Donor Spotlight | Lynn Summers: Preservation is About Community

“The Case House is fertile ground for the future,” Lynn Summers reflected on the restoration of the 1747 Lt. Moses Case House in Southold. The historic home and adjacent farmland will soon be leased through the Trust’s Farms for the Future Initiative thanks to donors like Lynn.

Lynn and her husband, Rev. George Summers, moved out to the North Fork as a young couple in the 1970s. There they met many people involved in the agricultural community and first learned of the Peconic Land Trust. Lynn also worked on a catalog of houses on Long Island from the 1850s backwards into the 1700s. She attributes her interest in preservation to her childhood in Germantown in Philadelphia, where history is all around.

In the 1990s, Lynn learned of the possibility to move the Case House and have it taken care of into the future. However, funds and a new location did not present themselves. Fast forward to the 2010s, and the Case House’s move became more attainable through the involvement of the Peconic Land Trust. The building was donated to the Trust in 2018 and we had the perfect site at Cleo’s Corner for its relocation. In 2019, the Case House was moved, and its restoration began. Work included not just historic touches in the paint color and flooring, but up-to-date electric, plumbing, and a kitchen to make it livable for a modern family. The land is part of the Agricultural Center at Charnews Farm and includes a 5-acre farm field that can be leased to new farmers.

In 2021, Lynn rallied a group of friends to make donations in support of the restoration and renovation efforts at the Case House. Their reason for donating? Preservation is all about community, and these donors had the opportunity to join the Trust’s community effort to keep a historic home in Southold. “Very miraculously it all happened, and I can’t wait for someone to move in,” said Lynn.

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We thank Lynn Summers for her support of the Trust and for sharing her story with us. To learn more about the Lt. Moses Case House, please contact Alison Delaney, Development Officer or Dan Heston, Director of Agricultural Programs.