Preservation Long Island has announced that for the first time in three years all three Preservation Long Island owned historic properties in Suffolk County will be open for the season through October. With the enlistment of a new interpretive team of Museum Educators, trained volunteers, and redesigned tours, each house preserves extraordinary examples of early American architecture and design and showcases the diverse stories of Long Islanders connected to the sites.
“Preservation Long Island’s historic properties are embedded within communities across Long Island and attract diverse groups of visitors,” said Elizabeth Abrams, Preservation Long Island’s Assistant Director of Operations and Programs. “We are excited about our newly designed guided and self-guided tour options that address specific themes related to each site’s historical narratives.”
“An impactful tour should convey the broader significance of the site, invite personal responses to the historical narrative, and draw connections between the past and the present,” said Andrew Tharler, Preservation Long Island’s Education and Engagement Director. “Rather than lecturing, Educators at Preservation Long Island facilitate meaningful understandings of the past through inquiry-based interpretation. We encourage visitor participation and invite them to contribute their own observations, questions, and ideas.”
In addition, Preservation Long Island has joined Museums for All, a signature access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), administered by the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits. The program supports those receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits visiting all Preservation Long Island properties, historic house museums and Exhibition Gallery by offering free admission per person, up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Similar free and reduced admission is available to eligible members of the public at more than 850 museums across the country. Museums for All is part of Preservation Long Island’s broad commitment to seek, include, and welcome all audiences and to increase accessibility of high-quality museum learning resources.
Regularly scheduled self-guided and guided tours are free for Preservation Long Island Members, and Museums for All eligible visitors and $5-$10 for general admission ticket.
Tour Preservation Long Island Historic Properties:
The 2023 tour schedule and new online reservation system is now live at:
https://preservationlongisland.org/tours/
Joseph Lloyd Manor (1766–67) in Lloyd Harbor. Once the center of the Manor of Queens Village and a 3,000-acre provisioning plantation, the Jupiter Hammon Project, a multi-year initiative, is transforming how Preservation Long Island engages visitors with the entangled stories of the Lloyd family and the individuals they enslaved for more than a century at this site, among them, Jupiter Hammon (1711–before 1806) one of our nation’s first published Black American writers. House opens Saturday, June 17th.
Sherwood-Jayne Farm (ca. 1730) in Setauket. The house contains period furnishings and features original late eighteenth-century hand-painted floral wall frescoes. Located in a bucolic setting, the house maintains its agrarian context with hayfields, meadows, woodlot, orchard, and pasture. House opens Saturday, June 24th.
Custom House (ca. 1790) in Sag Harbor. Henry Packer Dering, Sag Harbor’s first United States custom master, acquired the property in the early 1790s. The activities of Dering, his wife, and nine children are vividly portrayed in room settings and interpretive exhibits. House opened June 4th.
For opening hours at each property and to reserve tours through their online reservation system visit:
https://preservationlongisland.org/tours/
In addition to tours, upcoming special programming at Preservation Long Island’s historic properties will be announced throughout the season including:
- Jupiter Hammon Birthday Celebration, poetry readings and curator-led tours at Joseph Lloyd Manor in Lloyd Harbor
- Culper Spy Day and fall outdoor activities at Sherwood-Jayne Farm in Setauket
Registration and ticketing links to all programs, events and tours are accessible on Preservation Long Island’s website:
https://preservationlongisland.org/category/upcomingevents/
https://preservationlongisland.org/tours/
For more information about Preservation Long Island’s programs and services visit: https://preservationlongisland.org/
