Bernadette Castro, commissioner of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation presented Roland Cotter-Kroboth with a certificate placing his house, the Cock-Cornelius House, circa 1668, on the National Register of Historic Places on Thursday, July 6. Commissioner Castro spoke to guests at the Cock-Cornelius House, located at 34 Birch Hill Road in Locust Valley, in recognition of its historic significance and official entry onto the State and National Registers.

State representatives, media, local merchants and friends attended the event. The Cock-Cornelius House is the third property on the State and National Register in the Locust Valley/ Matinecock area. Afterward, a reception was held at the Basil Leaf Cafe at The Plaza in Matinecock.

The owner of the historic property, Roland Cotter-Kroboth of Locust Valley Antiques, was very pleased with the support from the community that the event garnered.

Mr. Cotter-Kroboth is very active in the Locust Valley Chamber of Commerce and is on the board of Bailey's Arboretum.

The Cock-Cornelius house is currently being restored by Mr. Cotter-Kroboth. It has a long and interesting history. The Cock-Cornelius House was purchased by Roland Cotter-Kroboth in 2005. It was bought from the previous owner, Edith Hay Wyckoff, in 1941. She was the owner/publisher of the Locust Valley Leader newspaper. Kathleen and Edward McCoy inherited the property upon Ms. Wyckoff's death.

John Collins, architectural historian is overseeing the historic restoration. He said, "Mr. Cotter-Kroboth rescued the house from being torn down by developers and is in the process of restoring it as a residential property - with a capital "R". We are catching up on all kinds of maintenance including things like rot in the framing of the wall as it rests on the foundation. There are major structural repairs that are being done. On more than 50 feet of West Wing there was no foundation and it had to be jacked up and fixed. We adjusted the grade and are putting in dry wells and also restoring all the original wooden windows. We are re-roofing the house and restoring the Yankee gutters - they are the built-in wood gutters at the edge of the roof."

Mr. Collins explained, "Ms. Wycoff gave the house to the McCoys, who were her caretakers as she got older, and lived in a wing of the house. They put the house on the market and several developers wanted to buy it. There are no preservation laws in Locust Valley so Roland stepped in and saved the house. He invested in the purchase of the property and is now investing in the renovation to correct all the problems in the house the original engineer found in his investigation of the house before it was purchased. He is giving the house a new lease on life after the 50 years Edith Wycoff lived in it."

Mr. Cotter-Kroboth is famous for restoring and renovating property. Mr. Collins repeated, "The purpose is that it will be restored for residential use."

Before Ms. Wycoff and the McCoys, the previous owner was Jane Teller Robinson who was deeded the property on Nov. 14, 1924. Jane and her husband, William Jay Robinson, added an entire north wing and dormers on the front of the house, transforming it into a country estate. Although the Robinsons kept much of the Federal and Greek revival details added by their predecessors, they added many colonial Revival details such as the fieldstone chimney on the north elevation and relocating the chimney to the outside of the house on the south elevation. Several hearths were covered in concrete and modern wood flooring was installed in the earlier sections of the house (south side). Also, a Greek Revival door to the basement on the south side of the house was covered in pine. The house's development by the Robinsons mirrored a phenomenon occurring all over Long Island at the time, as wealthy owners purchased historic properties and transformed them into country estates. The Robinsons also operated a restaurant out of the house called the Stage Coach Inn.

The owner of the house in 1878 was Amanda Cornelius Underhill. Amanda inherited the house and property from her father, Lot Cornelius, when he died in 1878. She married Jarvis Frost Underhill in 1860 and they had two children: Mary in 1863 and Lot Cornelius in 1865. Amanda left the house and property in the care of her executors, Lot Cornelius Underhill and Sidney B. Bowne when she died on May 5, 1921.

In 1841, owner Lot Cornelius was deeded the house and property on Dec. 14, from Walter Whaley as willed by John Whaley before this deed was given. Lot was first an itinerant teacher who taught in the vicinity. He then became the school inspector from 1840-42, and school superintendent in 1846, 1852 and 1854, for the Common Schools (public schools). After assuming title to the property, Lot added a half-story onto the existing two-story Federal portion of the house, and began a private school for boys. At some point in the mid-19th century, a two-bay, two and one-half story section was added, making the house a five-bay, two and one-half story structure. By 1857, Lot's school became the Walnut Grove Female Seminary, a private school for girls. His daughter Amanda was a teacher of French, reading and grammar at the school while Lot was principal and proprietor. One of the notable local individuals who attended the school was Townsend Cock, county treasurer of Queens County, president of the Oyster Bay Bank, state senator (1868) and direct descendant of James Cock, one of the original town settlers. Another was Richard Downing, a prominent citizen in the area. In March 1869, Lot closed the Walnut Grove Seminary.

The previous owner, John Whaley, was deeded the house and property on Jan. 18, 1823 by Gideon Wright. John was the town pounder from 1820-28 and 1830-40. He was the fence viewer in 1827. He died and left the property to his son, Walter.

Gideon Wright was deeded the house and property on Nov. 2, 1821 by George and Freelove Wright Cock.

In 1820, George Cock, inherited one-seventh of his father's land holdings. There is compelling evidence that George inherited the 34 Birch Hill Road house and property from his father, John, who died a year earlier based on the language in John's father, Hezekiah's will. John lived in the Townsend Cock House which was located just east of the Birch Hill Road property. George was a resident of Orange County, NY.

In 1769, John Cock inherited two houses and 110 acres of his father Hezekiah's property. There is specific mention of the house that Hezekiah was living in, the farm and a "new west house," which we believe is the Birch Hill Road property, based on the boundary descriptions in the will. This is the earliest mention of the house as a structure within specific boundaries and would reference the earliest section of the Cock-Cornelius house. Reference to the property within broader boundaries can be dated to the Cocks family back to 1747. Hezekiah is the grandson and direct descendant of James Cock, one of the earliest settlers in Oyster Bay. Further investigation into the physical structure of the house during renovations will reveal a more definitive chronology of the house with possibly an earlier date.

In 1668, Captain John Underhill, according to local lore states that the 34 Birch Hill Road property was part of the land that Captain John Underhill received from local Native Americans. Further, it is said that the south wing of the house was built by the captain for his son John Jr. circa 1668. The descriptions of property boundaries in the Underhill family documents from the 17th century records of the Town of Oyster Bay have been reviewed and are difficult to determine; therefore, this story can be neither proved nor disproved. However, it has become an important part of local history and will be referenced as above in the final report.