Walt Whitman's Ancestral Huntington Home Hits Market

HUNTINGTON, NY — The ancestral Huntington home of poet Walt Whitman is available. The 1.93-acre 85 Chichester Road property can be had for $750,000.

Dating back to 1705, this historic, colonial home on Long Island was built and lived in by Whitman's ancestors, according to real estate firm Douglas Elliman.

His great-grandfather, Nehemiah Whitman, lived in the house and his grandfather, Jesse Whitman, was born there, according to the news release. Known as "The Whitman-Rome" house, just four families have owned the home over the course of its storied 300-plus year history. It was last sold to its current owners in 1995.

"It is certain that the poet himself visited the site of this early Whitman homestead and trod these rustic paths through West Hills," the real estate firm stated. "On the grounds of the property, towards the back and up a hill, is a private cemetery, where Walt Whitman is said to have visited in July of 1881 and composed a lament on the graves of his ancestors."

There haven't been many changes to the main floor of the home, according to Douglas Elliman.

The wide old pine-floorboards are original and the mantles on the four fireplaces range from plain — in the summer kitchen — to elaborate — in the living room. Each door on the main floor has a different design.

The house has been modernized without destroying the decor of the past to keep the old and beautiful furniture intact. Updates include central heat and air, fixed sills, walls, floors and ceilings and a new kitchen. There is also a retrofitted basement, renovated bathroom and a new three-stall modular horse barn.

Photos