Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Queens' newest landmark

The Voelker-Orth house, which was constructed with a variety of materials and rooflines, sits near the southeast corner of a 10,000-square-foot lot at 38th Ave. and 149th Place.

It was built about 1891 by a Flushing merchant who sold it in 1899 to Conrad Voelker, a German immigrant who started a printing business in Manhattan that published a widely read German newspaper.


Museum has landmark status under wing

Houses like the Voelker-Orth were commonly built at the end of the 19th century to reflect the wealth and success of their owners.

The house remained in the Voelker family until 1996, when Conrad Voelker's last surviving heir, Elizabetha Orth, died and left instructions in her will to turn the house and grounds into a museum of Queens history, an environmental education center and a bird sanctuary.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Certainly never in danger of demolition.....
with a well stocked cash endowment
supporting it into the future.....
this represents yet another
TOKEN designation by the LPC
(along with the firehouses, schools and such).

They're trying to show what a "great" job
they're doing in Queens by PADDING
our number of landmark designations.

This amounts to nothing but table scraps....
casually tossed to dogs by their masters!

However.....
I'm glad this gem is finally landmarked.
It's deserving of the status.

georgetheatheist said...

There's no more beautiful siding than well-painted and well-preserved wood.

Anonymous said...

Gee, isn't it funny how QHS spreads Queensmarks over the borough like a cat, marking its territory.

That these homes get regularly torn down or mutilated is ok. The show must go on. Just had dinner with some friends in Richmond Hill the other night who told me the two of those homes got torn down within a year.

Of course, for themselves, nothing less than landmarking. One of those little bennies for being part of the select insider preservation group is that you can put your own in for the running while everything else gets torn down.

An extra ration of grog for those that keep us barefoot, pragnent, and in the kitchen.

Anonymous said...

There's no more beautiful siding than well-painted and well-preserved wood.


yea, just pint it a pink color. what a joke.

Anonymous said...

Maybe "Pinky" Gallagher
is going to spend his time
under house arrest (after he's convicted)
at the pink Voelker-Orth house!

Anonymous said...

correction: a faded pink color.

Anonymous said...

correction: an ugly faded pink color.

Anonymous said...

Oh.....I don't know.....
freshen up the pink.....
put a big neon sign out front
and sell cotton candy.

Anonymous said...

Yes, they chose Pink as a tribute to that group dedicated to the preservation of Old Queens.

"I am from Queens"

"Oh, really? I thought you are from normal parents."

Anonymous said...

Zat vas anudder gut von! Har-Har.