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BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | The foyer on the second floor of this home formerly owned by Walt Whitman’s sister has the original wide plank pine floors.

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | The foyer on the second floor has the original wide plank pine floors.

Most Long Islanders know Walt Whitman was born in Huntington. Fewer know that the acclaimed 19th-century poet often ventured to the North Fork during his interesting life, lodging for stretches of time at his sister’s home on South Street in Greenport — a house that is now listed for sale with Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty for $449,000.

Located near the intersection of South and Third streets, just across from Village Hall, the unassuming property’s enchantments lie chiefly indoors. It is filled with beautiful architectural touches and unique features.

SEE 12 MORE PHOTOS IN OUR LISTING

Of these, the most striking are the living room’s tin walls and ceiling, painted white and covered in what appears to be a fleur-de-lis pattern, and the white beadboard that serves as the rustic eat-in kitchen’s backsplash.

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO |The updated modern kitchen with beadboard paneling.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO |The updated modern kitchen with beadboard paneling.

Outside, a scallop shed located behind the detached garage would make an ideal spot for an artist’s studio, said Janet Markarian, the agent managing the listing. Many people have already inquired about the house, Ms. Markarian said, and she thinks it would be wonderful for an artist.

The aforementioned details are what the home’s previous owner, Denise Rathbun, a former editor and member of Greenport’s Zoning Board of Appeals, said were her favorite aspects of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, where she lived for 17 years. Price was another.

“I bought it because it was cheap,” said Ms. Rathbun, who now lives at Peconic Landing. “It was a real fixer-upper.”

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO |The alcove in the second floor bedroom is where the home's owner, Denise Rathbun, believes Mr. Whitman wrote.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO |The alcove in the second floor bedroom is where the home’s owner, Denise Rathbun, believes Mr. Whitman wrote.

According to the village’s 150th anniversary journal, published in 1988, Mr. Whitman first visited Greenport when it was a 13-year-old village with just 600 inhabitants. Greenport was incorporated in 1838, so this first visit must have been in 1851. At the time, the poet would have been about 32 years old and beginning to write his famous work “Leaves of Grass.”

Ms. Rathbun said she knew before purchasing the house that it had once been owned by Mr. Whitman’s sister, Mary Elizabeth Van Nostrand, but didn’t know much about the poet himself until she read a biography about him.

“I got more into reading about his life and so forth,” she said. “I’m very proud of my association, however remote it may be, with him.”

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO |The pressed tin ceiling in the living room.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO |The pressed tin ceiling in the living room.

Ms. Rathbun clearly loved her home, whose undeniable character continues just off the living room with its frighteningly steep maroon-colored steps. The stairway leads to an open sitting area on the second floor that’s been enhanced with built-in bookshelves added by Ms. Rathbun. The wide-plank pine floors, however, are original.

Just off the sitting area are three light-filled bedrooms — the largest of which, at the front of the house, is where Ms. Rathbun believes Mr. Whitman slept.

It’s not hard to imagine him writing from this bedroom, which contains a small alcove perfectly suited for a desk and chair. The room’s large windows would have provided ample sunlight during the day for the poet to scribble notes and its position at the front of the house would have made him privy to all the activity unfolding on South Street, doubtless providing literary inspiration.

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | The exterior of the house on South Street in Greenport where Walt Whitman stayed with his sister's family.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | The exterior of the house on South Street in Greenport where Walt Whitman stayed with his sister’s family.

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