Ostby gifts Manor house and grounds

With the opening of the Sylvester Manor archives exhibit at New York University’s Bobst Library in New York City has come word that  Eben Fiske Ostby, the manor’s owner, is donating the historic house and grounds to the nonprofit Sylvester Manor Educational Farm. Plans call for transferring the deed by the end of the year.

“This is an especially exciting time for me and for the organization as we put in place the next chapter in the Manor’s history,” Mr. Ostby told those who attended last week’s exhibit opening. The exhibit will run  through July 15.

Last year, Mr. Ostby donated more than 83 acres of land to the educational farm organized by his nephew, Bennett Konesni. That transfer enabled the educational farm to receive community preservation funds to protect the fields as farmland. This latest gift, representing the bulk of the remaining property, adds more than 140 acres to the previously gifted land. It includes all the historic structures — the 1737 Georgian Manor House and the 1810 windmill and barns.

The family will retain only a small plot that won’t be fully subdivided from the manor lands to continue the 360-year legacy of Sylvester descendants on the property.

Sara Gordon, formerly of the Peconic Land Trust, joins the Sylvester Manor staff as strategic director to work with executive director Cara Loriz in handling the property transfer and preparing for the demands the new gift will create.

“Since I inherited Sylvester Manor several years ago, we have established a nonprofit to take on the mission of the farm, the manor, house and its role in the community,” Mr. Ostby said in announcing the gift. “I believe that the nonprofit is now strong enough to handle ownership of the property, so our next priority is to transfer the manor and its land to this organization” he said.

The Reporter will be visiting the  New York University exhibit Friday and providing an overview of it on its website and in the paper.