Welcome to aumsett
Welcome to The Caumsett Foundation’s website! Browse through its many pages and you will be treated to a virtual tour of one of Long Island’s most treasured parks- all 1,500 acres of varied terrain and historic buildings from the Golden Age of the 1920s.
However, before you begin let me introduce you to The Caumsett Foundation. Our mission is “To support and enhance Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve as a unique and historic environment on Long Island’s north shore. The Foundation is dedicated to education, low-impact recreation, historic and environmental preservation and conservation of the scenic value, natural heritage and cultural history of the site.”
Summer Cottage Restoration & Designer Showhouse
Our Park
The Summer Cottage is one of the three most significant residential buildings on the estate designed by John Russell Pope in 1939 and landscaped by the Olmstead Brothers. Marshall Field III originally used it as a family guesthouse. More recently Nassau BOCES used it for 40 years for environmental educational programs; they vacated it in 2018. The Cottage has deteriorated significantly due to the lack of routine maintenance and water damage and has outdated electric, plumbing and heating systems and no air conditioning.
The Foundation engaged Huntington architects Andrew Giambertone and Associates to develop the plans and specs for the restoration. This $1,000,000+ project has been awarded to Alden Bailey, a CT firm who specialize in historic preservation. The work began in February and be completed by July, in time for Caumsett’s fall Designer Showhouse.
Built in the 1930s, the Summer Cottage is a two-story Colonial Revival residence with Georgian and Federal details originally designed as a guest residence for friends and family. Faced with the increased need to house guests and the numerous staff they travelled with, plans were made for additional guest housing. Construction was started and completed in 1939 with a two-fold design. One section was built as a normal house for the guest family, and a connected structure with housing for domestic workers featuring smaller bedrooms and common bathroom facilities. The renowned Olmsted Brothers were again hired to create the landscaping around the cottage and drew inspiration from the traditional landscapes of an English Country Manor.
Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve reaches from Long Island Sound across Lloyd Neck to Lloyd Harbor and occupies approximately 1,500 acres. Located in the Town of Huntington in the Village of Lloyd Harbor, it includes open meadows, pristine beaches, hardwood forests, specimen trees and shrubs, and a fresh water pond in addition to Field’s main house and outbuildings. Caumsett is a mixture of habitats that make it a rare and valuable resource. Its natural setting offers unlimited opportunities for environmental, scientific and cultural research.
Environmental Projects
During World War II, the Field's moved their primary residence to the Summer Cottage as the Main House was used as a government office. The cottage later became the primary residence of Field's widow until her death. Today, the Summer Cottage remains one of the last major historic buildings at Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve.
The Caumsett Designer Showhouse was be presented in the Summer Cottage beginning in early October. The Foundation made arrangements with more than twenty top interior designers and decorative artists from the New York metropolitan area. These talented artists transformed the Summer Cottage into a decorating masterpiece that was open to the public for a period of six weeks.
The Caumsett Foundation and the NYS Parks Regional Environmental Office initiated a 30 acre grassland restoration project and a comprehensive approach to best control invasive plants. They created a website to provide land managers with on-going information on Caumsett's projects.