Spanburgh: Former Hayground School Building Being Demolished By Neglect

The state of this property is frustrating to say the least. The lovely remnants of this quality circa 1891 structure are in a terrible state of disrepair. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before its demolition is requested and granted because of the lack of any real preservation legislation and protection in this historic town of ours thus far. Hopefully that will be changing before the spring season arrives. In the meantime, this historic house withers away.

In 1891 the Hayground School District built a new school, and believe it or not, it is the house you see in these photos. This was the third Hayground School, but in 1912, the again needed a , and so this structure was sold to John Kehl and moved to its present location on Hayground Road, a stone’s throw away.

John Kehl Sr. bought Thomas Halsey’s historic salt box on the corner of Hayground and Mecox in 1885 from William and Emma Edwards. That property originally encompassed most of the block except for where the houses along Montauk are now. He was of German descent and worked as a gardener. In 1883 he married Isabella and had five children, Isabell, Nellie, John Jr., Mary and Althea. John Kehl Jr. (b. 1887) was a "building carpenter." In the early 1900s he bought a piece of his father’s property and as the third Hayground school was no longer needed, bought this perfectly practical building, had it moved to his new property, and converted it into a home that survives (barely) to this day. One of his stepsons was an electrician and the other was a garage mechanic. Those skills must have come in handy during the adaptation of the school into a home.

John Kehl Jr. and his wife Ella owned the property for many years and then passed it on to their children and their spouses who owned it until 1965. The property is now owned by two descendants in the form of a trust. Oh how I wish they would donate it to a preservation trust, rather than let it continue to fall apart, or at least have protective covenants placed on the property. We are fortunate that all four original Hayground schools still exist and survive today as wonderful examples of adaptive reuse.

This house is a surviving reminder of a very common architectural style. With its hipped roof, centered gabled dormers, first- and second-story shingle skirting and divided light windows, it reflects the vernacular features of its time period as well as a quality of construction not often repeated today. While I am intrigued by this family and would love to interview surviving members about their recollections of time spent in this dwelling, I am always bothered that property in Southampton is allowed to publicly decompose in this way. This is neglect pure and simple. If one cannot afford to maintain their property, there should be town, state and/or federal monies available for the maintenance and preservation of historic structures; I have been advocating for such a program at the town level. It is a poor reflection on our town’s pride of place to allow for architectural treasures to publicly deteriorate in this manner. In other nearby municipalities this type of abandonment would be labeled “demolition by neglect,” a violation which results in penalization.