The Fordham House was built around 1730 and is a Dutch framed house, which is very unusual for an historic house in Suffolk County. Most historical homes in this area are English rather than Dutch. You can tell that it is a Dutch framed house because the ceiling beams run from the back to the front. In English style homes the beams run across the house.

The Jayne family originally owned the house until 1906. Harriet Jayne was the first person to live there. It was a one-room house until the middle of the 18^th century when more rooms were added. At one point William Jayne, a relative of Harriet, used the house as a law office. Henry Fordham bought the house and added the back end in the early 1900’s. That is why it is called the Fordham House.

The house was built from wood that was probably brought from New York City. There was little good wood left on Long Island because the English cut down the trees and shipped them to England. The foundation of the house is stone and the person who built it left just enough room for a crawlspace. The house has the only "good morning" staircase that is in good condition on Long Island. When you get to the top of the center of a "good morning" staircase, there are doors on each side that lead to more stairs.

There is an original corner cupboard in the corner of the house. The shelves are cut out so the cats can climb to catch mice and rats. The family would leave leftover food on these shelves and that is why the mice and rats would be there.

There are three fireplaces. Each has one six foot long bread oven in it. One fireplace had three layers of bricks and all of the layers had to be removed to find the original fireplace. The fireplaces were built in 1700.

There was a barn that was behind the house which was moved to Old Town Road, and it was made into a house in 1953. The current owner is working very hard to restore the house.

This is a Dutch Door.  It has two separate parts that open and close.  A top half and a bottom half.  To open the door you have to open the top first.

This is the garden and you can see the entrance to the crawlspace.