Home of the Townsend family, one of the founding families of Oyster Bay, on Long Island, New York, and a member of George Washington's Culper Ring of spies, the house was renamed Raynham Hall (seat of the Marquesses Townshend) after the Townsend seat in Norfolk, England, in 1850 by a grandson of the original owner.

The new Visitors' Center, located next to the historic house at 30 West Main Street, is where guests can purchase tour tickets and see the museum shop.

After Samuel Townsend bought the house and moved in, he added onto the home four more rooms, giving the newly dubbed "Homestead" a lean-to addition in the saltbox-style structure.

Renaming the house "Raynham Hall," Solomon projected his wealth and affluence where his colonial Quaker counterparts lived a much more conservative style.

In 1941, the family no longer had the wealth to retain the house and handed the deed over to the Daughters of the American REVOLUTION'S (DAR) local chapter in Oyster Bay.

After deliberation, it was decided that Raynham Hall would continue as a part of Oyster Bay as a historic home and museum to represent the Colonial and Victorian lifestyles of the Townsend family.

[5] The outbreak of the Revolutionary War found Samuel Townsend's sympathies on the side of the Patriots despite the fact that half of Oyster Bay's inhabitants were Loyalists.

[6] Townsend went on to become a member of the New York Provincial Congress, which voted to ratify the United States Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.

[7] Following the British victory at the Battle of Long Island in the autumn of 1776, the Townsend home became the headquarters for officers of the Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist military unit led by Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe.

At this time, those members of the Townsend family living at Raynham Hall probably numbered seven, including five children (two boys - William and David, and three girls - Audrey, Sally, and Phebe) as well as Samuel and his wife Sarah Stoddard.

[11] Even Robert Townsend, who worked as a spy for Washington during the Revolutionary War, remarked when British Major John André was executed by the Americans that he had "never felt more sensibly for the death of a person".

[15] With a certain amount of reluctance Robert accepted the position[15] and became known as "Culper, Jr.," thus completing the circle of communication that went from Manhattan to Setauket across the sound to Connecticut and on the General George Washington's headquarters.

One of Robert's Oyster Bay cousins, Samuel Townsend (1744–1792) also served the colonial cause as a captain and Paymaster in the New York 5th Regiment of the Continental Line.

Thou know'st what powerful magick lies Within the round of Sarah's eyes, Or darted thence like lightning fires And Heaven's own joys around inspires;

Here gay Variety presides, And many a youthful circle guides Through paths where lilies, roses sweet, Bloom and decay beneath their feet;

Or fixed near Contemplation's cell, Chief with the Muses loves to dwell, Leads those who inward feel and burn And often clasp the abandon'd urn,--

Thou wept'sd her death and bad'st me change My happier days no more to range O'er hill, o're dale, in sweet Employ, Of singing Delia, Nature's joy;

Thou bad'st me change the pastoral scene Forget my Crook; with haughty mien To raise the iron Spear of War, Victim of Grief and deep Despair:

It appears that Solomon had spent summers in Oyster Bay until 1861, when he moved there permanently from New York City at the outbreak of the Civil War.

In one of her obituaries, Helene Townsend was described as "preeminently domestic in her habits,"[20] a phrase which helps conjure up the busy Victorian household which must have existed at Raynham Hall.

Six years later, maintenance on Raynham Hall became too burdensome for the DAR and the decision was made to offer the building to the Town of Oyster Bay.

The New York firm of Goodwin and Jaeger were responsible for the initial restoration which involved removing many of Solomon's Victorian additions.

The last restoration was completed in 1958 by Watland and Hopping when the front windows were realigned and the exterior siding of the Colonial saltbox refinished.

In her article, Miss Coles recorded the story of an overnight guest to Raynham Hall who awoke to the sounds of a ghostly white horse and a rider outside her bedroom window.

Miss Coles theorized that this might have been the spectre of Major John Andre, who visited the house shortly before his capture and execution during the American Revolution.

Other accounts have connected this particular ghost with the original Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England, where it is supposed to appear as a harbinger of an impending death in the family.