This shot comes from Google Maps Street View
And this comes from Windows Live Local Bird's Eye View.
This 2006 NY Times article details the history of the house. Apparently not much has changed since then...
There are other dying Victorians in Laurelton, a frayed patch in the southeastern hem of Queens. Yet none have the faded majesty of the two-and-three-quarter-story house that is 141-36.
Long before the borough's arcane street, road, drive and avenue numbering began, 222nd Street was known as College Avenue, 141st Road was Lincoln Avenue, and 141-36 sat amid a scattering of large three-story homes for well-off families.
Small clues survive: Census data from 1930, which is the most recent detailed information publicly available, shows it was then the home of a family named Gross. The father, Albin, who was unemployed (it was during the Great Depression), had paid $11,000 for 141-36, and lived there with his wife, Katherine, their teenage daughter, also Katherine, and his brother, Walter, a mail carrier.
A Municipal Archives tax photograph from around 1940 shows a hardly recognizable 141-36: wholesome, well maintained, a perfect example of suburban tranquility.
The current condition of this house is quite sad.
8 comments:
Fedders Special coming soon!
I just passed by the house at Laurelton Station and was so intrigued by it, I had to look it up to see if anyone else was also. I take this train every morning, and for some reason, have never noticed it. But today, it along with its mini-forest and junk-filled yard, glaring in the sunlight, it was hardly unnoticeable. Thank for posting your research-now I'm even more intrigued!
I am so intrigued by this house, HOW IS SOMEBODY PAYING TAXES ON IT? so weird.
I take the LIRR every day, so it's a frequent site. It doesn't seem as much scary as just depressing.
See it every day as I commute on the LIRR. It's not so much scary as depressing, as if waiting for someone to make a "Grey Gardens" out of it without the Bouviers. I was remote working for 18 mos. due to the pandemic, and have only recently begun seeing it again.
Something I've just noticed is a truck, looking like a blacked out bus, parked on 222nd Street. The bus appears on Google Street view, where I've seen it, as long as the view you're looking at is later than 2019.
I remember seeing this house a few months ago. Glad to see I'm not the only one wondering what's going on there.
I see this house daily going to work and coming home. The structure is intriguing, but sad to see it in such bad shape. I wonder if anyone will buy it and make it like new?
I know this home very well. It has belonged to my cousin's family for more than 60 years. It was once very beautiful, inside and out, as was the entire community. I visited it many times in the 1960's - 1980's. They were a very happy family and the house is not haunted!
Post a Comment