Longbotham, Nathaniel, House
Why it's listed
This small farmhouse on Stony Brook Road in Suffolk County, New York, is made up of three joined sections. The largest is a story-and-a-half oak-framed half-house, documented by 1746 and probably built between 1735 and 1745 by Nathaniel Longbotham. Attached to it is a smaller one-story cottage that may be older and now serves as the kitchen. A one-car garage added in 1952 completes the row. The lot of about one-eighth acre is all that remains of a 150-acre farm, and it also holds an early nineteenth-century shed and a late seventeenth or early eighteenth-century well. Inside, the parlor keeps original pine floors, paneling and a brick fireplace, and restoration in the 1980s exposed early shingles and framing details. The Longbotham family were millers and landholders in Setauket and Stony Brook. The house is regarded as one of the region's most intact and well-documented settlement-era dwellings, showing early eighteenth-century building practices on central Long Island.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of the most intact and thoroughly documented settlement-period houses in the region. It recalls local settlement and regional vernacular building practices in early eighteenth-century central Long Island. It was built for Nathaniel Longbotham, whose family were early landholders and millers in the Setauket and Stony Brook area.
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 89002022, listed November 16, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1541 Stony Brook Rd., Stony Brook |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | November 16, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89002022 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Nathaniel Longbotham (built the half-house) |
| Architectural style | Colonial |
| Areas of significance | Exploration/Settlement, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Used as a private residence and professionally restored, with work focused on stabilizing and conserving original fabric; transfer to a nonprofit for public education is being explored. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 40.90749, -73.13428 (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 89002022.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6969740
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.