A Historic Watering Hole Gets A Facelift

As a watering place, Quogue stands pre-eminent."

Long Island Railroad Guide, 1877

Rising from behind the hedges on Montauk Highway in Quogue stands a historic water tower, built in 1872 and used as a livestock watering station for the itinerant farmers who drove their herds west for sale. The water tower is part of the property owned by Jeff Cully and Samantha Dettmer, just one piece of the historic compound the couple have been painstakingly renovating. And during the renovation, interesting finds kept popping up.

Two large antique shingle and pitch guides of 1-inch cedar were left under the water tower window shingles, found by Mr. Cully and his team as they did the work. The walls in the small kitchen, which is connected to the water tower by a breezeway—a place for farmers to sit and relax while their animals enjoyed a beverage—revealed even more.

"Ripping the walls off inside and outside of the kitchen, we found these," Mr. Cully said, laying more treasures on the table.

A spool of thread. A tintype featuring two women in somber dress, but with flowers pinned to their clothing. Reading glasses, one lens now missing, in a case that has seen better days.

And dozens of postcards, most in fine or very fine condition, some written on, some not. "I love these," Mr. Cully said. "You never know when you rip something apart what you're going to find. It's either, ‘Wow, that's really cool,' or 'Wow, let's not do that again, it's a real freak show!'"

The compound has been in the Dettmer family for years, but is known to most as the Captain Harris property. On just more than an acre, the property features the Captain Harris farmhouse (c. 1871), the water tower, which also has bedrooms within, and a house built in 1756 and moved to the Quogue location, most likely from Connecticut. There is also a barn, a pool, an organic garden and an interesting historic summer kitchen foundation, used when the weather was hot in the 19th century and beyond.

Mr. Cully and Ms. Dettmer took ownership "about a dozen years ago," and began working on bringing the place up to snuff. "Captain Harris built everything here," Mr. Cully said, looking at the water tower and farmhouse. "It's all hand-hewn locust beams. The buildings all sit on giant locust posts, and it's all pegged and mortised. Really heavy duty," he said. Boxes in the attic still have Captain Harris's name on them.

"Old houses require a ton of upkeep and maintenance," Mr. Cully said. "We had wanted to work on the water tower structure for years, but the year-round rental made it tricky." Even though Mr. Cully received structural consulting from James O'Neill, a contractor, and input from Bill Nowak, Quogue's chief building inspector, "I did a lot of the work myself," he said.

The water tower houses two bedrooms, including one in the upstairs part that features exposed wood. "The problem with reshingling the tower is that there are no right angles anywhere," Mr. Cully said with a laugh. The water tower is wider at the bottom with a sort of flared pitch to it. He began the project in April, after his tenants moved out, and just finished at the beginning of August.

"It's nice when homeowners are willing to take the time to do the research to maintain the historical integrity of their property," said Mr. Nowak. "There are quite a few residences in the village that have historic features and value. Some of these structures are prominent to the neighborhood; others are tucked away, but no less significant."

"We're taking care of pretty much all of the issues," Mr. Cully said. "It's been stop and go, depending on when I work or have time to work on the property, which is really like a full-time job."

He smiled and looked at the postcards on the table. "But it's really rewarding, too."

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