{"nrhp_refnum":"80002778","name":"Breese, James L., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"155 Hill St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southampton","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.88530858450005,"lon":-72.39831053740531,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A summer residence at 155 Hill Street in Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, built from 1897 and expanded to 1906 on a four-acre site, designed by McKim, Mead and White around an earlier farmhouse.","why_significant":"It was one of the first large summer residences built in Southampton and is the only extant house in the village designed completely by McKim, Mead and White. Its exterior and interior remain largely intact, and it is a rare local example of turn-of-the-century Colonial Revival architecture. It also reflects Southampton's growth as an affluent summer resort.","narrative":"This summer residence on Hill Street in Southampton was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White for James L. Breese, with construction beginning in 1897. The architects incorporated an existing farmhouse, the circa 1858 Drake House, into the central block. The two-and-one-half-story shingled house has a two-story portico reminiscent of Mt. Vernon and was enlarged over about ten years with asymmetrical wings. Inside are an elliptical stairwell, a library, an Adamesque drawing room and an oak-panelled 1906 music room by Stanford White with an Aeolian pipe organ. Formal gardens were planned in the architects' office. It was among the first large summer houses in the village and the only one there designed entirely by the firm, which helps explain its standing as a local landmark in Southampton's rise as a resort. Later owners included Charles E. Merrill, Amherst College and the Nyack School for Boys. The house has stood unoccupied since 1977.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-1906 (specific dates 1898-1906)","architect_builder":"McKim, Mead and White","architectural_style":"American Colonial Revival (turn-of-the-century), with neoclassical details","criteria":[],"status_note":"Unoccupied since the Nyack School for Boys closed in 1977; condition listed as fair, with overgrown, neglected gardens.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.125331-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002778.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002778/64b5640930-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002778/64b5640930-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Americasroof (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Breese_House;_155_Hill_Road;_Southampton,_New_York.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof (talk)</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:Breese_House;_155_Hill_Road;_Southampton,_New_York.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322049","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Breese_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14706618"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/breese-james-l-house-80002778/"}