Exclusive | Want to live in a 1950s diner? LI home listed for $1.97M boasts a stunning replica that took decades to complete

This home is an escape — and a portal into another era.From the street, 1 School House Court blends in with its stately Long Island neighbors — with a stone façade, classic colonial symmetry and manicured landscaping in Oyster Bay. But beneath its traditional exterior lies a playful secret: a full-scale 1950s diner and an Ebbets Field-inspired shrine to baseball’s golden age.“I guess I’m an old-school type guy who probably wanted to be born in the ’50s,” said homeowner Gus Nunziata, who’s now listing the residence for sale.“But I missed out on that era, so it’s been fun to recreate it.”Asking $1.97 million with Douglas Elliman’s MaryAnn Clara, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom residence spans 3,752 square feet. The interiors are filled with luxury finishes — coffered ceilings, granite countertops and a sunken family room anchored by a towering gas fireplace. But the real star lies underground.That’s where visitors are transported into a chrome-trimmed time capsule — complete with black and white-checkered floors, gleaming red booths, neon signs and a fully operational Wurlitzer jukebox once owned by Jimmy Fallon.Nunziata, 64, has spent more than two decades curating the retro retreat.

When he and his wife built the home in 2002, he specifically asked the builder to dig the foundation deeper to accommodate 10-foot ceilings.“I wanted it to feel like a real floor, not a basement,” he said.From there, the diner slowly took shape — piece by piece.“Once we got here, everybody would be giving me things that looked like the ’50s, like barber chairs or an old Coke machine,” Nunziata said.“My wife used to joke and ask, ‘What are you going to do with all this junk?’ And I said, ‘I have a plan.’”That plan evolved into a fully immersive space. Friends contributed items like a vintage barbershop chair from the Bowery in Manhattan, still bearing business cards from the early 1900s.

Nunziata installed a wraparound bar, viny...