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Real Estate

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Wheeee! Slide into an $8M Sands Point house with a unique fire escape

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Newsday&#39;s Arielle Dollinger takes us inside a multi-million dollar home for sale in Sands Point&nbsp;with a fun feature.

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Slide into an $8 million Sands Point home

Sands Point

Port Washington

Newsday

Slide into an $8 million Sands Point home

Heading to Montauk? You might spot this dome-shaped house

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Newsday real estate reporter Arielle Dollinger visits a geodesic dome house in Montauk that was built by artist and inventor&nbsp;Eugene Tallarico.

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Go inside a dome-shaped home in Montauk

Montauk

Northport

Baiting Hollow

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Arielle Dollinger

In the late 1970s, Bob Benner and his wife, Jean, were living in what was once a ship builder's house in Northport. He was teaching art&nbsp;at Northport High School, and considering opening a canoe livery and ski business in Minnesota. 
Then, Bob introduced a new prospect.&nbsp;He told Jean of a farm for sale on eastern Long Island and they decided to visit when they got home. 
It was &quot;Sleeping Beauty's farm,&quot; per Bob's description. Second-growth forest covered the 15-acre property, concealing all but the peak of the barn. But the pair imagined raising children there. 
&quot;We're crazy,&quot; said Bob of the decision he and Jean made so many years ago. &quot;We thought, 'Well, this would be a good place to raise kids.' &quot; 
&quot;We bought the farm, and immediately became dirt poor,&quot; he said. &quot;We knew nothing about farming, really, except for the stuff we had read.&quot; 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Jean and Bob Benner host private tours and public events at their farm in East Setauket." data-attr-credit="" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/c62b3aac-ec27-4af5-a466-fd5f8bd95c1c" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/c62b3aac-ec27-4af5-a466-fd5f8bd95c1c', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/c62b3aac-ec27-4af5-a466-fd5f8bd95c1c"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/c62b3aac-ec27-4af5-a466-fd5f8bd95c1c/HOMAPLE240235.jpg?w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Jean and Bob Benner host private tours and public events at their farm in East Setauket.</a> 
Four decades later, the Benners are farmers living on the East Setauket property. Three of their four adult children,&nbsp;and three of five&nbsp;grandchildren,&nbsp;live in adjacent houses.&nbsp;There are dozens of chickens, a few goats, an onyx-colored cow, several sheep and a stealthy black cat. Their grandson Hank, 7, splits wood to fuel the fireplaces. 
The Benners moved into a house Bob described as an 1820s Colonial that, in the '70s, had not been updated since 1929. He compared it to a museum, complete with a stove&nbsp;fueled by equal parts gas and kerosene. There were three bedrooms, two parlors, one bathroom and a tub, but no shower. 
Both teachers, by nature and profession, Bob and Jean took the opportunity to learn to live off the land. One year, a tax auditor was shocked to learn the family of five — soon to be six — was living on $4,000-$5,000 a year after mortgage, tax and insurance payments. 
&quot;We made our own heat, we made our own enjoyment, we learned how to spin, we learned how to do things that you would do on a farm, we started getting animals,&quot; Bob said. &quot;We had no money, but we were happy and enjoying it,&quot; Bob said. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Sam Benner, one of Bob and Jean's four children, checks in with Peaches at his parents' farm, which is also home to chickens and sheep.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/604acaa2-6eba-474b-8922-b58b2c51a4fd" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/604acaa2-6eba-474b-8922-b58b2c51a4fd', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/604acaa2-6eba-474b-8922-b58b2c51a4fd"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/604acaa2-6eba-474b-8922-b58b2c51a4fd/c8c518eb51e3689f79eef0f52cdbcfe76ab9039e.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Sam Benner, one of Bob and Jean's four children, checks in with Peaches at his parents' farm, which is also home to chickens and sheep. </a> 
The four children — Ben, Kirsten, David and Sam — shared a room for a time. &nbsp; 
Today, the Benners share their knowledge and enjoyment with their community. Through a non-profit&nbsp;called Homestead Arts, the farm&nbsp;runs educational programs,&nbsp;including winter and summer camps,&nbsp;and various workshops.&nbsp;At this time of year, the family invites scout groups and the public to participate in maple sugaring workshops. 
&quot;We have all kinds of things to show people what it's like to be on a farm,&quot; Bob said.&nbsp; 
The Benners also host private tours, as well as public events like Easter egg hunts, and sell commodities like farm-fresh eggs, pure maple candy and spice blends.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
At this time of year, the family invites Scout groups and the public to participate in maple sugaring workshops. Scout workshops start with a talk given by Bob, who explains why the trees make&nbsp;sap and how the syrup-making&nbsp;process works. The groups visit stations run by Bob's sons to learn how to tap a tree and how to turn sap to&nbsp;syrup.&nbsp;In the event barn, groups learn from historic cook Diane&nbsp;Schwindt explains how to turn syrup to maple-leaf shaped candy. 
&quot;We can't provide enough syrup for all of the Long Islanders that want to buy it;&nbsp;but we do combine it with upstate syrup — about 10 percent of it is ours — and we call it 'A Taste of Long Island,' &quot; Jean said. &quot;It does change the taste. It's a smokier taste than the regular syrup because we burn over a fire with wood.&quot; 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Diane Schwindt, top, works with freshly made maple candy at Benner's Farm. Sap is collected and boiled down, left, and some is saved for candy.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/29ba397e-0028-493b-9d46-fe6d7c32dc47" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/29ba397e-0028-493b-9d46-fe6d7c32dc47', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/29ba397e-0028-493b-9d46-fe6d7c32dc47"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/29ba397e-0028-493b-9d46-fe6d7c32dc47/739ba7941be4d430f73aad53638e02fb0ba526ef.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Diane Schwindt, top, works with freshly made maple candy at Benner's Farm. Sap is collected and boiled down, left, and some is saved for candy. </a>

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Benner's Farm in East Setauket teaches kids maple syrup craft

They bought a farm on a whim in the '70s. Now, they share sweet tradition with next generation

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Newsday real estate reporter Arielle Dollinger visited Benner&#39;s Farm in East Setauket to learn about maple sugar.

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Sweet deal! Making maple syrup at Benner's Farm

'This is not easy but it's fun'

Rachel Weiss

In the winter, the cottage shakes so much that the toilet water sloshes in the bathrooms, and Victoria Bjorklund must retreat to her living room recliner to get some sleep at night. 
 As it gets warmer outside, the windows provide all-encompassing views of sailboat races on Hempstead Harbor. 
 This is life at Cliff Cottage. Built in 1908, the house overlooks the harbor from atop a steep drop in Sea Cliff. 
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 After Hurricane Ida in 2021, the arts and crafts-style cottage was in danger of collapse after suffering severe water damage, said homeowner Victoria Bjorklund, 71. She and her husband, Hank Bjorklund, 72, moved into the house 15 years ago. She's a retired attorney, and he's a former New York Jets running back. 
 &quot;Right now, it's a massive construction site,&quot; said Victoria. &quot;The middle of the cliff blew out. Since that time, we have been working with engineers and contractors in the village to rebuild the cliff, and it's a massive undertaking.&quot; 
 Concrete and wooden beams line the cliff in tiers, all the way to the top. The patio is also being torn up to add more support underneath the house. There have been delays in obtaining construction materials, Victoria said. 
 But hopefully, the cliff will be restored in time for the couple's annual Fourth of July party, during which their family takes in fireworks across their 180-degree harbor view. 
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 The house contains three stories, with two bedrooms and 2&frac12;&nbsp;bathrooms. The couple purchased the house for $2.075 million in 2008. 
 &quot;We had loved this house from the time we were teenagers,&quot; Victoria said. She grew up in Manhasset, while Hank was raised in Glen Head. It wasn't until they both graduated high school that they met, as undergraduate students at Princeton University. 
 &quot;So this was an area we both knew well, and we actually looked at houses in Sea Cliff a number of times over the years,&quot; said Victoria. &quot;But when we saw the cottage was on the market, we thought now's our chance, and we bought it.&quot; 
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 The Bjorklunds have preserved the home's historic flair.&nbsp;There was once a dumbwaiter that could transport beverages from the kitchen (located on the lowest floor of the house) up to the second floor. The couple hired a contractor to remove the mechanism, but they use the remaining space as a coat closet, and the original door on the second floor is still there. The steep staircase is another original feature. 
 &quot;We have applied to landmark the cottage so that it's always preserved in its original state,&quot; she said. 
 Glimpses of the harbor can be seen throughout most windows in the house. The most sweeping view is in what the couple calls &quot;the oar room,&quot; filled with model ships on display, decorative oars on the ceiling and a couch that can be pulled out into a bed, which is a front-row seat to views of the shore. 
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 Although the cliff is on the road to recovery, the cottage is still full of life: Hank hosts jam sessions with local musicians, and the Sea Cliff poetry club meets there regularly (the setting has inspired some writing by its members, Hank said). 
 Standing in the oar room, Hank reminisced: &quot;We've been married over 50 years. Victoria fell instantly in love with this house. It was love at first sight, and that's the only time I can remember that ever happening so I knew at that point, we were gonna buy it,&quot; he said, as the couple laughed together. 
<h2> Inside Cliff Cottage </h2> 
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Classifieds

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Inside Cliff Cottage, Sea Cliff: Owners fixing erosion, seek landmark status

This house almost fell off a cliff. The owners are trying to save it for future generations.

In 2008, Hank and Victoria Bjorklund bought their house that they loved from when they were teenagers.&nbsp;After Hurricane Ida&nbsp;in 2021, they needed to do some major repair work. NewsdayTV&#39;s Rachel Weiss reports.

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1908 house teetering on the edge of Sea Cliff

Sea Cliff

A house with a view in Cliff Cottage

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Arlene Gross

One Sunday morning about five years ago, Mark Hagan was enjoying his breakfast when the doorbell rang at his stately Folk Victorian home in Sea Cliff. 
 &quot;I got up and I answered the door. And they said, 'How much is a room?.' I said, 'I'm sorry.' They said, 'Isn't this a bed-and-breakfast?' &quot; 
 Hagan is not alone in living in a home that has been mistaken from time to time for something other than a private residence. As pesky as it may be to have to drop everything to inform another stranger that no, you don't have rooms available and this is not a B&amp;B, homeowners seem to take these intrusions in stride, chalking it up to just one of the facts of life living in an interesting abode. 
<h2> Deadhead homebase in a Sea Cliff Folk Victorian </h2> 
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 In the 30 years he's lived in his home, people have stopped by, inquiring whether it was a B&amp;B, curiosity store, museum, restaurant and a consignment shop. &quot;Everything you can imagine,&quot; said Hagan, 62, who works in international real estate sales. 
 A devoted Deadhead, Hagan has a &quot;Terrapin Station&quot; sign over the front door that has led to passersby thinking the home is a Grateful Dead shop. While he put up a sign featuring the hit song and album name when he moved in, the one he has now replaced the original that rusted out a decade ago. 
 &quot;I actually get mail that just says, 'Terrapin Station, Sea Cliff, NY,' &quot; said Hagan of his circa 1868, 1,912-square-foot, eight-room home with an inviting wraparound front porch and three full porches on the back. &quot;People will ask, 'Is this a Grateful Dead shop? Is this a restaurant?' I'll say, 'No. It's where I live.' &quot; 
<blockquote> 
 I once found a girl in my kitchen making herself a drink and another time a couple were in one of the second-floor rooms seeming very confused as to what this building actually was. 
 —&nbsp;Mark Hagan 
</blockquote> 
 In years past, Hagan hosted porch parties during Sea Cliff's mini-mart street fair each October, but stopped doing it when too many interlopers came in. 
 &quot;I once found a girl in my kitchen making herself a drink and another time a couple were in one of the second-floor rooms seeming very confused as to what this building actually was,&quot; Hagan recalled. 
 A couple of years ago, Hagan had left the front doors open to let in the fresh spring air when he heard footsteps on the porch and discovered a couple standing in his foyer seeking a one-night stay in his presumed B&amp;B. 
 &quot;You don't get accusatory,&quot; he said. &quot;You don't say, 'What are you doing on my porch?' I don't like to be like that. I'm usually trying to figure out what someone wants.&quot; 
 Frequently, Hagan hangs out on his front porch and friends and strangers alike stop and greet him. That's what comes with living in a historic home on a quaint village's main drag, he reasoned. 
<h2> No more pews in former Village Church of Bayville </h2> 
 Living in the former Village Church of Bayville, Donna and Scott Lee have seen their share of uninvited visitors, usually several times a year. 
 &quot;When you belong to a church it always has a place in your heart,&quot; Donna said, adding that people who no longer live in the area will come back, sometimes to revisit the site of their nuptials years earlier. 
 &quot;Of course, I let them in,&quot; said Donna, 64, who works for the Nassau County Board of Elections and has lived there since 1996. &quot;It doesn't have pews anymore, but it still has the stained glass and most of the moldings, so they get the feeling that they're back home.&quot; 
 The church used the building until about 1961, when it moved to serve the growing congregation that the building and property could no longer accommodate, Donna said. 
<blockquote> 
 It still has the stained glass and most of the moldings, so they get the feeling that they're back home. 
 —&nbsp;Donna Lee 
</blockquote> 
 Before her family purchased it in 1978, the building had served as commercial space for&nbsp;real estate, insurance and upholstery businesses and was later turned into a community theater and newspaper publisher. 
 When the Lees moved in, the building had broken stained glass windows and needed a lot of work. 
 &quot;We fixed the outside and the stained glass right away,&quot; said Donna, adding that they transformed the commercial space, turning the upstairs into an open loft and putting in&nbsp;four bedrooms on the lower level. 
 Aside from people returning to their former place of worship, others from time to time come to their door seeking alms and the Lees direct them to the actual churches in the area. 
 A native of Bayville, Donna understands that people feel sentimental about the area. 
 &quot;Most people have a tie for life to Bayville,&quot; said Lee, adding, &quot;Besides it being a church, it's part of Bayville.&quot; 
<h2> Commack's Carll S. Burr House perfect for a movie set </h2> 
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<blockquote> 
 They asked, 'Is this a museum?' I said, 'No, I live here.' 
 —&nbsp;George Dobler 
</blockquote> 
 When he bought the historic Carll S. Burr House in Commack 23 years ago, George Dobler decided to familiarize himself with a bit of its history. 
 The six-bedroom house, Dobler learned, started as a one-story saltbox in 1827 and was gradually added onto and by 1880, was a grand French Second Empire-style home owned by Burr, who used to breed racehorses there.&nbsp; 
 Despite the home's historic provenance and impressive facade set on just under one acre, Dobler didn't expect some of the strangers who've appeared at his door. 
 Recently, a TV producer who was working on a home show knocked on his door. 
 &quot;They asked, 'Is this a museum?' I said, 'No, I live here,' &quot; recalled Dobler, 68, a retired library maintenance manager. 
 Another time, a different producer considered using it for a movie, but Dobler didn't hear from him again. 
 &quot;People stop at my house,&quot; he said, adding that he's noticed people also checking out the historic house across the street. &quot;People stop by and they look and they say 'Wow, It's pretty cool.' &quot; 
 A couple of years ago, twin girls stopped for a photo op on Halloween. 
 &quot;They just wanted to get their picture taken at the house,&quot; Dobler said. &quot;They think it's haunted.&quot; 
 Lucky for them, the house wasn't haunted.&nbsp;Along with one other pair of Halloween revelers, they got all of Dobler's candy supply, because very few kids dare to trick or treat on his busy road. 
<h2> Not a public bench in Huntington Station </h2> 
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<blockquote> 
 One young schoolgirl resident loved the spring born goslings so much, she put up 'Drive Slowly' signs. 
 —&nbsp;Eddie Rivera 
</blockquote> 
 Eddie Rivera has had a lot unexpected visitors in the 24 years he has lived on his 0.81-acre property in Huntington Station. 
 When he first moved to the four-bedroom house in 1999, there was a group retirement home across the street. 
 &quot;Oftentimes, those individuals would just come right across the street to sit on the park benches that we have. I was totally OK with it, but it freaked my wife out from time to time because she wasn't quite sure who was in the backyard,&quot; said Rivera, 53, who owns New York Fitness and Boxing in East Northport. 
 Despite the visitations, which have tapered off somewhat since the retirement home is no longer there, Rivera never put up signs indicating the pond is private property. 
 These days, he occasionally spots kids hopping the fence to hang out and smooch on one of his two benches or on one of the others that dot the landscape along the properties surrounding the pond. More often, he sees families peeking over the walls to glimpse turtles and waterfowl. 
 &quot;So I can totally understand if somebody looks on the other side and they see all these park benches; it looks like it's a public park,&quot; said Rivera, adding, &quot;One young schoolgirl resident loved the spring born goslings so much, she put up 'Drive Slowly' signs.&quot; 
<h2> No longer&nbsp;a B&amp;B on Northport Harbor </h2> 
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<blockquote> 
 We are always talking to people as they go by ... People are genuinely lovely. 
 —&nbsp;Catherine&nbsp;Herkovic 
</blockquote> 
 Set along the harbor in Northport village, Bayview Avenue attracts plenty of visitors who stroll along its scenic expanse. 
 And Catherine and Paul Herkovic, who have lived in the 1895 Stanley H. Lowndes Queen Anne Victorian home along the avenue for just over 10 years, have seen their share of errant visitors. 
 One time when they were entertaining, they'd left the front double doors open to let in light. 
 &quot;My whole family was out on the back porch of our house. All of a sudden, this person comes walking out onto the porch. He was a complete stranger. He's like, 'Is this a B&amp;B?' &quot; recalled Catherine, 60, who works for Nielsen, the ratings company. Her husband,&nbsp;68, is a retired garden designer. 
 The home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and named for the oyster baron&nbsp;who built it, has had various incarnations, including serving as a refuge for Russian &eacute;migr&eacute;s immigrants and an actual B&amp;B. 
 When they're not actually entering the house, people walking by will frequently stop to inquire about their historic home. 
 &quot;We are always talking to people as they go by,&quot; Catherine said. &quot;We love talking about the house. We just say, 'No, it's our house. It's not a B&amp;B.' People are genuinely lovely. I think they want to know because they might want to stay here if it was a B&amp;B.&quot;

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Grateful Dead shop? B&B? Park? Long Islanders' private properties look public

Is that a Grateful Dead shop? Nope, it's someone's house.

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There were once trees growing up from the basement and through the living room&nbsp;of this&nbsp;historic cottage in Sands Point. 
 The house&nbsp;was a shell of what it used to be. 
 Once owned by a noted orator and longtime member of Congress, it&nbsp;was left vacant&nbsp;in 1970. A century after it was first built, the home earned a second life in the '90s. 
 Joe Monahan is the current owner. As a historian, he is dedicated to keeping the home’s past alive. But the property came a long way before he moved in. 
 In 1887, William Bourke Cockran purchased 300 acres in Sands Point, according to the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society of Port Washington. The area is now referred to as Harbor Acres and is made up of residential homes, including the Cockran Gatehouse, where&nbsp;Monahan lives. 
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 Cockran was elected to seven terms in Congress, serving in the late 19th and early 20th century. Monahan, who is a professor of finance at Georgian Court University in New Jersey, learned that&nbsp;Cockran hosted Winston Churchill and President Theodore Roosevelt in Sands Point, according to&nbsp;the&nbsp;Cow Neck&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cowneck.org/william-bourke-cockran">historical society findings</a>.&nbsp; 
 “I think what makes it unique is the history of who went through the gates,” said Monahan, 75. 
 The house is enclosed by iron gates, hence its name, with a lion gargoyle peering over the top. In addition to its links to notable guests, the property has retained much of its historical details. 
 “As a historian from my college degrees, I was intrigued when I first went inside,” Monahan said, “because it’s so modern-day.” 
 That’s because the home underwent a full renovation. After Cockran died, the property was purchased by Vincent Astor in 1927, per historical society records. But by 1970, the house was left vacant and the property became heavily overgrown. 
 “There were trees literally growing in the equivalent of the living room … from the basement, which was a dirt floor,”&nbsp;said Monahan, who has photos from this period of time. “The lower area had&nbsp;been vandalized, and the upper area was burnt out from various fires.” 
 In 1991, Dave&nbsp;Mahler purchased the home. Back when he was a teenager working at a motorcycle shop in Port Washington, he became very familiar with the abandoned house. &quot;Every time I&nbsp;passed it, I wondered why somebody didn't do something with it,&quot; said Mahler, 75. 
 Decades later, Mahler became friendly with the owner of the property, and bought the house in hopes of restoring it to its former glory. The village and its historical society allowed him to take on the project, under one condition, he said. 
 &quot;The deal was that I&nbsp;could restore it, but not expand on it,&quot; said Mahler, who now lives in Glen Head. 
 But there was a lot to do&nbsp;—&nbsp;more than Mahler had realized. &quot;The house was built when heat was from a&nbsp;fireplace and water was&nbsp;from a well,&quot; he said. 
 Don Alberto was the architect on the project, and has been restoring historic buildings for 38 years. After about a year&nbsp;of rebuilding the foundation and updating the water, electricity and septic systems, the project was complete. And there are still nods to the house's history throughout the property: The grand fireplace in the living room was restored, with its original stone still intact.&nbsp;The original well sits&nbsp;right outside the front door. In the 1800s, carriages would stop at the house so the horses could drink there, with the beach is a quarter of a mile down the road, Monahan said. 
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 After remarrying and starting a family, Mahler sold the house to Monahan, since &quot;one bedroom wasn't gonna hack it,&quot; Mahler said. But in the 2000s, Monahan got village approvals and added a connecting house on the other side, making it a three-bedroom, two-bathroom property. Alberto was hired again for the job. 
 When looking at the house, one side is made of cedar and stone, while the other is more modern, but just as rustic. Monahan appreciates this about his home — full of contradiction, but bursting with historical significance. 
 “The thing that drew me to it was the fact that when you buy historic homes, you have to deal with the consequences of renovation,” he said. “But this was modern and I loved it. On the outside it looks like 1895, and inside it was 1995.”

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Sands Point home with a storied past balances modern charm, historic significance

Trees once grew through this fully restored historic Sands Point cottage 

Take a tour of Joseph Monahan&#39;s historic cottage in Sands Point. NewsdayTV&#39;s Rachel Weiss reports.

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Keeping history alive at Sands Point home

'I've always been attracted to the history aspect...'

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Corey Klein was in search of the perfect roof tile: a red —&nbsp;but not too red&nbsp;—&nbsp;clay, barrel-shaped tile to match the rest of his Spanish-style home. When you live in one of these Long Beach gems, its roof is the quintessential asset. 
 &quot;One of the tiles on the roof had cracked,&quot;&nbsp;said Klein, 55. &quot;I had to get another tile, so I bought a brand new red tile. But the problem was, the tiles up there had been sitting and baking in the sun since the 1930s, so they were a different type of color that didn't have that brightness to it.&quot; 
 While biking around Long Beach&nbsp;one day, he noticed one of his neighbors was doing some construction on their house. Part of the job required removing the tiles from their roof, which happened to be the same style as Klein's. 
 &quot;I stopped and started talking to the man, and he said, 'I’m not putting them back on so if you want any, feel free,'&quot;&nbsp;Klein remembered. &quot;I ended up taking some of the tiles, and we have them hiding in the garage right now. In case we ever have any problems again, I have the old sun-baked tiles to be able to put back on.&quot; 
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 This is just a piece of the work Klein and his wife, Jenna, have put into their historic home over the last few&nbsp;years.&nbsp;Throughout Long Beach, there are handfuls of homes like theirs, and they have become fixtures in the community. 
 Spanish-style homes have been a part of Long Beach for as long as Klein's family has lived there.&nbsp;His house was built in 1930, which was around the same time his grandparents moved to the same neighborhood. 
 &quot;I’ve been in Long Beach my whole life; my whole entire family has grown up here, and for the most part still remains here,&quot;&nbsp;he said. 
 Klein grew up less than a mile away from his current house. He would often pass by the Spanish-style homes in his neighborhood, admiring their stained glass windows and signature roofs. He bought his home in 2014 — the previous owner had been using it as a rental property and was moving to Florida, Klein said. 
 &quot;It was about a year and a half after Superstorm Sandy,&quot;&nbsp;said Klein, who is a city court judge in Long Beach. &quot;The downstairs portion had been completely redone, just because of the water damage and things of that nature.&quot; 
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 Beyond that, the property hadn’t seen any major renovation in decades, he said. Klein and his wife married in 2017, and through the years, they’ve been tackling renovation projects on the house to update and enhance its historic features. 
 &quot;I pulled up all the carpeting and there were these beautiful, old-school, original hardwood floors,&quot;&nbsp;he said. &quot;Now, the whole house has hardwood floors.&quot; 
 He also redid the bedrooms by removing three layers of sheetrock from the walls and installing LED lighting. The two-family house contains four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main level. The Kleins have a tenant on the downstairs level, which has&nbsp;three bedrooms and one bathroom. 
 About a year ago, the Kleins decided to renovate the exterior with new stucco siding. 
 &quot;What happened is that the exterior of the house wasn't really cared for,&quot;&nbsp;Klein said. &quot;So that was our big project: Bringing the house back to its old glory.&quot; 
 The Kleins have also preserved all of the house’s wooden&nbsp;doors and old-fashioned knobs. The couple bonded over their love of the original stained glass windows, as well: Jenna’s grandfather crafted stained glass doors in Smithtown for over 30 years, and she used to help out with his business while growing up. 
 Some of her grandfather’s pieces are around to complement those windows: three lighting fixtures and a mirror in a green stained glass frame. 
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 The house has some distinctive quirks, too: Since the walls are made of concrete, you cannot simply bang in a nail to hang a frame on the wall. Everything has to be screwed in with a drill. 
 &quot;We’re doing a little bit here, a little bit there, and making it a happy home,&quot;&nbsp;said Jenna Klein, 46. 
 Although they’re both passionate about the house’s history, Jenna admitted she was skeptical of her husband's vision when he was looking for that perfect roof tile during the exterior renovation. 
 &quot;Everybody said to us, 'Why don’t you change the color and do something more modern?' &quot;&nbsp;she said. &quot;But Corey was adamant about keeping the original colors. At first, I was not sure about it. But now I understand why he did it, and I love it.&quot; 
 Up next, Klein hopes to build a backyard deck for the whole family to enjoy in the warmer months, including the three kids: Alexis, 23, Joey, 19, and Brandon, 17. 
 But the house has already come a long way. Standing across the street on a sunny day, Klein admired that classic red roof and pointed out one little tile that seemed to be a bit brighter, and a darker hue than the rest. 
 &quot;I ended up leaving just one of the newer tiles,&quot;&nbsp;he said with a laugh. &quot;Because I just thought it was funny, and for comparison purposes.&quot;

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Long Beach Spanish-style home restored, enhanced by Corey, Jenna Klein

Friends said to modernize their Long Beach home. Instead, they're enhancing its history.

From the roof and exterior to hardwood floors and bedrooms, Corey and&nbsp;Jenna Klein&nbsp;are committed to maintaining their Long Beach&nbsp;home&#39;s historic roots while also enhancing some of its old-school features. NewsdayTV&#39;s Rachel Weiss reports.

HONOTE230602_video

An inside look at this Long Beach couple's Spanish-style home

'I really love the Spanish-style house': A look at an LI couple's historic home

Gene and Carolyn Hecht’s grand pastel yellow home stands prominently in Freeport, adorned by branches of greenery and potted plants lining a long walkway leading to more than a century of history. 
 The couple&nbsp;have lived there since 1975, after buying the house for about $58,000, and are the keepers of its rich past.&nbsp;Since moving in, they have filled the home with memories of their own.&nbsp; 
 They’ve decorated&nbsp;it lovingly with antiques and art. And whether from Wantagh or England, each piece has its own story. 
 The house, built in 1907, shares its neighborhood with other towering properties, built with brick and sharp roofs, sitting on streets named after states. But to find them and take a peek, you have to know exactly where to look. 
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 Communities like Freeport, Malverne and Hempstead are sprinkled with homes that stand out within the areas, due to their notable architecture or deep&nbsp;histories. The homeowners hope to highlight their special homes, either through civic association efforts, walking tours or simply sharing their community’s hidden gems with inquiring minds. 
<h2> ‘Built better,’ with charm </h2> 
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 There’s a community in Hempstead with some regal street titles: Buckingham, Marlborough and Trinity, to name a few. 
 And they have the houses to match. Characterized by their stucco builds, pointy peaks and facades straight out of a storybook, the homes lining these streets are part of the Cathedral Gardens neighborhood.&nbsp; 
 The community is considered to be where the borders of Garden City, Hempstead and West Hempstead meet, according to its civic association website. There are many longtime residents here, said Regina Todd, vice president of the Cathedral Gardens Civic Association — but young families are starting to move in, too. 
 &quot;Looking at the houses, I saw kids outside playing in the street,&quot;&nbsp;said Todd, 63, of Hempstead. &quot;And we want kids to be a part of the neighborhood. It’s a really good mix of young and old.&quot; 
 Todd has five adult children, between the ages of 30 and 40. Her family moved in 33 years ago, purchasing their four-bedroom, 2&frac12; bathroom house for $209,000. A big draw for her at the time was the streets, lined with trees boasting&nbsp;full canopies. The civic association aims to plant&nbsp;between 10 and 15 trees throughout the area starting this fall, Todd said. 
 &quot;One street to the next had these canopy-laden trees, so I’m trying to get it back. I probably won’t live to see it, but we’re working on it,&quot;&nbsp;she said with a laugh. 
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 Todd’s house was built in 1928. Many of the houses around her own&nbsp;have Spanish-style roofs made with&nbsp;clay tile. Some houses are painted bold colors: ivy green, sunflower yellow, cornflower blue and maroon, to name a few nearby. 
 &quot;Many of the houses are Tudor-style homes with wood beams on the front of the house,&quot;&nbsp;Todd said. &quot;They’re all stucco and inside have always been plaster walls. They’re very charming; that’s kind of what drew me to the neighborhood. And the community, which is so friendly and family-oriented.&quot; 
 Glenn Barnett, 61,&nbsp;moved to Cathedral Gardens with his wife, Mary Barnett, in 1992. She grew up in the area, and they had previously lived in Oceanside. Their house was built in 1928 as well, and the Barnetts bought it for $160,000. 
 Now, Glenn Barnett is a real estate agent with Four Seasons Realty Team, and recently sold a Spanish Tudor-style house in Cathedral Gardens for $819,000. He has a background in construction, so when he saw his own house for the first time, he was convinced to buy it because of the way it was built. 
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 &quot;I always say to people, the wood that they used in these homes back in the day came from trees that were hundreds of years old, and the density of the wood is stronger than wood today,&quot;&nbsp;he said. &quot;They’re built better, as far as strength.&quot; 
 Some of the finer features inside, like the plaster-coated ceilings, also sold the couple on their house. &quot;Being in the business of construction and knowing what goes into these homes, to get those types of details, we just fell in love with it,&quot; he said. 
 Those stumbling upon this neighborhood for the first time, like Barnett had all those years ago, are often taken aback, Todd said. 
 &quot;People will come out and say, 'Oh my God, this is like a hidden gem;&nbsp;I didn't know this was here,' &quot;&nbsp;she said. 
<h2> Haven for the arts </h2> 
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 Throughout Malverne, you’ll find pockets of brick cottages and historic bungalows. These homes were once occupied by movie stars, vaudeville performers and Big Band Era musicians, said Don Pupke, who is on the board of directors of the Malverne Historical and Preservation Society.&nbsp; 
 A lot of these houses are along Alnwick Road and Broadway in the village,&nbsp; developed primarily between 1912 and 1920. 
 &quot;The Alnwick area was developed by a company that was run by two or three people that had ties to Broadway or vaudeville,&quot;&nbsp;Pupke said. &quot;They would go to vaudeville and try to sell properties to the vaudeville stars or people in the music industry in New York. Consequently, there were a bunch of people in that area who were performers, and some became movie stars.&quot; 
 Notable past&nbsp;residents include Ralph Flanagan, a Big Band leader and composer, and comedian Ole Olsen. 
 &quot;Ole was a bit eccentric,&quot;&nbsp;Pupke said. &quot;He had a pet bear, who he’d walk on a chain around his house.&quot; 
 But these stars fell into the residential lifestyle the village provided and were just treated as neighbors around town, he added.&nbsp; 
 Rosanne Nalepinski, 59, has been living in the village since 2001. Her English-style Tudor was built in 1929 and still contains some of its original features, including windows and the front door. 
 &quot;It's a beautiful neighborhood,&quot; said&nbsp;Nalepinski, who works in fabric design.&nbsp;&quot;All of the homes are meticulously cared for.&quot; 
 She and her husband, Richard Nalepinski, 66, raised two kids here. They've recently welcomed new neighbors to their block, who have children under the age of 3. 
 &quot;I see people&nbsp;walking around all the time, pushing&nbsp;strollers,&quot; she said. &quot;So I do think new families are coming to Malverne.&quot; 
 There’s an interest among Malverne’s current residents about the village’s beginnings. The historical and preservation society’s Facebook page has garnered more than 2,000 followers, and Pupke has been sharing posts on it. 
 &quot;People absolutely love seeing old pictures of Malverne,&quot;&nbsp;he said. &quot;So that’s been a very successful venture for me, and a labor of love.&quot; 
<h2> 'A diverse suburban community' </h2> 
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 Stearns Park is a neighborhood in Freeport named after Hugo Stearns. The Hechts live in his former home. 
 &quot;We’re very book-oriented people, so we did a lot of research online about him,&quot;&nbsp;said retired nurse Carolyn Hecht, 83. &quot;We found documents, a book of poems he wrote and portraits. I have photographs of him and his wife in my folders and files, and I spent a couple of years trying to get official documents from when the house was built, and it was not a straightforward effort.&quot;&nbsp;That’s because she learned that some parts of Freeport used to be considered within the hamlet of Roosevelt. 
 In 1905, Stearns sought to create &quot;one of the finest and most exclusive residential parks on Long Island,&quot;&nbsp;according to the Freeport Memorial Library’s online archives. It consisted of eight farms, but Stearns made sure not to uproot any existing greenery, per the library's findings. 
 By 1925, the neighborhood consisted of 35 homes, denoted by their stylish design and long driveways. Although the neighborhood remains in Freeport today, it is served by the Baldwin Union Free School District because it used to be a part of Roosevelt. 
 As far as the Stearns Park official boundaries, &quot;it expanded over time,&quot;&nbsp;said Regina Feeney, who is a librarian and historian of&nbsp;Freeport. &quot;So it’s really hard to say where it begins and where it ends.&quot; 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/YzVjOGNlNDgtY2MyNi00" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/YzVjOGNlNDgtY2MyNi00', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/YzVjOGNlNDgtY2MyNi00"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/YzVjOGNlNDgtY2MyNi00/HOPOCKET230907_.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" /></a> 
 Linda Silva Thompson is president of the Stearns Park Civic Association, and has been living here since 2010. She and her next-door neighbor have similar&nbsp;— but not identical — homes, products of the same architect and builders. They have matching long driveways, large lots and two-car garages, and were both built in 1940. 
 &quot;The houses are not close together,&quot; said Silva Thompson, a dean at Molloy University.&nbsp;&quot;That’s one of the things that has attracted a lot of people to Stearns Park.&quot; 
 The community itself was another selling point for Silva Thompson and her family, and she said it’s gotten even more inclusive since the pandemic. 
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 &quot;We were looking for a diverse suburban community, and Long Island tends to not have as many as sometimes you would think,&quot;&nbsp;she said. &quot;One of the greatest attractions to Stearns Park is we’re extremely ethnically, economically, and, in terms of age, diverse.&quot; 
<h2> History of their own </h2> 
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 Eventually, Hecht found photos of what her house looked like in the early 1900s — at the time, it was the only house&nbsp;on the block. 
 The Hechts have filled their home with artifacts to match the stories within their walls. Hecht would categorize the aesthetic as Victorian — chandeliers plus lace and velvet are highlighted throughout their furniture (including a burgundy bench dripping with beads sitting in front of a player piano) — and there are stained glass windows galore. 
 &quot;Some of the stained glass had been boarded up and when we asked the sellers why did they board it up, they said it was too old-fashioned,&quot;&nbsp;Hecht said. &quot;So of course one of the first things we did was take those boards down, and were so delightfully surprised by what we found.&quot; 
 Gene Hecht, 84, looked around the living room, remembering the condition the house was in when they first moved in 48 years ago. Many walls were cracked and ceilings were falling, the couple recalled. 
 The Hechts got to work quickly, adding tin ceilings in the kitchen and primary bathroom and putting their own touches on the space. Gene painted the floral border that surrounds the upper walls of the kitchen. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/YmE5YzZkMWYtNTFjNS00" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/YmE5YzZkMWYtNTFjNS00', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/YmE5YzZkMWYtNTFjNS00"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/YmE5YzZkMWYtNTFjNS00/HOPOCKET230906_.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" /></a> 
 &quot;We tried as hard as we could to bring it back to the condition that it was in when Hugo Stearns lived here,&quot;&nbsp;said Gene Hecht, a retired professor of physics at Adelphi University in Garden City. 
 Of course, the couple has incorporated their history into the home. One wall is covered in framed photos of their family, including children, grandchildren and the couple's&nbsp; parents. 
 The house has hosted noisy band rehearsals in the basement, built under 6 inches of concrete, thus making it soundproof, Carolyn &nbsp;said. They’ve held sleepovers in the sunroom and watermelon fights outside when their children were young. And every year, the garden explodes with vegetables. 
 Standing in the foyer in front of a grand staircase, Carolyn &nbsp;reflected. 
 &quot;My grandmother rolled cigars for a nickel a week, and to think I’m standing here growing tomatoes to such a quantity I had to go out and buy a freezer,&quot;&nbsp;she said.&nbsp; 
 &quot;This is a place where neighbors or strangers walk by and stop and stare. If they stand there staring for more than three minutes, I’ll run out and bring them inside for a tour.&quot;

HOPOCKET230901

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Freeport, Hempstead and Malverne are sprinkled with historic homes. Take a look inside.

Historic houses in 3 communities give a glimpse into the past

Developed in 1905, Stearns Park is made up of grand, historic homes all tucked away. NewsdayTV&#39;s Rachel Weiss reports.

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Historic homes all around us on LI

Nassau

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Pockets of historic homes hidden in plain sight in Freeport

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