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The Historic Benjamin Howell House May Be Demolished

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Tonight's agenda for the meeting of the Southampton Landmarks & Historic Districts Board includes an application to demolish 195 Quimby Lane in Bridgehampton, a house built in 1840 for Benjamin F. Howell (1801-1855), a descendant of an original settler of Southampton. This house will be a goner unless someone wants to move it; owner Francois de Menil is amenable to this option, and the house was in fact moved to its present location in 1982.

We know this house was built in 1840, as a copy of an original receipt from the builder survives, charging Mr. Howell "the sum of twenty two hundred and thirty dollars in full for building a house and all other demands." (According to MeasuringWorth.com, about $133,000 today.) Mr. Howell, son of whaling captain Caleb Howell (1761-1841), built his house just west of his father's residence on Montauk Highway, which no longer exists. The Howells are buried in the cemetery next to the Presbyterian church on Main Street.
· Southampton Landmarks & Historic Districts Board [Official]