Irene Levels Museum's Blacksmith Shop

C.& E. Bennett Blacksmith Shop at the grounds was reduced to timber Sunday after high winds from Tropical Storm Irene caused a large branch to snap off and fall on the building's roof, crushing it.

Tom Edmonds, the executive director of the , said in an email to patrons that the building was lost, and sent condolences to the the volunteers who had kept it up for so long.

"This is terrible news for volunteers Ed and Carryl Howell who worked so hard on the shop over many years. The collection of blacksmith tools came from Carryl Bennett Howell's family who had a blacksmith shop in Water Mill," he wrote.

The Carryls now live in Kentucky.

Edmonds said the museum's other buildings, such as the , survived the storm.