
Queens Chronicle
A family feud over a notable property in Hollis has escalated into a
community issue over protecting historical homes in Southeast Queens.
Marie
Ashley, who was once the resident at the old Ketcham Farmhouse, a
historical home that is at least 180 years old, was evicted from the
residence, located at 190-21 Hollis Ave. on Wednesday.
Ashley told
the Chronicle that when her parents retired in the 1990s she took
responsibility for a home that her mother bought with her eldest sibling
and has paid for everything from the mortgage to property taxes to
landscaping, maintenance and repairs.
Since
living in the home Ashley said she has helped out relatives and friends
and friends of friends who faced homelessness and offered them a room
at the historical house that her older sister Grace would later also
assume responsibility for.
For the past few years she has been
trying to landmark the property with its Italianate exterior, which is
believed to be one of the two first homes to be built in Hollis. She
held a rally to draw awareness about the property on Monday.
The
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission said that the David and Mary
Oakley Ketcham House may merit consideration as an individual city
landmark in a letter dated Oct. 2, 2023 to Ashley.
Despite her and her sister’s efforts, her family wants to demolish the home to build six two-family houses.
“You can’t replace this history,” said Ashley at the rally.
The
Ketcham family was a prominent family in Queens that helped to develop
much of the borough from the 17th to the 20th centuries, according to
Ashley, who is also the head of the Hollis Preservation Association.
May
Callahan Flores, the original “Gibson Girl” in artist Dana Gibson’s
illustrations of the feminine ideal, and her husband, Frederic Flores,
are believed to have also lived in the home as early as 1924, added
Ashley, who believes the home may also have been a passage on the
Underground Railroad.
Paul Graziano, a land preservation expert, said the house is the progenitor for the entire community.
“Architecturally,
it is very important, historically it is very important,” said Graziano
at the protest. “That it could be demolished tomorrow is extremely
concerning.”
Community Board 12 also supports preserving the
house, which Ashley says has brought business to the neighborhood via
her efforts in working with location scouts who helped get the home
featured in commercials, TV shows and movies.
“Community
Board 12 ... absolutely supports the designation of the Ketcham
Farmhouse,” Graziano said in a letter sent to LPC. “In the 60-year
history of the commission, we have 18 individual landmarks and one
historic district — Addisleigh Park.”
Members of the Queens County Farm Museum and the Bayside Historical Society were also at the rally.
Ashley told the Chronicle that a review of her and her sister’s financials shows they invested about $1.8 million in the home.
Ashley
said she has been pushed out of the home because a different older
brother and her father, who obtained a majority share in the house in
the 2010s, took her to landlord tenant court over the property due to
their desire to make money off it.
She said a developer, which
created an LLC with her family members, would create the six two-family
homes in exchange for one of the homes later being given to the
developer.
Graziano said that under the City of Yes housing
directive, the property could end up being a building for about 20
housing units because of the huge lot size and its falling within a
transit-oriented development zone.
Ashley said she was not a
tenant in the home, that her mother gave her power of attorney for any
transactions regarding the home before passing in 2021 and she didn’t
learn about the LLC until some time after the funeral when the family
was still grieving.
Graziano said he looked into the property
records of the home and it appears that Ashley’s father also refinanced
the home about three times. He could not be reached.
Ashley said she and her sister were unaware of the refinancing and received no money from it.