The Adult Tree House

So the work has begun on the greenery at the house and I'm more excited than ever to get my hands dirty knowing the original owner Annie, was just as eager being a horticulturalist and master planter. At least that is what I hope as I still have to confirm at the county office in Riverhead NY by researching the deeds and ownership trail. However, as winter mixes with spring it becomes a cold wet mess out there which brings work to a halt because I can't track mud in the house. Seth would have my head on a platter.

In the meantime I am entertaining myself on my      day off with one of my favorite activities since we moved in - weather watching. We have a partially finished third floor which was once a walk up attic. I call it the "tree house". Its a great place to watch the sunset and a relaxing place to just be in silence. It really is a magical place. The wild life is returning in the form of huge robins, blue jays and unidentified black birds which were bathing and making a splash in our bird baths. I feel like I am in a wildlife conservatory. Now if you read my earlier post I think I mentioned that during my research I discovered that this land was once a private hunting and fishing almost park like area in North Babylon for the original owners and founders of the land and surrounding areas which are now West Babylon, North Babylon, Babylon, West Islip and even possibly Lindenhurst. As far as I know it could have been more but from what I read they're land definitely stretched through different towns. That is how much land these founding families owned and controlled during the late 1800's to early 1900's. Maybe even longer I am still digging. On to my point, I am pretty confident the birds, rabbits and plants have been living here way before we have and they've never left due to the very old trees that line the streets of the poet section - many of which are original whether native or planted and this has been their home since. The wildlife was ironically fostered and nurtured as a result of the land restrictions to the public for private hunting use. That is my theory.

We had some guests from out of town stay the weekend with us and they decided to lay back and relax and I thought it was a great idea. We love this house and we love to share it with others. It makes anyone who enters feel happy and welcome. They love it as much as we do and we love that.   

Me and My Lady Annie Orr: Horticulturalist, Widow & Original Owner of 150 Poet

Our mostly finished exterior. A few minor details left.
We love it. If you need a guy I've got one!

During the exterior renovation one of our neighbors sent a text to previous owners of the home. They had lived there for over thirty years and raised a family. They responded with excitement and loved how it was coming out and thanked our neighbor for the photos. As a gift in return they left info about the original owner of the home and their occupation. It had never crossed my mind to ask previous owners if they knew who built the home and I was doing so well on my own with the research or so I thought I was.

Historical Ariel Photo from 1953. The yellow square indicates
the location of the house and the blue line represents the original
property borders before being subdivided in 1972. Land stretched
north to Emerson and South to Hunter. Only weird thing is the
street address is coming up as Lowell Ave. but I don't see that
street name on any maps. Could Lowell been changed to Poet
to match the surrounding streets named after famous poets. Find
out who I think its called the Poet Section in my first entry.

She went by the name Annie Orr and she was born in New York in the year 1884. She was a horticulturalist who lived on a large piece of land that extended north and south of the current properties borders. Several things made sense after learning this including the massive amount of growth and the thirteen trees on the property of which many were planted when the house was built. Several were not native to the area including red hickory and dogwood and when our tree guy came to check them out and do some trimming he had informed me they were around 100 years old and were most likely planted by the original owners. Sounds like Annie planted those trees! Another clue we found was the original molding trim around the front door that was still there. We found it when we took off the first layer of the exterior. It has painted vines with pink flowers as a border over the white wood frame. We were also told by neighbors there is onion growth in the ground. So someone was planting! That hasn't stopped either.

We found this floral trim underneath the existing molding.
A sign someone was a fan of flora.

I feel like Annie Orr has possessed me physically and mentally. I am totally attached to the ground at this point. From the moment we moved in I started digging and planting. Now with a whole spring to work in front of me I've become obsessed with crazy ideas. I have more pins in my Magic Garden Pinterest board than I do my fashion and makeup boards. It seems my focus is switching but thats a whole different post and I will divulge my plans which include a checkerboard garden and mandala rock spiral which I am in the middle of building out on the front corner section in the midst of all Annie's trees.

Covered in dirt last summer. It was an all the time thing.

So as I was researching more about Annie I found out she was widowed. I am not sure if she had kids I found some documents but not with any indication of descendants. I do not know who her husband was but I do know she was related to the Higbie family which were a prominent local family who most likely contributed to the founding of the towns of North Babylon, West Islip and Babylon Village.

Luckily for me I am located in what they call an enumerated district which is a district that they sample more throughly and learn about the inhabitants when they do a census. The last census I found Annie on was 1940 and with a slew of info. However, it's is a difficult document to read and I am going to need to find a way to magnify the text and sharpen the text or find a better copy. Hoping to get some photos of her as well and the house as I continue to "dig" further!

Population Schedule for the 16th Census of the United States Dept. of Commerce 1940

www.ambrostyle.com