From The President
November 2011
The Yaphank Historic Society is wrapping up our restoration of the Mary Louise Booth house. We have some windows to finish (as we get the money), some exterior trim needs to be done and a new roof needs to be put on. We will, of course, continue to furnish the house with period-appropriate pieces.
Our next project will be the restoration of the Homan-Gerard house. This house is on the National Register of Historic Places and it is #1 on the Suffolk County list to be restored. The County is looking for a restoration architect to begin work on this project. The Yaphank Historical Society has permission to begin the cleanup of the grounds around the house and we intend to get started shortly. We will use volunteers from the Society as well as the labor from the Suffolk County Sheriff Department’s Vocational Training Program. The grounds need to be cleaned up and a lot of the wood and the debris from the old porches and the summer kitchen need to be removed and saved when possible. We need to do this work before the architect can access the building.
The Homan-Gerard house has been neglected for quite some time; it is about time it gets the attention that it deserves. We are going to restore it to its original glory and it will become another part of the Yaphank Historic District to be used as a museum. There were barns and various out buildings that went along with the house. These buildings have collapsed, but the foundations are still good and we would hope that someday we will be able to restore them and add them to the Historic District.
- Robert Kessler, President