Tuthill, Jesse and Ira, House
Why it's listed
Located at the corner of Main Road and Cardinal Drive in Mattituck on Long Island's North Fork, this farmhouse was built in two stages. Jesse Tuthill raised a two-room, New England-style colonial house in 1799. His son Ira, a former sea captain, merchant, farmer and church deacon, added a larger two-story Greek Revival house in 1841, joined to the older building through the dining room. The newer section has evenly spaced six-over-six windows, a wide frieze band and a modest gabled roof. Later changes included decorative brackets, an Eastlake-style porch and early twentieth-century colonial revival renovations by Philip R. Tuthill. The family farmed the land until the 1950s. After the property was sold out of the family and faced demolition, a relative bought it and donated it in 1968 to the Mattituck-Laurel Historical Society. It now serves as a local history museum on about two acres, alongside a garage, a milkhouse and a moved schoolhouse.
Significance in brief: It is significant under Criterion A for the settlement and growth of the Mattituck area, reflecting two generations of the Tuthill family descended from an original Southold settler. Under Criterion C it shows two building styles: a Colonial New England-style 1799 section and an 1841 vernacular Greek Revival section.
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 06000158, listed March 22, 2006. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Main Rd. and Cardinal Dr., Mattituck |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | March 22, 2006 |
| Reference number | 06000158 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1799-1955 |
| Architect / builder | Jesse and Ira Tuthill |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Exploration/Settlement, Social History, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned and maintained by the Mattituck-Laurel Historical Society and used as a local history museum with exhibits and educational programming. |
| Acreage | 1.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.99710, -72.51932 (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 06000158.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6186992
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.