empty for years due to a lack of funding and a legal battle over ownership rights.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Photographer Bryan Sansivero was granted exclusive access by the local school board and district to capture the beguiling Victorian property before its many antiques and curios were removed.
Click or scroll on to take a peek inside the house that time forgot and transport yourself to a bygone era…
Bryan Sansivero captured the nine-acre farmstead, located in the hamlet of Commack in Suffolk County, New York. It dates way back to 1701, while the clapboard farmhouse was built on the eve of the Civil War in 1860.
The property takes its name from long-time resident Marion Carll, who was born in 1885.
Marion Carll was a renowned teacher who taught in the local district and went on to found the area’s first PTA and had a grammar school named after her in 1957.
When she died in 1968, she bequeathed the house to the Commack School Board and District with the proviso that it should only be used for educational and historical purposes.
Occasional classes were offered by the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) but abandoned in the 1990s due to a lack of funding. Since then, the house and surrounding farm have been left vacant.
In 2012, Ms Carll’s descendants launched a legal battle with the school board and district which they accused of failing to adhere to the conditions set out in their ancestor’s last will and testament.
A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that the school board and district has a right to retain ownership of the property. You can see why they fought over this house. Though crumbling, it still boasts oodles of period charm.
Ms Carll was clearly keen to preserve the home’s 19th-century allure and did little if nothing during her lifetime to modernise the farmhouse, which is resplendent with fine antiques and interesting curios.