GCHA Membership
Looking to Become a Member or Renew?
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Consider renewing your membership or joining, as your annual dues allows us to continue maintaining our two historic properties, the John Gardiner Farmhouse, and the Suydam Homestead, alongside the preservation of paintings, photographs, documents, and ephemera at the Russell B. Brush Research Center.
An annual membership entitles you to a subscription to our quarterly newsletter and monthly e-newsletter, in addition to discounts on programs. You will also get early access to our digitized collection, and virtual exhibits/tours.
Senior/Student - $20
Individual - $25
Family - $40
Sponsor - $75
Patron - $125
Click a tier & pay online via Square
or
Mail a check to:
GCHA
31 Broadway, Greenlawn, NY 11740
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The John Gardiner
Farm House
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The original one and one-half story farmhouse was built in the 1750s as a simple one-story frame structure by Henry Smith. The house was inherited by his granddaughter, Fannie Smith, who married Joel Gardiner. The home was expanded in four stages by Joel's son, the locally famous Alexander S. Gardiner, including the addition of a second story in the 1870s, giving it its Italianate style, and front bay window in 1910. In the 1950s, the cupola was removed by due to leaking. However, in 2011, the GCHA replaced the cupola back to its former glory.
Originally 186 acres, the property is now only 3 acres, including an acre cemetery. The inside has remained virtually unchanged for nearly a century, with only a few rooms having electricity and heat. The home has eight bedrooms and zero bathrooms. The outhouse was in use until 2000. There is one source of water (cold only) in the kitchen. Their furniture and belongings, which remain in the house, make it a treasured time capsule.
On the grounds are the carriage barn, smokehouse, outhouse, summer kitchen, chicken coop, garage, and hay barn.
Herbert Gardiner, the last descendant of the family to reside on the farm, bequeathed the property to the GCHA in 2003. The farm, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was named the John Gardiner farm in honor of Herbert's father.
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Herbert Gardiner in Front of the Bay Window
c. 1949
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Herbert Gardiner in Front of Kitchen Windows, Near Front Gate
November 10, 1984
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Herbert Gardiner's Portrait
c. 1997
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Gardiner House Decorated
for Huntington Historical Society's Holiday House Tour
by Centerport Garden Club
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Next to Woodshed Entrance Outside House | |
The Geranium Room (Living Room) | |
The Gardiner House
at Night
Photos taken during the Holiday Party's
Exclusive Membership Tour
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Winter Life
in Early Huntington
Story from Tony Guarnaschelli
Long Time Friend of Herbert Gardiner
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Everetta and Alice Gardiner outside Gardiner house with their dog, King.
c. 1934
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2nd Snow at the Gardiner House
Photo taken today (12/20) at 12:20 PM
The door in the center of the image is where Everetta and Alice stood watching King.
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"Thanksgiving every pond was frozen here, people were ice skating on Thanksgiving. Heckscher Park, that nice little lake, frozen. And the lake, Gardiner’s Lake on Lake Road, frozen so bad they cut keg ice, and there were two barns there together, that was the icehouse. They filled that up all winter long and that supplied Huntington [with ice] all summer.
We have the marker, the horse pulled this marker, and I guess it cut a groove in the ice and then they made a hole, and they had ice saws, and they would saw all along both sides, and then this way… the house is still there, where they had the steam engine and a conveyor belt, when it got higher and higher in the barn. You put a layer of straw and another keg, so it didn’t stick. It was all insulated. They filled that up to the roof out of that lake. It’s not even all that big, but that’s how many times it froze and refroze and refroze.
People ice skated there in the winter, then on Oldfield Road, not too far from here, there was another pond… 150 years ago people ice skated there, now it’s all community and private property so.”
"And then Huntington didn’t have a snowplow until 1934, they would hire men to shovel the roads. Now, they would start at Broadway and shovel to East Northport. They had a crew of men, you threw this way, you threw… and they made a one car path. Yeah, Herbert shoveled… they paid $4 a day which was wow. So, him and his brother they shoveled in front of their house going to where Pulaski came, and they got $4 a day and that was big money. $4 a day, yeah, (laughs).”
$4 in 1934 is equivalent to roughly $94 today.
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Gift Options
To Support Our Association
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Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association Mug
$12.00
Click here!
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(Images of America)
Greenlawn: A Long Island Hamlet
From the archives of the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association comes this striking visual history of the north shore Long Island hamlet of Greenlawn.
Originally known as Oldfields, the area was settled in the early 1800s by farmers. The extension of the Long Island Railroad through the farmlands in 1867-1868 provided the impetus for the development of a profitable pickle and cabbage industry, the growth of the community, and the arrival of vacationers, many of whom soon became year-round residents. Greenlawn includes stories of the Halloween eve conflagration, the Adirondack-style vacation retreat, the opera house, the farmhouse murders, the vaudevillians, and the Pickle King, among others. Today, houses cover the old farmlands; yet Greenlawn with: one main street of small shops, a railroad crossing that halts traffic throughout the day, and many historical buildings-still retains its small-town charm.
$20.00
Click here!
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(Images of America)
Centerport
Discover the Deco estates, summer camp spots, and stunning landscapes that Long Island's North Shore coastal community of Centerport has to offer.
Once known as Little Cow Harbor, the coastal community of Centerport on Long Island's north shore is rich in natural resources, including a beautiful harbor with several freshwater streams surrounded by wooded hills. Centerport was originally the site of several important mills, but in the late 19th century, it became a summer retreat for both the rich and the not so rich. Youth camps, most notably the Franciscan Brothers' Camp Alvernia; guesthouses; and resorts as well as popular restaurants dotted the shoreline. In the early 20th century, large estates were established by the Vanderbilt, Van Iderstine, Burling, Morse, DeBrabant, Whitney, and Corbin families on the Little Neck peninsula. As the 20th century progressed, modest and generously sized houses replaced the small farms and many of the large estates. The unspoiled natural beauty and rich history has for centuries drawn residents whose love of Centerport continue to make our village a great place to live.
$20.00
Click here!
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Harvey A. Weber's Centerport
In 1990, Harvey Weber wrote, edited, designed and published Centerport, a word and photographic history of his adopted home. The book was well received and was reprinted in 1991. At his death in September 1991, the rights to his book about Centerport became the property of his widow, Madeline Weber. In 2001, as the book was about to go out of print, Mrs. Weber generously ceded the rights to the Centerport book to the GCHA in loving memory of her husband. The Association has now re-issued Harvey Weber's book as a tribute to the great contribution he has made to preserve the history of Centerport through his own beautiful photographs and through the historic photographs that he assembled. The Association also acknowledges with heartfelt gratitude the generosity of Madeline Weber. Her gift has made it possible for our community to enjoy her husband's work for years to come.
Harvey Weber was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1917. He died in Centerport in 1991. During his lifetime he received many prestigious awards and honors, including the Joseph Costa Award from the National Press Photographers Association. He exhibited his work in six one-man shows. His photographs are included in museum, university, and private collections.
$5.00
Click here!
(Available only through the GCHA)
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