Historical Surprise Found in 'Antiquity'

As historians began to shore up a 1740s historical house, known as Antiquity, located on Quantuck Lane in Quogue, they made a surprising discovery — there was a separate structure hiding inside.

"We are very excited. These are the kinds of nice surprises that happen when you preserve history," said Donna Sessa, co-chair the special committee to preserve the Antiquity.

According to Sessa, when the society began to deconstruct the historical structure, which was after he was denied an the property that Antiquity sits on, they found an entirely separate structure within the east wing of the house.

"It was verified that it was a separate building," said Sessa, who said that the society is now researching the structure to find out if it was moved to the property when Antiquity was moved there sometime after 1834 or if it was originally built on the property.

However, she said one thing is for sure — it was built in the 18th century.

According to Robert Strada, a consultant on the project, the discovery was made as the newer additions to Antiquity were knocked down. When they got to the east wing of the house, he said he started to notice a difference in the windows.

"We saw these windows that were nine over six and that is typical of a historic format," said Strada. "It is an indication that something special was going on with the east wing."

Slowly, the east wing was picked open and it was revealed that it was a free standing structure with a timber frame.

"If you look at the markings, you can see it was built after the Revolutionary War and before the 1800s," Strada said.

Sessa said along with the window markings, there were Roman numerals on the doorway leading into the structure from Antiquity's kitchen.

The question just remains, Strada said, "How did these two structures wind up side by side?"

According to historical reports, Antiquity, was originally built on the northeast corner of Quogue Street and Lamb Avenue and then sold to and converted into a boarding house, known as the Foster Boarding House in 1834. After a fire, it was moved to Quantuck Lane.

And Antiquity and the east wing structure will move again. As part of the historical society's agreement with Gazza, the society must move the two structures off the Quantuck Lane property within the next six months.

The society, said Sessa is currently exploring options and said that the buildings could be split up or sit on the same property.  And while they are looking for a new location, the society is also hoping to garner donations for the cost to deconstruct and move both structures, which she suspects will cost about $50,000.

Additional monies will be needed to reconstruct the houses, she said.