Preserving the Bedell Dairy Farm property

For several months, the Historical Society of the Merricks has been actively campaigning for the preservation of a rich piece of history off Meadowbrook Road: the Bedell Dairy Farm property, which has not only a historic farmhouse on it, but an original milk house — one of the last of its kind in Nassau County.

In December of last year, the Historical Society submitted an application to the Town of Hempstead’s Landmark Preservation Commission, with the hopes that the home and its history could officially be protected. A developer, Golden Kastle Homes, owns and maintains the property, and there is a proposal in the works to turn the Bedell Farm into a living complex with three new homes.

The property is located at 1685 Meadowbrook Road, right next to the North Merrick Public Library. The proposal to turn it into a living complex poses some issues, as the North Merrick Fire Department has said it may be unable to access the home planed to be set furthest back on the property. 

A letter to the developer from the fire department that was shared with the Herald reads: “The North Merrick Fire Department cannot guarantee that they would be able to access the property you plan to construct and develop ... the materials you provided indicate proposed plans and measurements which the Fire District apparatus may not be able to navigate during an emergency situation.”

If landmark status is obtained, the Historical Society would like to see the home restored. There is potential for the home to be come a cultural and historic site in the hamlet, to be used for educational purposes in conjunction with the library.

The Bedell Family

The last name Bedell has a rich history on the South Shore of Long Island.

More recent lineage of the Bedell family traces back to Freeport, where Charles Bedell started and ran a well-known dairy business, Atlantic Dairy in the 1800s. The location of the farm was likely somewhere along Atlantic Avenue in Freeport.

A town over, those familiar with Bellmore’s history may be aware that there is another Bedell House on S. Saint Mark’s Place, which has landmark status. According to the Town of Hempstead: “The Bedells were among the first settlers of the Bellmore area and descendants of the family lived in the house from 1689 until 1950.”

Charles Bedell had three sons, and his oldest, Henry, moved to Merrick sometime near the turn of the century. The farmhouse was built in 1907. 

Henry’s son, Bob Bedell, who lived in the house after his father, died in the 2007 at 93.

Visions for the property

David Griffin, an architectural historian consultant, has long had an interest in preserving buildings on Long Island.

“I do writing and research regarding mostly colonial period built works, and I started to get involved with a group of history minded people,” Griffin said, “and we talk about possible projects that need our cause, possibly our help, to save or restore.”

In the past, Griffin said he’s worked on projects in Jericho and Oyster Bay, researching and preserving colonial era homes. The group Griffin works with does not have an official name, rather, he said it’s a group of like-minded, history-minded people. Someone he works with in the group informed him about the situation in North Merrick with the Bedell Property.

Griffin created a short architectural analysis of what the Bedell farm could become, if landmark status is acquired, by connecting it to the library property. By removing the fencing in between the home and library, a new, green space would be created that would signify the importance of the house in the history of North Merrick. Griffin said development and the threat it poses to historic buildings is a problem, and its happening everywhere.

The architecture rendering says: “The restored farmhouse would become another usable building with a farmhouse garden behind, reminiscent of its former agrarian days. It could be a very beautiful spot, a place to cherish.”

“I think North Merrick has an opportunity to get a glimpse into its agrarian past, when farms were the norm and covered the landscape,” Griffin said. “It will provide an opportunity for open space that’s rooted in history.”

Community support

The house is just over 100 years old, but is without electricity and running water, and has been boarded up due to vandalism over the years. John Pinto, president of the Historical Society in Merricks had said their efforts for landmark status were going well, but now there are talks that the house is inhabitable.

“A letter from the building department kind of railroaded us off track a little bit because they’re claiming that the house is inhabitable in the condition that it’s in,” he said at a recent historical society meeting. “What we believe is its not to the point of demolition.”

What the Historical Society of the Merricks is asking for is support for their efforts, and two key, upcoming meetings may decide the fate of the home and the property. There is a meeting scheduled with the Nassau County Planning Commission on June 15 at 10 a.m., and a meeting with the Town’s Landmark Preservation Commission on June 20 at 6 p.m. For more on the house and the landmark status efforts, visit the Historical Society’s Facebook page, @MerrickHistory.

The Merrick community, and surrounding towns, have voiced their support for the preservation of the Bedell House. A letter the Freeport Historical Society and Museum says, “In the years prior to World War II, much of this township was agrarian and the Bedell family was very involved with different aspects of farming … the (Bedell property), containing a vintage farmhouse and milk house, is one of the very few examples left that stand evidence of the rural past of the Town of Hempstead.”