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Howard Sherwood

By Beverly C. Tyler

Along Old Post Road in East Setauket are a number of old farmhouses. One of the most interesting and best preserved is the circa 1730 Sherwood-Jayne House which is owned by Preservation Long Island. The home, first built by Matthias Jayne, and owned by a succession of his descendants, was enlarged over the years, but it retains much of its original appearance both inside and out. The house sits on a large area that retains a farm-like atmosphere with a colonial barn, ice house and a number of other structures. A carefully pruned apple orchard stands just to the west of the house along Old Post Road. To the left of the barn and behind the orchard is the entrance to the walking trail. The three-mile circular trail meanders through the wooded area where red-tailed hawks are known to nest. However, the trail is a bit difficult to follow as trail markers were not evident to me on opening day. 

A guided tour of the historic house is not to be missed. On May 31st, I was met at the front door by guides Kitty and Jill who described the house and grounds as a “central Long Island farmscape.” Matthias’ son William doubled the size of the house following the end of the Revolutionary War. Known locally as “Big Bill the Tory,” William, who lost his wife Tabitha in 1785, was responsible for the architectural details which provide a unifying appearance to the colonial structure. 

The Sherwood-Jayne farm is a part of the Town of Brookhaven’s East Setauket Historic District, one of five historic districts in the Three Village area. The farm represents the  character of the historic district with its many private historic farmhouses, dating from the end of the 17th century through the early years of the 20th century. 

The interior of the house features both original wall paintings and spectacular paneling. The paneling is believed to be from a nearby colonial house that was the birthplace of Benjamin Tallmadge, leader of the Culper spy ring. Howard Sherwood,  who purchased the house in 1908 from the third great-granddaughter of Matthias Jayne, collected the paneling and the interior furnishings.

As detailed by Preservation Long Island, “Howard Sherwood, an American decorative arts collector and Preservation Long Island founder…is responsible for the building’s current appearance as a restored colonial-era farmhouse with early twentieth-century Colonial Revival alterations…” One of the interesting records kept by Sherwood is a “Sheep Register” which details his project to use sheep on the farm. He wrote, “Along in the summer of 1932, Charlie and I bethought ourselves of sheep as a means of keeping the East field down and in shape. Accordingly, the following fall and winter, Charlie cut and set the posts to fence it and in April ‘33 I secured the necessary wire fencing, together with a stretcher to stretch it and staples to fasten it…” 

A small spiral-bound copy of his register is available for visitors to see during the house tour. Neither sheep nor any other farm animals are currently housed on the Sherwood-Jayne farm, however the tour of the two floors of the house has many surprises including wide pine floorboards salvaged from Bridgehampton’s “Old Wick’s Tavern; A beautiful pine corner cupboard from a center-hall house north of Syracuse, NY; historic coverlets; period floor covering reproductions and much more.      

Preservation Long Island offers Saturday tours of the Sherwood-Jayne Farm House (c. 1730), 55 Old Post Road, Setauket at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. through Oct. 11.  Tickets are $10 adults, $5 ages 10 to 18, free for children ages 9 and under. To reserve your spot, visit www.preservationlongisland.org/tours/.

Beverly Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Rd., Setauket, NY 11733. Tel: 631-751-3730. www.TVHS.org 

This year's Wet Paint Festival will be held at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm in East Setauket. Photo courtesy of Preservation Long Island

By Melissa Arnold

Since 2004, Gallery North’s annual Wet Paint Festival has invited artists from far and wide to revel in nature’s beauty. For a week or a weekend, artists enjoy each other’s company and a healthy dose of plein air painting — the tricky, constantly changing art of working outdoors.

This year’s festival, scheduled for June 4 and 5, will be held at the historic and picturesque Sherwood-Jayne Farm on Old Post Road in East Setauket and seeks to build upon past events where visitors can watch the artists work and ask questions about their creative process. There will also be the opportunity to tour the Sherwood-Jayne House, go bird watching, enjoy live music and more.

An artist paints plein air at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm. Photo from Preservation Long Island

“The landscape of the show has changed in a variety of ways over the years, not just in location but in the way it’s structured,” said Ned Puchner, executive director of Gallery North. “During the pandemic, people could paint remotely for a two-week period. Last year, we had a few different locations to choose from. This year, we’re returning to the traditional style of having a specific site where everyone will come together and paint for a weekend, with some additional activities for the public to enjoy.”

The Sherwood-Jayne Farm was originally slated to host the Wet Paint Festival in 2020, and planning for the event was nearly complete when the pandemic shut things down.  

“Gallery North reached out to us a few years ago looking to change up the festival from the way it was done in the past,” said Elizabeth Abrams, Assistant Director of Operations and Programs for Preservation Long Island, which cares for the property. “We used to team up with the gallery for an apple festival, and considering we are just down the street from each other, it was natural for us to work together again.”

Preservation Long Island is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting Long Island’s history and culture. Founded in 1948, their focus is on education, advocacy, and the stewardship of historic buildings and artifacts.

Abrams explained that the Sherwood-Jayne House was built in 1730 as an early colonial, lean-to salt box dwelling. The house and surrounding farmland were cared for by the Jayne family for more than 150 years. In 1908, it was acquired by the founder of Preservation Long Island, Howard Sherwood, who lived in the home and displayed a variety of antiques there.

Throughout the weekend, the Sherwood-Jayne House will be open for tours with Preservation Long Island curator Lauren Brincat. Keep an eye out for the Tallmadge wall panels, and the incredibly beautiful wall mural in the parlor that’s meant to look like wallpaper — they are very rare to see, especially on Long Island, Abrams added.

“The house contains a large portion of Howard Sherwood’s personal antique collection and other bits of history from colonial Long Island. This area had a foundational role in American history — exploring the house and its collections are a unique way to learn more about that important time period,” she said.

There will be plenty of outdoor inspiration for the artists at the festival as well. The property is also home to a variety of outbuildings and trails, gorgeous old-growth walnut trees, an apple orchard, and all kinds of wildlife. 

The Four Harbors Audubon Society will lead tours exploring the wildlife and ecology of the area, with a particular focus on local birds. If the barn is open, you might be lucky enough to meet some goats, a few sheep, or an old, sweet white horse named Snowball.

Visitors are free to wander the grounds at their leisure, watch the artists work or ask questions, Puchner said. For those who are feeling shy or not sure what to ask, an artist will offer a guided tour and lead discussions once each day.

“The whole objective of the Wet Paint Festival is to help people understand what goes into the process of creating a painting, and to meet local artists. It’s a great way for someone who has no artistic experience to learn how it all works,” Puchner said.

Nancy Bueti-Randall, pictured in her studio, will join over 40 other artists at this year’s Gallery North Wet Paint Festival.
Photo by Heidi Sutton/TBR News Media

Over 40 artists will be participating this weekend including Nancy Bueti-Randall of Stony Brook who began to paint outdoors as a way to recharge while raising her three children. She’s spent more than 20 years creating and showing her work, which runs the gamut from pictorial to abstract, figures and landscapes. Most of the time, though, she’s painting in her garden or other familiar surroundings.

Sometimes, she’ll start a painting with the idea to focus on one thing, but something else in a landscape will catch her eye instead.

“There are a lot of challenges with plein air painting. It’s very fleeting — a landscape is always changing, even from day to day,” Bueti-Randall explained. “You have to be fast and responsive to what’s going on around you. It’s about becoming engaged with the thing you’re painting. I can get overwhelmed by beauty, and I try to capture the essence of what I’m seeing in a process of give and take.”

Marceil Kazickas of Sands Point considers herself an artistic late bloomer. She started drawing and painting to cope with a health crisis, and found that when she was being creative, she wasn’t in pain. Kazickas prefers to work in oil, which she loves for its luscious, sensual properties.

“When you go outside, there’s an overwhelming amount of information to take in — the views are always changing, the clock is running, and you want to get your design done quickly because the light and shadows are constantly evolving,” she explained. 

“I’m not as focused on painting exactly what I see … People can get caught up in producing a finished, frameable piece of art, but for me it’s exciting to be outside and come up with whatever I can in the short time I’m out there, even if it’s nothing. It’s about the painting process.”

Puchner hopes that the variety of activities, including a scavenger hunt for kids and live music from the Keenan Paul Zach Trio and Tom Killourhy, will appeal to all kinds of people.

“These new additions will give the public the opportunity to enjoy nature, the arts and history all in one place, and our artists will have a fun new location to experiment and be creative in,” he said.

The 18th Annual Wet Paint Festival will be held June 4 and 5 at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm, 55 Old Post Road, East Setauket from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rain date is June 18 and 19. The event is free and open to the public. 

All participating artists will have their festival work on display in an exhibit at Gallery North, 90 North Country Road, Setauket, from July 7 through Aug 7. A free opening reception will be held at the gallery from on July 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. 

For more information about the festival or to register to paint, visit www.gallerynorth.org or call 631-751-2676. Learn more about Sherwood-Jayne Farm at www.preservationlongisland.org.