HOUSE ON THE SKIDS

This constant shifting about of houses adds greatly to the difficulty of indentifying some old buildings in Sag Harbor.

It was often more economically prudent to move a house than to build one.

JOAN B. TRIPP

For a very long time, the practice of moving houses has been common in Sag Harbor and the surrounds. To quote the early 20th-century local historian Harry Sleight, "When they have nothing to do in Sag Harbor, they move a house."

Near the corner of Church and Sage Streets is the David Hand house, an excellent example of the simple and functional nature of the colonial style. It was standing before 1732 and was built in Southampton. It has been moved three times: from Southampton to Sagaponack in 1752, then to Sag Harbor, and then moved again in Sag Harbor, to its present location, around 1840.

On Hampton Street, just before you come to Christ Episcopal Church on the opposite side of the road, stands the Thaddeus Cole house. The small green house with e wonderful exterior beehive oven once stood on the waterfront near Long Wharf; in 1790, it was moved to its present site. It was home after 1870 to Fannie Tunison, born a paraplegic, who gained renown for her ability to paint and sew with her tongue.

The Sybil Douglas house, across from the Hannibal French house on the east side of Main Street, originally stood on the site of the Whaling Museum. It was built during the 1790s by the first of three Benjamin Hunttings, a shipowner who sent out the first successful deep-sea whaling ship, the Lucy, from Sag Harbor. Around 1838, the second Benjamin Huntting decided to build a grander home, and sold the first to a Captain Douglas, who moved it to its present location.

The 1693 house, on Union Street, one back from Division Street, predates the settlement of the village. This small colonial house was built in Sagaponack and has been moved no less than five times.

They moved windmills as well as houses. The Beebe mill, built in 1820 and also known as the "Flag on the Mill, Ship in the Bay" mill (a flag was flown from a pole on its roof when a ship was sighted in the bay) was moved to Bridgehampton to stand on Mill Hill, the site of two previous mills. It was sold 12 times before John E. Berwind bought it in 1915 and moved it to his property on Ocean Road, Bridgehampton, where it still stands.

None of the old mills of early Sag Harbor remain on their original sites today. One other survives besides the one on Ocean Road; it is in Water Mill, on the village green.

Houses were usually moved in winter when the ground was firm. They were jacked up off their foundations, set on heavy wooden skids, and moved by winches turned by oxen or horses to a new foundation somewhere else. Large warehouses and hotels, too, were skidded about from one location to another. This constant shifting about of houses adds greatly to the difficulty of identifying some old buildings in Sag Harbor.

The Custom House, now on Garden Street facing Main Street, stood originally at the corner of Union and Church Streets, across from the Whalers Church. It was moved to its current location in 1953 and became the property of the Old Sagg Harbour Committee. The Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities acquired it in 1962.

Houses were moved by barge as well. In our kitchen on Hempstead Street, in the Eastville section of Sag Harbor, stands a wonderful 18th-century tavern table which originally resided in a Patchogue house that was transported over water to become the first house in Quiogue.

In 1987, my husband and I moved what was purported to be the second oldest house on North Haven, the Johnathon Paine House, across the bridge to its new home. We joined it to another 18th-century house we had previously restored. We knew that it is best to preserve buildings on site, but the Paine house was threatened with demolition.

The Custom House had been, too. On July 31, 1789, soon after Washington was sworn in, Sag Harbor and New York were named official ports of entry, and a year later Henry Packer Dering was named the first United States Custom Master of Sag Harbor. The Custom House was his home. The history of the house made it well worth preserving, even off site.

The Johnathon Paine House, due to its age and Paine's involvement in the early development of Southampton Town, was also worth all the effort.

There are many reasons for moving buildings. In our case, as in many, historic preservation was the prime consideration, but in the 18th and 19th centuries economics probably played the greater role. Not only was material expensive but building a house was labor-intensive. Beams and other framing components were hand-hewn. Shingles were hand-riven and nails were pounded out by smithies. Many times it was economically more prudent to move a house than to build one.

To quote Mr. Sleight once again, "House moving was a pastime as well as an occupation for Sag Harbor men."

Joan B. Tripp is the president of the Sag Harbor Historical Society. An editorial on the preservation of old houses appears in this section today.