Project 1805 "Bird Homestead"

The Bird Homestead, also known as the Bouton–Bird–Erikson Homestead, is a historic house and farm complex in Rye, New York, developed between the 1840s and 1880s across three contiguous parcels. Located along the tidal reach of Blind Brook near its outlet to Milton Harbor and Long Island Sound, the site includes the home and working landscape of entomologist Henry Bird and his sons Roland and Junius, a paleontologist and archaeologist. The property comprises multiple buildings, including the main house, a waterfront woodshop and laboratory outbuilding, and a barn. Owned by the City of Rye and managed by the Milton Point Conservancy, the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

ABA has worked with the Conservancy for several years on a phased restoration strategy for the Homestead. The first major phase focuses on the restoration of the waterfront woodshop and outbuilding, historically used for naturalist research and related work. More than eighty feet long, the building is organized as a linear sequence of utilitarian spaces opening to the yard, including a woodshop, laboratory, rope storage, chicken coop, and exterior tool sheds. Despite its working character, the structure contains finely crafted woodwork and integrated mechanical features.

The restoration scope, supported in part by an Environmental Protection Fund grant through the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), includes lifting the building in place to construct new foundations below, designed to match the appearance of historic rubble and larch piers while meeting current structural requirements. Additional work includes new roofing and selective repairs to walls, floors, doors, and windows. The proposed restoration work follows the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and was developed in coordination with Ed Stanley Engineers.

Earlier phases included a comprehensive conditions priority report and an accessibility master plan, completed with support from the Preservation League of New York State. Ongoing goals for the site focus on developing a phased master plan that identifies targeted renovations to each structure, enabling distinct and clearly defined public uses.