The Long Island Home -- -- Newsday.com

Our Houses

The largest house in New York is on Long Island. So, arguably, is the smallest. But between the over-the-top glamor of Otto Kahn's 72-room Oheka estate and the modest simplicity of the one-room Hempstead Town bay shacks lie nearly 750,000 single-family structures -- homes that embody the sweep of Long Island history and a surprising range of architectural styles.

Well-Preserved Splendor

The small wood case rests on a hallway table. Inside is an iodine-hued daguerreotype of a somber young man, along with a lock of his hair, tied with a purple mourning ribbon, that has accompanied the likeness for more than a century.

How the Kitchen Evolved

It's a thoroughly modern conceit, this notion that we've finally achieved domestic nirvana. And, in fact, evidence of the kitchen's breathtaking change over the past few decades is everywhere, from the microwave and the Cuisinart to the computerized washing machine and the whisper-quiet dishwasher, from pre-packaged salads and frozen waffles to the pre-shreaded Monterrey jack on your pre-folded tacos.

The Golden Years

Even in an age in which Bill Gates carves a 45,000-square-foot techno-mansion into a Washington hillside, in which Aaron Spelling boasts a French cafe, doll museum and bomb shelter in his California manor and Steven Spielberg builds a Georgica Pond estate with the look of a barn and the budget of a small motion picture, it is still difficult to imagine the splendor of Long Island's great country houses.

Our Houses: A Chronology

1649: Old House, Cutchogue, built for Anna Budd and Benjamin Horton in Medieval English style brought to East End by 17th-Century settlers. House descends into Wickham family, until forfeited after Revolution; converted to a barn in 19th Century and restored for Southold tercentenary.

The Early Colonials

There's no such thing as a sure thing, but often there is a tried-and-true. If you're hobnobbing, for instance, it's the little black dress. If you're apologizing, it's a dozen red, red roses.

Eclectic Dignity

Three hundred and fifty years ago, Dutch farmers named the Rikers worked the fertile land beside Old Bowery Bay, never dreaming that the misty island across the way would centuries later make their name synonymous with lock-downs and convicted felons. Probably equally inconceivable to them was the thought that their family's humble little 1654 farmhouse in Jackson Heights would survive to become the oldest private dwelling in New York City.

Quirky Imperfection

Cathy Davis found her house at a tag sale.

Breaking the Mold

In the cookie-cutter world of tract developments, where a colonial is a tudor is a cape, the splanch is suburbia's rebel. From its rather eccentric layout to its utterly preposterous name, it's the house that refuses to play by traditional architectural rules. It isn't a split, and it isn't a ranch, though its name borrows from both. What it is is a three-story house in a two-story skin -- a Rube Goldberg structure with a central staircase from which basement, first floor, stand-alone living room and a raft of upstairs bedrooms unfurl.

The Lure of the Water

Jeanne Dipolito had always been house-proud. Her colonial in Baldwin was coiffed and groomed to perfection, meticulously decorated with her various collections of pottery and antiques. But last year, she and her husband, Tom, decided they'd like to live on the water and one day, Tom told her he'd found what they were looking for.