accurate. A sign in front of the Halsey House that states it was built in 1648 was discovered to be incorrect after the town hired Bob Hefner, an architectural historian and structural engineer, to take a detailed look at the house several years ago. After analyzing old property plans, other historical evidence, and taking a look at the structure of the house itself, Mr. Hefner determined that the Halsey House was built somewhere between 1678 and 1683. While a historical structures reports like Mr. Hefner’s can’t provide an exact date, Mr. Edmonds said he feels confident in the accuracy of the timeframe of the report.

“I think it’s a great assessment,” he said. “[Mr. Hefner] is the go-to person for detailed architectural history on the South Fork.”

Unlike Mr. Studenroth, Mr. Edmonds isn’t quite as sold on the pinpoint accuracy of dendrochronology, stating that the climate on Long Island makes it particularly challenging to date trees from over the centuries. And unlike Mr. Edmonds, Mr. Studenroth isn’t as sold on the accuracy of structures reports like Mr. Hefner’s.

“It’s like comparing eggs with apples,” he said.

The latest round of comparison favors the Halsey House, but it seems unlikely the academic argument will ever be definitively settled. And that’s just fine with Mr. Edmonds.

“It’s fun,” he said of the rivalry. “During [the 375th anniversary of Southampton Town in 2015] people from Southold came over here and they were ribbing us a little. It’s academic, and it makes people think about history.”