Carll, Marion, Farm
Why it's listed
Set on about nine acres off Commack Road, this farm was worked by the Carll family from 1701 into the twentieth century. Timothy Carll bought land within the Winnecomac Patent, and later generations built successive farmhouses on the site. The present white clapboard house was erected in 1860 by John Carll after the 1748 house burned. It combines Federal-period lines with Italianate brackets and a flat-roofed wing. Around it stand horse, carriage, sheep and storage barns, a smoke house, a privy, a milk house and chicken coops, built of local wood on fieldstone foundations. The buildings record changes in farming, including a shift toward dairy activity after World War I. In the 1930s part of the surrounding land became a small airport, later leased to a country club, which kept open space around the farm. Marion Carll died in 1968 and left the property to the school district for educational and community use. It survives amid dense development as a reminder of Commack's agricultural past.
Significance in brief: The farm is tied to the earliest settlement of the area and to the agricultural development of Suffolk County in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its farmhouse mixes Federal proportions with Italianate details, and its outbuildings show how the farm grew over two centuries. It is described as one of the few surviving direct links to central Long Island's early settlement and the last largely unaltered reminder of Commack's farming era.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79001632, listed June 26, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 475 Commack Rd., Commack |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | June 26, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79001632 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Eighteenth century through twentieth century; specific date 1860 |
| Architect / builder | farmhouse: John Carll |
| Architectural style | Federal proportions with Italianate decorative elements |
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The farmhouse is occupied by a member of the Carll family. Several outbuildings are no longer in use or serve as work sheds, hay storage and a nature study center. Marion Carll left the farm to the Commack School District for use as an educational and community center. |
| Acreage | 9.3 |
| Coordinates | 40.82571, -73.29513 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79001632.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6765114
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.