Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful and restorative holiday full of family, friendship, and time with loved ones. 2025 was another productive year, and I want to share some exciting updates and news as we continue to fulfill our mission to Preserve, Cultivate and Share historic Sylvester Manor. Here are a few accomplishments, as well as a look ahead to 2026:
——————
1737 Manor House Preservation Update
——————– In the Fall of 2025, we obtained a Special Use permit from the Shelter Island Zoning Board of Appeals and are currently working with the Town Board on Site Plan Review. Various concurrent reviews are underway, including traffic, parking and ADA-compliance, which have been assigned to various Town departments and committees. Permitting is a complex and time-consuming process in part because the property is so large and the work we do on behalf of the community is so extensive! We expect public hearings before the Town Board to start by the end of February.
Once Site Plan Review approval is obtained, we can request a final building permit and the Manor House project can be put out to bid. We hope to complete the entire permit process by late spring 2026, allowing bidding and construction to commence later in the year.
In preparation for the upcoming Manor House rehabilitation we are continuing to catalog and pack the many collections of Sylvester Manor. To date, we have generated over 17,000 records documenting all the objects from the first and second floor rooms and nearly 4,000 books. These items have been moved offsite to secure climate-controlled storage where they will remain during construction.
Lastly, we have raised nearly $8M towards our capital campaign goal of $13M for the Manor House preservation project. There are several grant opportunities on the near horizon, including a $675K grant from NYS which we applied for back in July and are waiting to hear back from. Outreach to private donors and foundations is ongoing. If you would like to get more involved or learn more, please let us know.
——————
Farm Updates & News
—————– 2025 was another very successful year on the Farm. We had nearly 130 subscribers to our Community Supported Agriculture Program, 20% of which were families in need; we donated over $25,000 in additional Sylvester Manor grown produce to our local food pantry partners; and we diverted nearly 30,000 pounds of food waste from the Island’s waste stream through our expanded compost and food scrap program. Thanks to your help and support, we met our Giving Tuesday Goal and raised over $20,000 in order to continue providing fresh Sylvester Manor grown vegetables, eggs and pork to Shelter Island families in need through the winter. What an accomplishment…thanks to everyone that participated! Over the summer we also began offering value-added and prepared foods from our very own kitchen with our very own produce! Our new line of “Manor Made” products will continue next year at the Farmstand as will lots of other locally sourced products and Sylvester Manor-grown produce.
In other important news, we have hired a new Farm Manager. Matthew Celona has over 20 years of experience managing similar non-profit, educational farms in the Northeast. We look forward to having him join the Sylvester Manor team in mid-January – welcome aboard Matt!
——————
Education & Outreach
—————– Our educational programming has grown exponentially over the years, as has our dedication to and experience with place-based learning. This past summer we had nearly 75 children on site each day, ranging from ages 2 up to 14. We also welcomed schools and students from around the region, including nearly every elementary child enrolled in the Shelter Island School District. Our programming is extremely unique, weaving together farm experiences with creative arts, crafts and nature. We even developed a curriculum on the history of sugar for a 9th-grade history class. Registration for next year’s Summer Youth Programs will open February 2, 2026.
With the help of Mellon Foundation funding, our History & Heritage Department has continued to expand partnerships with institutions of higher learning, enabling us to become a nationally recognized place-based center of inquiry, scholarship and public engagement. In the spring of 2025, the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at UMass Boston conducted extensive archaeological work on site, including at the Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground. We also continued working closely with the History Department at New York University and are developing a fellowship with the Bard Graduate Center that will study our vast collections and material culture. Meanwhile, staff research focused on the colonial period during the 1600s and the Sylvester family’s place in the expansion of the Atlantic World. As part of this work, a partnership with the University of West Indies West Indies (UWI) at Barbados has now been fully launched, and will include a major conference/symposium in Barbados during the second week of January.
Nearly 20,000 visitors came to Sylvester Manor in 2025 to tour the second outdoor sculpture exhibition, attend our annual Shakespeare at the Manor performances, dance along to our August creekside concert, visit the Farmstand and walk our 5 miles of trails. Our educational and cultural programs have continued to grow over the years and are all part of our efforts to make Sylvester Manor open and accessible to the whole community.
——————
A Look Ahead
—————– While the Manor House will again be closed to the public in 2026, we will continue to provide tours of the historic grounds. Our beloved Farm to Table Benefit will be on Saturday, June 27, 2026, and we also plan to host another Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor exhibition, Shakespeare at the Manor, creekside concert, and other fun family events at the Farm! Please be sure to check back with us soon…there’s no shortage of things to do and experience at Sylvester Manor! Trails will reopen in March at the conclusion of the annual deer management program.
Special thanks to all those who have contributed time, money, and expertise over the past year. We rely on YOUR support and commitment to preserving and interpreting the past so that we can build a more sustainable future. Together, we are transforming Sylvester Manor into a welcoming community resource, with special emphasis on acknowledging its full history, and continued dedication to historic preservation, food & farming, place-based learning, and cultural programming.
As we welcome 2026, please consider making a GIFT TODAY to help us build on this amazing momentum. We can do all this and more, thanks to your generosity.
Thank you in advance for your ongoing support. We look forward to continuing to Preserve, Cultivate and Share the many wonders of Sylvester Manor with you.
By aaq|2026-01-03T16:04:34-05:00January 3rd, 2026|Bulletins, Of Note|Comments Off on Sylvester Manor: Preservation & Farm Updates | Education & Outreach / January 3, 2026
In the Fall of 2025, we obtained a Special Use permit from the Shelter Island Zoning Board of Appeals and are currently working with the Town Board on Site Plan Review. Various concurrent reviews are underway, including traffic, parking and ADA-compliance, which have been assigned to various Town departments and committees. Permitting is a complex and time-consuming process in part because the property is so large and the work we do on behalf of the community is so extensive! We expect public hearings before the Town Board to start by the end of February.
2025 was another very successful year on the Farm. We had nearly 130 subscribers to our Community Supported Agriculture Program, 20% of which were families in need; we donated over $25,000 in additional Sylvester Manor grown produce to our local food pantry partners; and we diverted nearly 30,000 pounds of food waste from the Island’s waste stream through our expanded compost and food scrap program. Thanks to your help and support, we met our Giving Tuesday Goal and raised over $20,000 in order to continue providing fresh Sylvester Manor grown vegetables, eggs and pork to Shelter Island families in need through the winter. What an accomplishment…thanks to everyone that participated! Over the summer we also began offering value-added and prepared foods from our very own kitchen with our very own produce! Our new line of “Manor Made” products will continue next year at the Farmstand as will lots of other locally sourced products and Sylvester Manor-grown produce.
Our educational programming has grown exponentially over the years, as has our dedication to and experience with place-based learning. This past summer we had nearly 75 children on site each day, ranging from ages 2 up to 14. We also welcomed schools and students from around the region, including nearly every elementary child enrolled in the Shelter Island School District. Our programming is extremely unique, weaving together farm experiences with creative arts, crafts and nature. We even developed a curriculum on the history of sugar for a 9th-grade history class. Registration for next year’s 
While the Manor House will again be closed to the public in 2026, we will continue to provide tours of the historic grounds. Our beloved Farm to Table Benefit will be on Saturday, June 27, 2026, and we also plan to host another Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor exhibition, Shakespeare at the Manor, creekside concert, and other fun family events at the Farm! Please be sure to check back with us soon…there’s no shortage of things to do and experience at Sylvester Manor! Trails will reopen in March at the conclusion of the annual deer management program.
