Boy Scouts, dads help historical estate with spring cleaning

Earlier this month, the Meadow Croft estate in Sayville had local students volunteer for their annual “spring cleaning” of the former summer home for John E. Roosevelt.

“This past weekend we had a major spring-cleaning day. Asking for volunteers, we had so many wonderful people come out to help, including Boy Scout Troop 130 and their dads, who are always ready to chip in at Meadow Croft,” said Mary Bailey, president of the Bayport-Blue Point Heritage Association who manages upgrades and maintenance to the home and grounds of Meadow Croft.”

In the Heirloom Garden, there were eight volunteers cleaning out the fall leaves and removing all the dead plans from last season so the ground would be ready for spring planting.

“The Carriage House needed a good cleaning and that’s just what we did. A full dumpster of unnecessary things that have been gathering for the last 40 years have been removed, the floors swept and the remaining items organized,” said Bailey.

“The next step for the Carriage House is to recreate the horse stalls that were in the original building when it was built in 1891. This is possible with the Suffolk County Omnibus Grant we received from Legis. Anthony Piccirillo’s office this year,” said Bailey.

“It’s always a pleasure working with Mary Bailey and the dedicated volunteers at Meadow Croft. Historical preservation is a rewarding endeavor that lets us celebrate our storied past. I’m happy that I could play a part preserving this historic gem,” said Piccirillo.

Meadow Croft is located on Middle Road in the center of the Suffolk County Sans Souci Lake Nature Preserve, which divides Sayville on the west from Bayport on the east.

“The approach to the estate is among the most haunting and beautiful on Long Island, over a narrow concrete bridge and up a long dirt drive embedded in tall marsh grass. Waving in the wind, this grass beckons the visitor back to the Gold Coast period, for Meadow Croft exists in a remarkable state of preservation evocative of the first third of the 20th century when it was last occupied,” is the description provided for the estate on its website.

The only outside building that is visible from inside the estate is the adjacent St. Ann’s Episcopal Church. The estate occupies a large tract of land dividing the east and west branches of Brown’s Creek, which flows into the Great South Bay. The main house, facing due south toward this bay, is divided into two sections: two original mid-19th-century farmhouses which were used for servants’ quarters in the Gold Coast era, and a larger, more formal Colonial Revival main block designed by the local architect Isaac H. Green.

Installed in 1908, these represent the only important alterations to the original structure. The estate outbuildings include a garage, stable/barn, coach house, caretaker’s cottage, and poured concrete swimming pool of early 20th-century vintage.

Meadow Croft is notable as an early Colonial Revival residence by Isaac Henry Green (1858-1937), a fixture and idol of the Beaux Arts architects  and resident of Sayville.

Among other local designs of Green include: old ’88 Schoolhouse, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, the present clubhouse of the West Sayville Golf Course (the former Hard estate), and the Oystermen’s Bank and Trust Company Building in downtown Sayville. The famed Maidstone Club (both houses) in East Hampton frequented by the likes of a young Jackie Kennedy, were designed by Green. The Dutch Revival style in the Hamptons, which started around the 1890s, is credited to Green’s work.