NEWS: 2 homes on Staten Island landmarked over owner objections
From the Staten Island Advance
http://www.silive.com
2 Island homes landmarked — over opposition of their owners
They wanted to sell Tottenville and West Brighton properties to developers for best price
Thursday, August 17, 2006
By KAREN O’SHEA
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
The City Council yesterday landmarked a Craftsman-style bungalow on Clove Road in West Brighton and a 19th-century clapboard cottage on Main Street in Tottenville, despite last-minute pleas from both homeowners — one of them an 88-year-old woman — to let their houses alone so they could sell them to developers for the best price.
The Council reaffirmed earlier decisions by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to grant protective historic status to the two houses located at each end of the Island, and Councilmen Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore) and Michael McMahon (D-North Shore) said yesterday they would help the homeowners market their homes through the preservation community, now that selling to developers who wanted to demolish the homes is no longer possible.
“We are not immune to their complaints,” McMahon said of the homeowner concerns. “Now that these beautiful buildings are landmarked, we believe there is a market for these houses.”
Homeowner Marie Busiello complained earlier this year when McMahon wrote a letter to the developer in contract to buy her 85-year-old home. McMahon said he wanted to give the builder, who planned to raze the house and erect three new homes, a heads-up about the landmark effort. Ms. Busiello accused the councilman and his chief of staff, who lives next door to her, with interfering in her deal.
Ms. Busiello, who testified before the land use committee Monday and Tuesday, expressed disappointment on learning of yesterday’s 47-to-2 full-Council vote to landmark her home.
Her house was listed earlier this year for $995,000 and marketed for its location and lot size.
She said she plans to market it again and hopes to get the same value she originally expected. Built by Sen. Mark W. Allen, who was instrumental in the construction of the Goethals Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing, the house is considered one of the few surviving examples of Craftsman-style bungalows in the city.
“The preservation people believe it’s just as valuable, if not more,” she said.
Longtime Main Street homeowner Marie Bedell, 88, also testified at hearings this week and was upset by the news that her 1850s house, considered a rare example of early Tottenville architecture, had been landmarked. The house is listed for sale today for $799,000.
“I’m 88 years old and it’s time for me to go. I want to sell the house and that’s what I told them,” she said. “It’s hard to sell if it’s landmarked.”
Karen O’Shea covers real estate news for the Advance. She may be reached at [email protected]