Carpenter's shed on Gardiners Island

A carpenter's shed built in 1639, on Gardiners Island in New York is allegedly the oldest surviving wooden structure built in New York and was purportedly built when Lion Gardiner first settled on the island.

Gardiner's Island has been owned by the same family for nearly 400 years and is the only American real estate still intact as part of an original royal grant from the English Crown.

In 1639, the island was settled by Lion Gardiner from a grant by Charles I as the first colonial English settlement in present-day New York state. The island was originally in its own jurisdiction affiliated with neither New York nor New England. Lion Gardiner reportedly purchased the island in 1639 from the Montaukett Indians for "a large black dog, some powder and shot, and a few Dutch blankets." The Indians called the island Manchonake, while Gardiner initially called it Isle of Wight, because it reminded him of the Isle of Wight in England. The Montauketts gave Gardiner title at least in part because of his support for them in the Pequot War.

The original 1639 royal patent gave Gardiner the "right to possess the land forever" with the island being declared a proprietary colony with the Gardiners getting the title of Lord of the Manor and thus able to establish laws for the island.