36 Main St, Roslyn, NY, 11576

Springbank

440 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn Harbor

Date Built1834
Original UseResidence
Restoration StatusCompleted Restoration Date1956
Roslyn Landmark Society Covenant No
View House Tour Details 2004
National Register of Historic Places

Project Files

QD2 A5688a

Like its neighbor, the Stephen and Charles Smith House, Springbank rests on property that was originally part of a land grant given to Nathaniel Pearsall (1649-1703). William Hicks, the Hempstead Harbor postmaster, acquired the Springbank property in 1834. As noted in Henry Eastman's 1879 history of Roslyn, prior to Hicks purchase of the property, there were only a handful of houses along the eastern side of the harbor, including a small tenant house for a laborer. An 1838 sketch of the Pearsall property (Willowmere) shows a house on the western side of the road in the approximate location of the original site of Springbank. It is possible that Springbank is the "small tenant house" referred to by H. W. Eastman.

In 1850, Stephen Smith acquired a portion of the Hicks property, including this parcel and the adjoining lot where he would soon erect his own house.

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Adapted from Historic and Architectural Resources of Roslyn Harbor-1999

The third property associated with Bryant is Springbank, which is closely associated with the history of Montrose and adjacent to the present Montrose property. Like Montrose, Springbank is likely a Federal period house that was near what was built as the core of Montrose by William Hicks in 1834. William Cullen Bryant acquired Springbank in 1868 and the house was later moved to the northwest corner of the Montrose property sometime between 1876 and 1894. It was likely a secondary residence on Bryant and his daughter's estate. Also, the house was remodeled with Historic and Architectural Resources of Roslyn eclectic Victorian period elements including deep eaves and a front porch. It was purchased by its present owners in 1956.

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