Fodor's Expert Review William Floyd Estate

This 613-acre site includes the ancestral home of William Floyd, a politician, general, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and prominent Long Island plantation owner. Over a 250-year period, eight generations of his family occupied the estate, a satellite property of the Fire Island National Seashore 18 miles east of Sayville. The house began as a two-story wood-frame structure in 1724, and saw several renovations, including one in 1857 in which the house took on a Greek Revival style and another in the 1920s that expanded the mansion to its current 25 rooms. Tours of the property are available; leave plenty of time to explore the Old Mastic House, it's artifacts, and the grounds, which include several outbuildings and a cemetery.

Be prepared for mosquitoes and ticks in spring and summer.