New State Program to Restore Historic Barns

IMAGE COURTESY OF NEW YORK STATE BARN COLLATION

Governor George E. Pataki recently announced a new $2 million program to restore and preserve historic barns and related agricultural buildings in New York. The New York Barns Restoration and Preservation Program will revitalize aging structures that represent the heritage of New York’s working farms and improve the landscapes enjoyed by residents and tourists alike. Applications will be available after Oct. 15, 2000, at OPRHP regional offices. Applications are due either postmarked or delivered to OPRHP regional offices by Dec. 15, 2000. For more info., please contact State Parks at (518) 474-0427 or visit www.nysparks.com.

Ephraim Niles Byram’s Oakland Cottage

Ephraim Byram House, Sag Harbor PATRICIA STRASSBERG, PHOTOGRAPHER

The eccentric Italianate-style villa on Jermain Avenue in Sag Harbor (seen here) is called the Oakland Cottage. The renowned scientist, astronomer, and steeple clock maker Ephraim Niles Byram. built it in 1852. Byram who invented an orrery (a scale model of the universe with a glass globe in the center of the instrument) and whose clocks today are prized collector’s items was a man of varied interests and self-taught genius. Behind his house once stood the Sherry & Byram Clock Works from which came large clocks destined for steeples and street posts all along the East Coast. New York’s City Hall has a Byram clock, and four were installed in the tower of Sag Harbor’s Whaler’s Church. The shop is long gone but the house that he designed and where he lived remains standing astonishingly intact retaining most of the unusual and unorthodox original features. One of the unique features is the flat-topped tower, reportedly used by Byram to make astronomical studies. This is rather his signature tower for when one sees that tower one knows it is the Byram House. Function outweighed fashion in Byram’s design of this asymmetrical building, part residence and part scientific laboratory. The Village of Sag Harbor has an excellent landmark preservation law that carefully protects the ambiance of its streetscapes and the diversity of its built environment. It will, of course, recognize the unique character of the Byram House and respect its historical significance when processing the plans of the new owners to make the building more livable.