Would You Wheel Away This Old Home? [Empty in Aquebogue]

A drive down Route 25 on the eastern part of town reveals a different glimpse of Riverhead as the Route 25 downtown.

While commercial centers occasionally dot the roadway, and Jamesport hamlet center offers a change of pace, the corridor serves as one of two entrances to the Long Island Wine Trail and beyond that, a busy and historic North Fork agricultural community.

Sitting on the south side of Route 25 in Aquebogue, overlooking farms to the south, rests a vacant farmhouse dating back, so says a local history buff, to the 1870s.

Built by well-known local carpenter John E. Aldridge, according to Landmarks Preservation Committee Chairman Richard Wines, government records show the house has been owned by LWC Realty since the 1960s. Aldridge also built the Aquebogue Congregational Church, Wines said. It contains five bedrooms and one bath.

Wines - who recently completed an application that will likely designate - said the house itself could likely qualify for the historic register, offering the opportunity for tax credits.

"First, it survived from that time period," he said. "Second, all the detail on the outside - the peaks, the decorative elements - and the inside for that matter."

But the home remains unoccupied.

Lloyd Corwin, listed as the principal of LWC Realty, said the property is not for sale. The Corwin family operates Crescent Duck Farm, located behind the home. But that doesn't mean the home might not be up for grabs.

"If someone wanted to move it away, that would be one thing," he said.

Wines said the home is similar in structure and historical significance to the Jedediah Hawkins Inn, which was renovated last decade, reportedly for upwards of $3 million, and is on the National Register of Historic Places - one of nine places in town currently on the list.

What do you think should be done with this home? How much would you pay to relocate it?