Garden #3
Reitz Garden- South Country Road
Welcome to our home! The first thing most people notice about our house is the porch, and assumes the house is Victorian. It actually predates that era, showing up on the tax rolls in 1824. It's assumed to have been built in 1823, although parts may be even older. We think the porch was added in the 1840's, because the scroll saw was invented in the 1830's (along with the sewing machine...same foot pedal mechanism). The original owners were the Robinson family, who owned a sawmill down the block on Robinson Pond. You'll notice the posts are all scrollwork, not the turned posts of later Victorian houses.

Charlie and I are both craftspeople by trade, and we use our professional expertise on this house as much as possible. I'm an interior designer, Charlie is a carpenter. We are trying, in both our home improvements and gardening, to respect and enhance the history of the house, while making it compatible with 21st century living. We're challenged by the noise and trash created by the traffic on SCR and is addressing these issues as well with both hardscaping and plant material. We added the low stone wall and plantings along the sidewalk as a first step in a plan to build up a sound barrier that will be attractive and less forbidding than a wall of hedges. We plan on adding a picket fence and more plantings, eventually filling the island.
The yews and Alberta spruces in front of the porch are somewhat bulky, but they give us privacy and some sound control, so we're leaving them as is. We added the flower boxes on the second floor just this year, finding plants that can endure the baking sun reflected off the porch roof is proving to be another challenge!
As you come around the side of the house, you'll see butterfly bushes that we enjoy for their informal colonial charm, as well as the delight of butterflies all summer.

Entering the backyard, you'll notice an old orchard.... and a new deck! The first area we call "The Spa", with an outdoor shower and a bench for relaxing during hot weather beauty treatments. We bought a hot tub, and then faced the dilemma of making it look like a 19th century hot tub, and so built decking and steps to cause it to somewhat disappear. All of the decking you see is less than a year old; we tied it into the house by creating a pergola and cladding the posts to match those at the side door, painting all to match the house. Craft store bargain rocking chairs and a chandelier make this a fun area for guests, the fountain helps negate the traffic noise. The building on the right is the old horse barn, now a carpenter's work shop. its windows slide open sideways so you can feed the horses (or the carpenter). We added the rock wall and evergreens, again, more screening. You'll notice mirrors placed on our neighbors new fence help to break up its severity. Newly planted ivy will eventually create the illusion of openings in the fence.

The brick patio was already in place when we bought the house 4 years ago, building the deck and steps out to it help tie it more to the house. The little garden surrounding it was also in place; we've been adding and subtracting plants over time. In the back left of the yard we built a potting shed, it's great for storage in off season, as well as for gardening equipment.

Our little tree house, built for our grandson, lost some of its tree cover when a big old maple went down in a windstorm last fall, taking several smaller trees with it. We still think it has great charm.

The front porch has been completely rebuilt; it was caving in when we arrived. Charlie ripped off the old roof, jacked up the fretwork, ripped up the rotting floor to reveal a foundation made of old colonial scrap wood, complete with ax marks. A new foundation was laid, as well as a tongue and groove floor, the fretwork dropped back in place and a new bead board ceiling installed. Broken aluminum gutters were discarded, new Yankee gutters (made of wood, just like the old days) and copper downspouts installed. We love our porch now!

Entering the house, you'll see the mural I've done in the style of itinerant painters in the early 1800's. To the right, through original double doors, is the double parlor typical of a home of this era. We use it as a living/dining room; it's a great space for entertaining. I did all the paint work, including the faux inlays on the floor. Charlie built the cabinets at the far end, replacing some shoddy circa 1960 bookshelves that were there. All carpentry in this house is a challenge, as nothing is plumb, level or square! The fireplace has the side cabinet also common for it's time, and is completely inside the house. Although there are 4 fireplaces in the house, there is no exterior brickwork; all the heat generated by the fireplaces was kept inside.
On the right is a room that was originally the dining room, we use it as a den. Note the shallow Rumford fireplace, which we converted to gas, as well as the floor length windows, also typical of dining rooms of the time. Walking through the swinging door takes you to the kitchen where you'll see another Rumford fireplace, also gas. The small powder room at back was once the stove room, built off the house to prevent fires.

At the top of the stairs you'll see a lovely piece of marquetry on the floor. It was the custom of homebuilders in the area to "sign" there work with a trademark inlay; this was his...wish we knew who he was! The bath is the first door at the landing, convenient, if inelegant. You'll see our guest room to the right, I made the steel panels at the top of the loft, Charlie encased them in wood to form a safety barrier. This room, and the office behind it, were added sometime after 1909, as the photo in the newspaper article by the door shows the house without these rooms. Continuing around the hallway, you come to the Master bedroom. We added all the moldings and rebuilt the mantel, which surrounds another Rumford fireplace. This one is in the same chimney column as the ones in the kitchen and den. Walking through the open doorway, you come to the dressing room...look up at the ceiling light. It was the first electric light ever lit in Patchogue, as this was the first house in Patchogue to be electrified (by Pelco...Patchogue Electric Company!). You've now come full circle to the bath and back to the stairs.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour!!



NEXT Garden #4
Ferreri Garden
1 South Orchard Rd