From Forgotten New York:Bayside Avenue is home to a number of eclectic houses, some of which are on wide plots. This one is a Second Empire-ish jewelbox shadowed by a much taller conifer. Other similar buildings are scattered around Flushing, but some have been sacrificed to the Great God Progress, which demands bland, multifamily buildings.
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A little more information for Forgotten New York and K.W.:
The building was constructed around the Civil War by G.W. Haviland. He was a surveyor by trade and had a long and distinguished career in Flushing and other parts of NY.
I live around the corner from this house and, so far (cross fingers), it's still there.
Back in the 1980s, the current owners bought it when it was being marketed to developers for a teardown. They saved it and did a beautiful restoration.
Starting in the mid-1990s, a number of the bigger houses on this block - which used to be one of the nicest in all of Queens - were sold to religious organizations who tore them down one by one.
We were also fortunate to get the Fitzgerald-Ginsberg mansion landmarked across the street (although the trees in the front of the house were illegally chopped down by the new owner, a church - one of the first postings on Queenscrap EVER) before it was torn down for more nasty housing or a religious facility.
If ever there was a house that should be landmarked, it's this one.
Paul Graziano
The dirty secret of landmarking is that as long as your councilman is against it for all intents and purposes the law does not apply to your community.
This can be said about the vast majority of communities in the city.
It is hard to trumpet a law that destroys a St Saviours, and a community whom are dependent on your councilman for their district, looks the other way at your plight once they get theirs.
A gem!
I have always LOVED this house- passed it everyday on the q16 bus and it is a charmer. Hope it stays loved and protected as it should be.
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