{"nrhp_refnum":"10000988","name":"Edwards House, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"39 Edwards St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sayville","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.733406538000054,"lon":-73.07902200899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-12-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Edwards Homestead is an L-shaped, one-and-one-half story frame house at 39 Edwards Street in Sayville, Suffolk County, New York, dating from 1785 and expanded in 1838. It is now a house museum within a small complex of four noncontributing buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for settlement as the surviving residence of a family descended from one of Sayville's first colonial-era settlers, John Edwards. It is also significant under Criterion C as an excellent example of an early Long Island farmstead that began as a small New England Colonial house and was enlarged over time, with Greek Revival interior details added in 1838. It is believed to be the oldest extant residence in Sayville.","narrative":"Believed to be the oldest surviving residence in Sayville, the Edwards Homestead at 39 Edwards Street is a shingled, L-shaped house with a brick foundation that resembles a Cape Cod dwelling. Its earliest portion dates to 1785, built by Matthew Edwards on land associated with his father John, a French and Indian War veteran who settled near the Great South Bay in 1761. Matthew's son, Captain James Edwards, a sea captain, expanded the house in 1838 with a west parlor, a new center staircase, and a single-story kitchen addition. The exterior kept its colonial look while the new parlor received fashionable Greek Revival moldings. The family held the property until 1945, when Clarissa Edwards gave it to the Sayville Historical Society. It now serves as a house museum alongside several smaller support buildings. The property was listed for its role in local settlement and as a rare example of Long Island vernacular farmhouse architecture.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1785-1944","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"New England Colonial","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Operated as a house museum by the Sayville Historical Society, which received it as a gift in 1945; the nomination reports a high degree of integrity although much of the original setting has been lost to residential development.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.873958-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/10000988.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000988/cca410ebdc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000988/cca410ebdc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"DanTD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edwards_Homestead;_Sayville,_New_York.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">DanTD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edwards_Homestead;_Sayville,_New_York.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322096","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137302765"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/edwards-house-the-10000988/"}