Old Mastic House at the William Floyd Estate, Fire Island National Seashore

William Floyd Estate Home Page

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As of this October 2024 update, the Old Mastic House is closed, supposedly for renovation, though this has now been going on for many years and no work as been done, typical of National Park Service renovations. Expect it to be closed for many years to come. The house grounds are still open between May 1st and the weekend after Thanksgiving from 9 AM to 4 PM.

The main draw of the William Floyd Estate at Fire Island National Seashore is a tour of the Old Mastic House, the birthplace of Declaration of Independence signer William Floyd. Tours are typically held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Memorial Day weekend through Veterans Day. Though advertised to last an hour, the tour I was on lasted nearly 1.5 hours. If you are visiting the Floyd Estate specifically for the house tour, be sure to check the National Park Service’s official William Floyd Estate web page for a schedule.

Old Mastic House started out as a six-room building in 1724. Additions were made all the way up through the 1920s, expanding the house to 27 rooms. The tour covers 25 of them, as there are a few sections where the floor has deteriorated and is not accessible to the public.

All of the furnishings in the house were owned by the Floyds at some point during their 250 plus years of occupation, so there is a mishmash of antiques on display. The earliest items are from the mid-1700s and the newest is a dishwasher from 1975. A few of the items did belong to William Floyd. Cornelia Floyd Nichols, the great, great granddaughter of William Floyd and the last private owner of the estate, put identification tags on some of the items to help clarify their history. No photography is allowed in the house, which is why I have no photos for this review.

The main topic of discussion throughout the tour is not so much the house itself, but the Floyd Family. As a signer of the Declaration of Independence, William is definitely the most historically important person in the family, but he is just one of many who lived in the house. A discussion of his life weighs in no more than the discussion of the family members who came after him.

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