The Farm at Oyster Bay work progresses

The roof and window leaks in the sprawling Littauer mansion have been plugged. A tilting barn has been righted and reinforced. And three young goats donated by Old Bethpage Village Restoration have joined resident goat Daisy May and donkey Artie.

Four years after the Town of Oyster Bay bought the 26-acre Littauer estate in Oyster Bay Cove with environmental bond money, years of deterioration are being reversed and programs for the public expanded.

"It's clearly still a work in progress," said Andrew Rothstein, the town director of operations who is overseeing rehabilitation of the property at Split Rock Road and Route 25A.

The town bought the gardens, pastures, ponds and farm buildings for $5.5 million to keep the land from being developed.

"We're trying to keep the integrity of all the buildings," Rothstein said. But that comes with a large price tag for restoration -- $1,055,333 since the town took over the property.

The farm dates to the 1750s. The last private owner of Hillside Farm was Mary Littauer, who bought it with her husband in 1943 and died in 2005. The town renamed it The Farm at Oyster Bay.

A steel interior frame has been installed in a barn to keep it from collapsing. The barn will become an education center. A deteriorated chicken coop and barnyard fences have been replaced. The septic, water supply and drainage systems have been upgraded.

After the main house was made weather-tight and rewired, town historian John Hammond moved his office there. Additional uses for the house may include small-scale special events and educational programs.

"We knew from the beginning that this was not going to be an active park with baseball fields or lighting," Rothstein said. Access has been -- and probably will remain -- by appointment only for groups.

Most visitors so far have been scouts who have cleaned up and, with adult volunteers, planted crops in the 1.5-acre garden. The produce is donated to the Island Harvest food bank. One Eagle Scout built a storage shed for the garden and another is going to restore the grape arbor. A group of artists periodically sets up easels to paint at the farm.

Rothstein envisions adding stargazing, walking tours, bird and wildlife watching, art classes, agricultural education, senior citizen exercise programs and holiday-related events such as pumpkin decorating.

"We're delighted with what they've done and that they've given it such a community purpose," said Lisa Ott, president of the North Shore Land Alliance, which helped the town acquire the property.

Visitors share the property with caretaker Amanda Bellois-Roberts, 34, who represents the fifth generation of her family to serve in that role. "My family loves that they can still come here and enjoy it the way it was," she said.