Local Hero

You’ve most likely driven by it and let out a sigh of appreciation: the quaint farmhouse rising out of the potato fields just north of the highway on the Southampton-Water Mill border. You would have made note of it in your mind’s eye as a rare and poignant reminder of the South Fork’s agrarian heritage. It practically shouts ‘authenticity.’

When real estate lawyer Ira Kornbluth moved into the 1,200 square foot dwelling 35 years ago, it was one of many such charming relics. Now, says Kornbluth, “It’s the only one left.” Because of that he made the financially compromising decision to designate it a local landmark. “I thought, even if it’s worth less money I want to give back. I’ve enjoyed it so much,” he says.  “Money isn’t everything.”
The idea struck him one day this spring when he was called by Sally Spanburgh, chair of Southampton Town’s Landmarks & Historic Districts Board, who was worried about the potential teardown of what was thought to be an 18th-century house a field away, and wondered if, as a neighbor, Kornbluth could help her determine its historic significance. Upon further investigation, that house (known as the “old Maddock place”) was revealed to be a 1930s Colonial Revival structure in such disrepair as to negate preservation.

But it got Kornbluth thinking about his own house. Known in the historical archives as the Hattie J. Halsey Tenant Farmhouse, the first land deed was recorded in 1897 by one John D. Wring. After the original dwelling there was destroyed by fire in 1906, the property was bought by Hattie J. Halsey as part of a 14-acre agricultural parcel.  At some point between 1916 and 1920 a house built in the village circa 1900 was moved there, which housed farm workers and their families till the 1970s.

When Kornbluth took possession he made very few changes. Most notably he added a bay of windows and a window seat in the dining area to “bring the outside in,” in contrast to what early residents would have desired – to keep the elements, which they had to encounter everyday, out.

Once Kornbluth decided to apply for landmark status, Spanburgh went into action, researching the history of the abode, which is described in official documents as a “vernacular farmhouse…with a “front facing gabled roof…and Queen Ann double-hung windows.” There was a town board meeting and the house was unanimously declared a landmark – which means the exterior can never change. The truth is that the house was a landmark in everyone’s minds even before it became official. Kornbluth recalls telling someone he lived there. “No, you can’t live there,” she told him. “What she meant was this is not a place where people live, it’s part of the landscape,” he says.

Kornbluth says that he’s always noticed that cars slow down to admire the house as they drive by. Thanks to him they will be able to do so for decades to come.