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Delamater-Bevin Mansion
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| Location: | Asharoken, New York |
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| Area: | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built: | 1867 |
| Architectural style: | Second Empire |
| Governing body: | Private |
| MPS: | Huntington Town MRA |
| NRHP Reference#: | 85002514[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | September 26, 1985 |
The Delamater-Bevin Mansion, also known as The Bevin House, is a historic 22-room Victorian mansion on the north shore of Long Island, at 76 Bevin Road, within the Incorporated Village of Asharoken, New York. The estate is on the Eatons Neck landmass on the edge of Duck Island Harbor, an inlet of Northport Bay, off of Long Island Sound.
The home was built by Cornelius Henry DeLamater in 1862 in French Second Empire architectural style, and was originally known as Vermland. DeLamater, who owned over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of Eaton's Neck, was the owner of the DeLamater Iron Works located in NYC where W. 13th St meets the Hudson River. The turret, engines, and weaponry on the Ironclad "Monitor" were built by DeLamater's foundry under the direction of noted marine engineer John Ericsson. DeLamater named his summer estate "Vermland" after the Swedish province where Ericsson was born as the two men were best of friends and inseparable. After DeLamater's death on February 7, 1889, his Eaton's Neck estate was inherited by his wife Ruth Oakley Caller DeLamater, who died on December 7, 1894 leaving the estate to their daughter Laura DeLamater Bevin. Over time, the house gradually became known as "The Bevin House."[2] Laura DeLamater Bevin died on March 4, 1920 and her son Sydney Bevin inherited the property.[3]
During World War II, exiled French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry rented The Bevin House, which is where he wrote much of the well-known children's book The Little Prince during late 1942.[4][5]
On May 29, 1960 Sydney Bevin died, and The Bevin House was sold to Charles William Foesell in 1964. In 1979 the estate was purchased by real estate developer Nikos Kefalidis of Queens, NY, who commissioned an extensive restoration of the mansion.[2] Kefelidis was killed in the crash of Swiss Air 111 on September 2, 1998.
In 2005, the Kefelidis family added an extension to the west (kitchen) wing of the house in the same Mansard-roofed/ French Second Empire style as rest of the dwelling. A pool was also added to the east lawn of the property.
The Delamater-Bevin Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. [1]