Preservation watchdog Sally Spanburgh takes to the web to vent today, attacking Southampton Village for its 'pro-development' ways. Carriage house demolition is her specific gripe, as the archiblogger mourns the loss of 395 First Neck Lane, which was tear-down approved last summer. The home is the carriage house of 409 First Neck Lane, an estate built in 1889 by Samuel L. Parrish, or Southampton's 'first citizen'. The civic mastermind was involved in tons of public works projects over the years, including the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course and the museum that now bears his name. Parrish, a bachelor until he was 79, also lived in what's now the Southampton Historical Museum.
Spanburgh explains that in the 1940s the estate was subdivided to allow the carriage house to serve as a separate home. Now 60 years later, number 395 is coming down since the Architectural Review Board has no jurisdiction over the property. (It's not visible from 'a public right of way'). Spanburgh attacks:
Aren’t we editing history by only saving the houses and not the carriage houses? Do you know how few carriage houses remain because so many have been demolished, and all because they don’t look like horse stables any more? Is it acceptable that only a few token examples should survive? I don’t think so. Tell 'em, Sally. The post ends with a list of all of the home's previous and current owners, in case you want to heckle them, or something.
· 395 First Neck Lane [SHVR]
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