Roof Replaced At Historic Manor
/By Jano Tantongco
jtantongco@longislandergroup.com
John Frintzilas, owner of J & C Roofing, worked through December and January to replace and restore the wooden roof of the historic Henry Lloyd Manor House.
As part of the Henry Lloyd Manor House’s restoration, the replacement of the wooden roof was completed on Monday by a Greenlawn native.
According to the Lloyd Harbor Historical Society, a young Henry Lloyd and his bride, Rebecca, arrived on a 3,000-acre parcel of land owned by the Lloyd family in 1711.
The land, which was located on Lloyd Neck, then known as “Horse’s Neck,” had been left fallow by Henry’s father, James Lloyd I. At that point, Henry decided to establish a manor on the site, the very same which still exists today, using entrepreneurial skills picked up from the family’s existing trading business in Boston.
The manor itself exists as one of the few remaining examples of post-medieval architecture, the society states.
J & C Roofing owner John Frintzilas said he took care as he worked to restore the roof through December and January. He said the task was a challenge, since “nothing’s level, nothing’s square” in the structure.
He added that the rafters under the roof were in fact tree trunks, with bark and all.
“The thing that’s amazing about it is that they probably went into the woods up there, dragged the trees over, hand-carved everything,” Frintzilas said.
Frintzilas said he needed to replace the shingles one by one, like a “giant puzzle” that needed to be put back together. Though he said the work was a bit tedious, he called it “rewarding.” Frintzilas imagined that a craftsman had at one point performed similar work.
“It was nice to see that somebody just like me, 200 or 300 years ago… put that together,” he said. “For somebody like me who works with his hands, it was a cool thing to see.”
Since the site is on the Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve, bids were accepted to complete the restoration, and Frintzilas’ company was selected as the winner.
