by Kate Berube
230 Seaman Ave in Bayport, which has sat vacant for the past 9 years, was recently put back on the market. Once a beautiful 7-bedroom home, filled with laugher and light, has tragically been left to ruin as a result of a January fire nearly a decade ago.
Situated on two acres close to the Great South Bay, the property includes a massive Dutch Colonial, several outer buildings in various states of disrepair, and the remnantsof what was once a private road. Yet even in its current state, the timeless elegance of the architecture can’t help but shine through.
Commissioned in 1888, 230 Seaman was designed by prolific local architect Isaac H. Green, of Meadowcroft renowned, on the auspicious occasion of Frank Rogers finally determining to take a wife. Rogers, a founding member of the Bayport community, was a career bayman who owned multiple oyster shanties along the coast and made his living and life on the water. Once he established his homestead, he married Narcissa Seaman, daughter of Capt. Silas Seaman, whom Seaman Avenue is named for.
While a considerable reconstruction effort would need to be launched, one sincerely holds out hope that when purchased 230 Seaman will be restored with attention to its historical significance and charming detail, which once made it a fixture of the popular Bayport Blue Point Heritage Association House Tour. To lose such a stately home would be a crime on par to having let it lie to waste.
In the meantime, the manor house sits silent, continuing to weather each season, waiting for just the right owner to restore her to her former glory.
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