If you're thinking of buying in Yaphank

Once a thriving mill town, the hamlet of Yaphank currently is often described as quiet and rural. "Yaphank was a bustling community in the 1800s," says Robert Kessler, president of the Yaphank Historical Society, citing a busy commercial center near four mills along the Carmans River. "People came from all over," Kessler says, adding, "and now it's a very sleepy community, which we kind of like."

Much of Yaphank's past has been preserved with a historic district that boasts about 30 homes -- many of them along Main and East Main streets -- which are listed on the New York State register, says historian Karen Mouzakes.

Situated just west of the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Yaphank is also home to Cornell Cooperative Extension's Suffolk County Farm and Education Center and the police Museum at Suffolk Police Headquarters.

Recreation areas include South Haven County Park, offering campgrounds, picnic areas, hiking and horse trails. Yaphank is also popular for its "beautiful" upper and lower lakes, Kessler says.

The community's housing stock offers capes, ranches, Colonials and postmoderns. A new 15-lot subdivision off Mill Road is offering Energy Star homes on half-acre parcels, with prices starting at $359,990, says Susan Fierro, owner of Universal Home Sales in Lake Ronkonkoma. Adam Heller of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate says three new Colonials, priced from $249,000 to $300,000, are being built on on-acre lots.