Calls for stronger preservation rules

It is unclear who bought the Ludlam House, or what their plans might be. The property was owned by Nancy T. Rezza since at least 1996, and records in the Nassau County clerk’s office show a new deed dated Sept. 29, 2022, but do not list the buyer.

Local architect John Collins, a member of the Town of Oyster Bay Landmarks Preservation Commission, also fears that the house may be torn down. While he and Clark acknowledge that the property is the owner’s to do with as they like, they emphasized that with stronger protections and more tax incentives for the restoration of historic houses, more structures that are a key part of North Shore history could be saved in the future.

“The problem is, towns and villages back in the bicentennial days” — the 1970s — “were all into preservation, and they enacted preservation and landmark ordinances, and then they designate significant buildings,” Collins said. “Mill Neck, unfortunately, does not. The other problem with preservation is you have to have a consensus of the people that live in the municipality that agree they want to do that, which is a whole lengthy legal process.”

While Clark said she applauded the Village of Mill Neck and the town for helping to restore the nearby Mill Neck Manor, she added that there are still many historic houses that have no similar protections.

The Town of Oyster Bay’s Landmarks Code currently has 41 properties designated as historic, and states that “any landmark property that seeks aesthetic alterations, visible from the street, is required to obtain approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission,” according to a statement by Brian Nevin, the town’s public information officer. While there are some existing tax breaks for historic properties, the money that supports them comes from state grants, not from the town.