Cultural Landscape Report for the William Floyd Estate, Fire Island National Seashore Part 1: Site History Existing Conditions, Analysis and Evaluation

Hammond, John

The William Floyd Estate, on the south shore of Long Island, is located in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York. Although not physically located on Fire Island, the 613 acre property is one of two cultural landscapes identified within the boundaries of the Fire Island National Seashore. The original estate once extended seven miles north from the shore of Narrows Bay and the parcel was a mile wide. Today, the size of the property is greatly reduced yet remains one of the largest tracts of open-space in an otherwise densely developed and heavily populated region. The Floyd family superimposed an organized grid of fields over the land that were maintained and utilized continuously until the Second World War for crops and grazing, and afterwards for recreational hunting and conservation. At the time of its acquisition by the National Park Service in 1965, the Floyd family had been maintaining eleven fields and five man-made ponds on the property. Beyond these areas, the historic field grid had become overgrown with woody vegetation. The Estate’s agricultural fields and wooded areas envelop a 33-acre historic residential core at the northwest boundary of the property. This is the location of the primary structure on the property, the Floyd family house known as “Old Mastic House.” The house was listed on the National Register under this name in 1980 for its significance as the home of General William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Old Mastic House is a 25-room, two-story, white frame structure built c. 1724 with 18th, 19th and 20th century additions. Surrounded by an informal landscape of lawn, ornamental trees and shrubs, and gardens and orchards; the house faces south overlooking a large field the family referred to as the Pightle, a British term for a small meadow. On the southwestern edge of the Pightle, a narrow vista is maintained through the woods allowing for a highly constrained view south to Narrow Bay. This report includes a landscape history, documentation of existing landscape conditions, and analysis and evaluation of the landscape's significance, integrity, and contributing landscape characteristics and features. The introduction chapter also includes a preliminary discussion of landscape treatment, identifying relevant considerations and outlining a general treatment approach for the William Floyd Estate landscape. This volume should be followed by a second volume, Part 2, which will further develop the treatment philosophy and offer detailed recommended treatment tasks.

Cultural Landscape Report for the William Floyd Estate, Fire Island National Seashore Part 1: Site History Existing Conditions, Analysis and Evaluation

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