Historic Wading River Property To Be Preserved
Source: Suffolk Life, by Hank Russell
June 20, 2007
In an effort to keep the historic character intact, Gordon and Jane Danby placed a conservation easement on their 5.7-acre parcel in Wading River, donating the easement to the Peconic Land Trust last week. This will prevent the land from being considered for any future development.
The property, located along Sound Road, brings the amount of land the Peconic Land Trust has preserved over the past 24 years to more than 8,600 acres throughout Long Island, according to the East End non-profit organization.
"This is great," said John Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust. "I think what's special with the Danbys is that this is a couple who really cares about the history of [the town of] Riverhead, and the home and the structures that are part of the place."
Although the Danbys still own - and may sell - the property, neither they nor the future owners can build anything on that land. The organization also said the property is one of the last remaining privately owned pieces of open space in Wading River.
Halsey said the Danbys "care very much" about the property. "I'm very happy to work with them to preserve that [property]."
"My wife and I feel that, when you live at a place like this and get old ... you want to [have] something stay in [the same] way," explained Gordon Danby.
According to information from the Peconic Land Trust, the land - known as the Woodhull-Danby property - includes two separate parcels that are attached to one another. One parcel is a two-acre wooded lot and the other is a 3.7-acre lot containing a number of buildings, including the Woodhull-Danby house. The 18th-century structure, also known as "Four Chimneys," has been designated a historic landmark by the town of Riverhead's Landmarks Preservation Committee.
The Woodhull-Danby house was originally built in 1760 and owned by Josiah Woodhull, according to the Peconic Land Trust. The house was designed with Colonial Georgian architecture. In 1840, an addition was added to the house using Greek Revival woodwork, which was then carried throughout the house. The Woodhulls lived in the home until 1920.
That same year, the Pew family - whose patriarch, Marlen Pew, was the editor and publisher of a New York City newspaper - purchased the house, according to the Peconic Land Trust. In 1942, Lars and Lucy deLagerberg bought the house. Lars was an architect and Lucy was an artist. While they lived there, the deLagerbergs renovated the house, changing the roofline on the extension from flat to steeped, and adding an exterior staircase to the second floor and the balcony. Lucy deLagerberg painted hand stencils on the kitchen cabinets, doors and walls.
According to the Peconic Land Trust, the Danbys acquired the two-acre parcel in 1962 and the other parcel three years later. A few years ago, they were introduced to the Peconic Land Trust by a Peconic Land Trust donor, Dr. Caryl Granttham, who made a donation back in 2002.
"My wife knew her and [Granttham] made a donation [of 20.5 acres of woodland located] at the Long Island Sound," Gordon Danby said. "We heard the Peconic Land Trust was a wonderful organization and that they keep what they own [from development]."
As a result of the conservation easement, the house may be changed on the inside, but the outside "will be protected from being altered in the future," Halsey said. "What people see will stay exactly the way it is."
The Peconic Land Trust announced that the Danbys have recently applied for registration on the New York State and national registers of historic places for the Woodhull-Danby house. "It's nice to see a family care about the community enough that they give away development rights and protect all the structures," Halsey said.
Gordon Danby stated that there is "tremendous pressure on Long Island on overdevelopment," adding that such overdevelopment is "inevitable" and that it "impacts nature, the animals and the environment."
By placing a conservation easement on the property, Gordon Danby said, "We thought we'd do a little bit for preserving the past."
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