The bad rap on Long Island is that there’s no affordable housing. Not true.
There’s history in Nancy Tomaselli’s Patchogue Village century-old home, from the original subway tiles that are back in fashion and claw foot tub to original windows and built-in kitchen cabinets.
What’s now a three-bedroom cape was once “Miss Hughes’ Hospital” in the 1930s, named after the nurse who ran the place, Tomaselli said records show.
“Every time I open the windows, I think that around 1900s, a woman was opening these windows, who was wearing a long dress, who wasn’t allowed to vote,” the owner said. “You see pictures of the town from that time. It was very beautiful, with big front lawns and carriages, and I think of the people that lived at that time were living in this house, this very space that I occupy right now.
“That’s why I don’t want to change anything original. It would really break my heart if someone came in here and made dramatic changes, like put in a modern kitchen or put in a modern bathroom. I’m hoping whoever buys it would appreciate the antiquity. It’s not that it was expensively made. It was made like a beach house or cottage. The molding is very beautiful but there’s nothing fancy about it. It’s simple.”
Listed for $299,000 by Century 21 Lamonica Realty in Patchogue, the house needs some roof and dormer window repairs.
The home has had owners who have passed what history they knew about property to incoming owners.
One of Tomaselli’s contribution will be about the floorboards. A few months ago, when she had her wood floors refinished, the restorer told her they were original to the house. “About that time period, they used very long planks like that,” the seller said.
Tomaselli’s in grief over having to leave the house, because she’s moving to Florida after retiring as a nurse and health care administrator.
The place felt like home as soon as she walked in five years ago, and it hasn’t escaped her that she and a past resident, Miss Hughes, first name not known, went into the same line of work. “I thought ‘What a coincidence,’ “ Tomaselli said. “I never thought that I was her in a previous life. I just thought it was interesting. We’re both nurses, both administrators and nursing home administrator license too . . . Oh my God. I wonder if she moved to Florida. I should research her.”
