on the other hand, would be freed by the age of 25 if they met the same qualifications. These actions by the state made holding slaves more difficult. Therefore, the Lotts freed all but one of their slaves by 1805, long before the abolition of slavery in New York State in 1827. The Lotts then hired the freed slaves back as paid workers. These actions taken by the Lotts support the claim that they were abolitionists. Later, it is said, the House may have served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. By 1825 the farm, on which the Lotts raised cabbage, potatoes, vegetables, and wheat, included outbuildings, barns, and a separate stone kitchen. The kitchen foundation, located between the home and the present East 36th Street, was excavated in 1998 by the Brooklyn College Archaeological Research Center. Later use For two centuries, descendants of the Lotts lived in the homestead and used the land for farming. The last farmer, John Bennett Lott, died in 1923. Most of the land was sold, leaving only three-quarters of an acre (0.3 ha) surrounding the house. The last Lott descendant to live there, Ella Suydam, a great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Johannes Lott, lived in the house until she died in 1989. Ph.D. candidates who grew up in the neighborhood found windowless rooms inside the house. They believed that slaves had slept in those rooms. Below the floors of those rooms, they found corncobs in star or cross shapes and other spiritual objects that showed mutual religious practices between slaves who worked there and Africans in West Africa. These spiritual objects were believed to serve the purpose of connecting the two worlds of the living and the dead. Now the Hendrick I. Lott House sits at its original location on three-quarters of an acre (0.3 ha) of land. The house was bought by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation in 2001 and is operated by the Hendrick I. Lott House Preservation Association, and is a member of the Historic House Trust. Restoration of the structural skeleton and the roof began in the mid-2000s, and the restoration of the interior was set to commence in 2019. The restoration of the Lott House is a joint effort of the City of New York/Parks & Recreation, Historic House Trust of New York City, Marine Park Civic Association, and Hendrick I. Lott House Preservation Association. During the