Smithtown, A History: Timothy House

Situated on North Country Road in St. James is a private residence known as Timothy House. Built over 200 years ago, the structure has been home to descendants of our town founder and a dedicated preservation.

According to the AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island published in 1992, Timothy House was built around 1800 and is named after one of its former owners, Timothy C. Smith. Originally a two and ½ story “half-house”, the home features a shed-roofed slave kitchen. Other noted details of the structure are a wide-sweeping Dutch Colonial gambrel roof on the east wing and a front stoop with octagonal columns.

In the early 1900s, architect Lawrence Smith Butler added the west section of the house and the dormers, according to the guide. Butler
also moved the structure 200 feet back from the road, and the home is reached by a driveway lined with sugar maples.

According to , there is also proof that one wing of the federal-style house dates back to 1750. The property originally belonged to Joseph Smith, who was the grandson of Richard Smythe, and through the decades, the land was owned by various members of our town founder’s descendants.

A former U.S. Assessor for the district, Edwin A. Smith, once owned Timothy House, according to the scrap-book. When he moved, Ebenezer Smith took over ownership and in 1839 he gave it to his son Timothy Carll Smith. The young Smith was married to Ruth Blydenburgh from the family our county park is named after.

It was during Smith’s residence that the home became known as Timothy House. The property surrounding the house also was nicknamed Timothy Woods, according to the scrap-book. When Timothy died in 1877, his niece inherited the homestead. In 1887 she sold it to a Captain Albert Newton, who worked in the fields as a boy.

According to the Fall 2007 Preservation Notes of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, in 1943 the home was bought by Herbert Henry Ferris for his daughter Barbara Van Liew. A noted preservationist, who was also Head of the Harbor’s historian, Van Liew maintained the historical integrity of the structure and also had preservation covenants attached to its deed. The home is protected from insensitive alteration, demolition and/or subdivision, according to the Preservation Notes.

Van Liew continued to live in Timothy House until her passing in 2005. Listed on both the national and state historical registers, Van Liew’s son Jeffere said Timothy House is now for sale.

The Preservaton Notes credited Van Liew’s heirs with adding updated features to the home while conserving its layout as well as original woodwork and hardware. In the 21^st century, the private residence stands as an example of how a part of our past can exist in modern times.