Historic Home May Face Wrecking Ball

'Antiquity,' a 1740s home, located at 9 Quantuck Lane in the Village of Quogue may soon be torn down, that is unless historians can find a place to move the historic structure.

According to a blog, written by Sally Spanburgh, of the Southampton's historic preservation committee, the current owner of Antiquity, Joseph Gazza says he will give the home to anyone willing to move it to another location.

Back in February, Gazza was before the Quogue Village Planning Board to request a variance that will allow him to subdivide the 3.5 acres, which the house sits on  into two halves. Zoning only permits for subdivisions of two acres.

At the time, Gazza said he would be willing to pay for a relocation of the home or he would renovate it and leave it on the property as long as he was granted a variance.

The Quogue Planning Board, Spanburg, reported in her blog, has denied Gazza's request and Gazza has rescinded his offer to pay for the relocation of the home, but he said he will give it away.

"If something doesn't happen very soon, the 1740s homestead, a Southampton Town, and especially Quogue treasure, will be lost before the end of the year, so that the owner will not incur another year's worth of real estate taxes," wrote Spanburg. "I know 'where there's a will, there's a way!'"

Knowing that many historic structures are in danger, the Town of Southampton recently passed new legislation that aims to preserve historic structures by streamlining the process of getting them on a historic registry list.