7 Best Sights in Long Island, New York

One of Bay Shore's oldest houses and home to the historical society, this restored 1820s tradesman's house is authentically furnished and has on its property a Victorian herb garden, a chicken coop, and a two-seater outhouse. The research library in the basement contains antique postcards, old newspapers, maps, and books about the Bay Shore/Brightwaters area. Temporary exhibits display memorabilia and artifacts related to topics ranging from the world wars to crafts and sports.

is one of the few former Long Island estates still intact, and today the grounds and 1906 Gold Coast mansion built by financier-sportsman John S. Phipps are open to the public. The mansion showcases the home's original furniture and the family's art and belongings; the beautiful 160-acre property includes formal gardens, fountains, woodlands, and lakes.

The home of insurance magnate William Robertson Coe from 1910 to 1955, Planting Fields is now a public arboretum with 160 acres of gardens and plant collections and 250 acres of lawns and woodlands. Two greenhouse complexes nurture native plants. Coe Hall, the estate's magnificent Tudor-style manor, is filled with period furnishings and antiques, including windows from the home of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Guided tours of the house are available.

Three generations of the Townsend family, renowned merchants and ship traders, lived in this colonial saltbox structure dating from the American Revolution. Sally Townsend was responsible for alerting her father to the fact that a certain Benedict Arnold was going to betray his country. Many of the original family furnishings are in the house, and there are rotating exhibits of Civil War memorabilia and holiday decorations. The house-museum reveals much about Oyster Bay from the time of the Revolution through the town's affluent Victorian period.

Known for a time as the "summer White House," this 23-room Victorian was President Teddy Roosevelt's cherished family retreat from 1885 until his death in 1919. In addition to the original furnishings and some personal effects, the house contains animal heads and skins from Roosevelt's many hunting expeditions. The servants' quarters offer a behind-the-scenes look at life here.

Docents in period dress are on hand to take you on a tour of this historically important home dating back to 1697. The manor served as a military headquarters for the British Army during the Revolutionary War, and George Washington slept here after the war, in 1790. Today the 150-acre estate holds a substantial collection of antiques and historical exhibits depicting its early days. Special events including seasonal festivals, holiday celebrations, and art, antiques, and car shows are held here throughout the year.

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.