The blog Scouting NY tells the story about this beautiful old house in Richmond Hill, Queens, which was built in 1905 and owned by a local preservationist named Nancy Cataldi. After her death it was sold and was “renovated” by its new owners.
I don’t have the heart to post the photos of what it looks like now here. But if you think you can handle it: The Saddest House in New York City.
(Thanks to Pauline for telling me about it.)
{ 126 comments… read them below or add one }
That was horrible!!! Such a waste…
I can barely breathe… so so so sad.
Wow, that is sad. What they did to the landscaping is as bad or worse than the house itself. My gosh, good title, the saddest house…
Thank GOD there are no pictures of the inside! So sad.
Ditto
Looking at this house makes me feel the same way I fell when a beautiful antique has been painted. Breaks my heart. When will people understand the beauty in age?
maybe when they stop getting facelifts and boob jobs?
I hope Nancy comes back as a carpenter ant and brings hordes of fellow ants to eat the foundation away from this horrible redo.
The only good news about your story today is the link to the blog Scouting New York. What a fun job!!
sad!
Well, you warned us and I wish I hadn’t looked. That is an ABOMINATION! If someone is going to destroy the integrity of a house like that, they should have just torn it down and built new–It even looks like the house is in pain. So sad.
I can forgive the brick (I guess because of the ants?) But the porch and the side yard are HORRIBLE!!
so sad. I dont know why you would buy a beautiful home like that if you didnt want to preserve it. Just move into a ticky-tacky house and leave it as is
I agree with you. I could give a pass to the idea of brick. Not that shade of brick and for the love of homes why do people do the whole half brick siding thing? A new build townhome you have no control over is one thing, This Aint That.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! AHHHHHRGHHHH!!!!!
As much as the majority of us really detest the changes, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the new owners who probably thought they were creating something beautiful. It must be painful to read and hear all the comments. If there is one small, bright spot, it is that the story serves to remind us how precious our historic homes are.
I just figure that if people want the houses kept the way they were, they can buy them and preserve them to their heart’s content. Otherwise, it’s pretty appalling the bile that people are spewing. These folks bought the house, they get to decide to renovate it if they want.
Other people can be disgusted with the owners. I’m disgusted with the people who are so angry at virtual strangers who had the audacity to treat their own home like they own it.
Well, there’s pretty and there’s pretty ugly and yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and yes, it’s their property, but for me, it’s no different than someone taking a work of art and painting over part of it. Just because someone “owns” something doesn’t necessarily mean they can destroy the integrity of it, whether it’s a work of art or a house. Furthermore, if you are going to alter someone else’s vision (or art), you should be ready for the criticism. Just my opinion.
Dean- actually, if someone buys a home they often CAN destroy the integrity of its vision. Believe me, as the daughter of a home buider, one with a respect for older homes, I feel appalled when a lovely home is altered so significantly.
Painting over a work of art also makes me wince but if someone buys the art and there are no legal restrictions they are the owners. …and can paint over all or part of it.
You wouldn’t believe the number of times I visited gorgeous homes with my father where he was asked by the owners to tear them down and start over. Thank goodness he had the finances to turn down most of these offers. But come down they did. Someone always said yes…eventually.
Some neighborhoods do have restrictions from homeowners’ associations ( window treatments, mailboxes, etc). But in others it is
Aw KimberlyRose I love how you go on every single site this story is on and try (in vain) to defending the defiling the new homeowners did. You must be either A) the stupid homeowner B)friend or family of the idiots or C) Wife of the italian contractor who committed this crime. Why couldn’t you jerks just buy a empty lot or a true tear down and fill it with that ugly assed half brick mess.
i second that amanda, right on to your words! i couldn’t have said it any better. these people ought to be ashamed of themselves and that’s that!
stace
Mary -It is too bad the home never was officially recognized as a historic treasure but I do agree that taste is specific.
I an an obsessive house hunter and go to open houses regularly.
I am shocked at some of the changes I see to formerly lovely old homes. But I’m betting the homeowners thought they were improving their homes. Again, taste is so specific.
I have walked into homes so full of antiques that it is hard to move without knocking something over. I’d feel claustrophobic. But the homeowners are happy.
My mother was raised in a small, cramped 3 bedroom home, one which housed a brood of 8 kids and 2 parents through the Depression years . I thought the home was lovely.
But all she wanted was to eventually buy a modern home with some space and light – which, ironically, turnrd out to be a mid-century modern, a classic of its kind and very popular right now. And watch…someone will eventually erase all signs of its vintage and “old-fashioned” status.
It must be kind of sad to be called the owners of the saddest house in NY. Maybe not, maybe they think they improved it. News flash…YOU DID NOT IMPROVE IT!
I can’t imagine why the city turned down the request to declare this street as an historical district. That’s even sadder.
Oh my word…..if there ever was an example of hideous redo this is it. Tacky….
The lack of vegetation doesn’t help the remodeled home at all. I mostly dislike the new porch and entry door.
This makes me want to cry.
Did they give the front porch fangs to scare away any ants that might come back later?
I can’t – and don’t want to – even imagine what they did to the interiors.
I kept scrolling down looking at each photo… I didn’t want to, but like a train wreck, I couldn’t look away. Thankfully, there were no interior photos. I can only imagine the nightmare. And those awful, awful front gates!
Had I not seen the before pictures, I think this house looks perfectly fine. However, after seeing what is supposed to look like, it’s clearly a crime against architecture.
The sadist in me wants to see the inside.
WTF. A perfect reminder that money can’t buy taste.
I saw this on scouting NY yesterday and felt absolutely sick to my stomach. so unfortunate. so tasteless.
That is so sad. Certain types of houses should have to be renovated according to their orignal design. I realize it’s more expensive to renovate like that, but if we don’t start to protect our history, then what will we ever be able to show the following generations! It’s so sad and aggravating also…
Although I’m trying to give the owners the benefit of the doubt, it truly is horrendous. To think of all the money that went into a renovation that made a beautiful old house look like such a monstrosity…
It really hurts to see how they cut corners – e.g., replacing the arched windows in the dormers with normal, rectangular windows and removing the large plate glass window with (probably) a leaded glass transom and inserting a tacky, faux-paned window belonging in a McMansion foyer. Just ugh.
All I can say is thank gawd there no interior photos. I can only imagine the horrors that await one inside.
I am gobsmacked. I thought Richmond Hill had pretty strict historic preservation laws? Ugh. I was born in a borough of NYC and there was an ‘improvement society’ that protected things like this from happening in my town, which was similarly filled with turn of the century homes. Now when I visit my mom I want to cry. Homes bulldozed to make way for condos, facades ‘improved’ in similar fashion to the Richmond Hill home…it’s a disgrace really. Now that I live in a landmarked town I am grateful. Yes, it’s annoying that every outside paint color must be approved but it will never, ever look like poor Nancy’s house does now.
They should be strung up !
God only knows what they have done in side !!
Really? I don’t like it either but that seems a bit over the top.
Tears! A crime against neighborhood preservation not just building preservation! As one person said, I too hope Nancy’s ghost haunts these people. They stripped it of everything! They didn’t just stop at the house, the garden and definitely interior too – a crime! Very, very sad!
what an outrage!!! The “remodlers” should be tarred and feathered!! And hung out for a public whooping!!
I don’t actually advocate violence, but in this case, I’ll have to admit, I had a violent gut reation.
WTH?!?!?
I hope Nancy’s ghost gives this poor house and it’s new owners a proper haunting!!!
Blech! It’s a yard made out of concrete. I’m glad they didn’t post pictures of the inside – that porch has me doubting their decorating abilities!
They took elegance and made it cheesy. How sad.
Wow what a butterscotch-brick-and-dryvit nightmare! Looks like some of the ugly, sad houses I’ve seen at the Jersey Shore. It boggles me that some people like the look of that “style” *boggles*
The before picture made my heart sing. The after made it cry. The before picture is the kind of house I dream about!
Ok, this is the thing… I understand that this is a completely tacky re-do in the eyes of someone who is “into” houses, architecture, and historical homes, however there are lots of people who consider this a huge improvement and update, especially in the Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island boroughs. The stucco/brick/crazy fence thing is a very typical style of house in these areas. Some people who live in these areas in these types of houses will look down upon historical homes as dated and run down. They simply do not agree with the historical aesthetic.
While I disagree with the decision making and design of this home, without preservation laws, a homeowner should have the right to do as they please with a home.
I believe the current buyers had this exact design in mind when buying this home. While the carpenter ant situation might have prompted them to do extensive renovations, they certainly could have made renovations that were more historically accurate. This was not an issue of cost or cutting corners – all that brickwork and stucco is very expensive. In the eyes of these homeowners, they have taken a dilapidated, dated, old home and modernized it.
Like I said, I don’t agree with these “improvements” aesthetically, but the homeowner had every right to make these changes.
Amy: where I live in New York, there’s a huge preservation group and plenty of laws. Some would say too many. One house, not yet 100 years old, not registered as historic, and not on the historic village green where there are specific rules, went into litigation because the new owners wanted to tear it down and the Town said it was too rare to be demolished. Long story short, the owners were forced to keep up a certain portion of the home deemed the most historic but could tear down the rest of the house. My blog readers felt like preservationists stepped the boundary of homeowners rights. It’s always a tough call – saving history versus rights.
http://earthoceanskyredux.com/2012/05/15/the-belfry-demolition-permit-to-be-granted/
It’s kind of like a First Amendment Right / Freedom of Expression question! I remember watching an episode of This Old House (this was an old episode – probably 15-20 years old) where the home was situated on a tight corner and there were issues with parking cars on the street. They wanted to create a driveway that ran through the side of the house with a beautiful portico or balcony type area above – so cars could be parked inside the property, off the street, and hidden away. Of course, it being This Old House you can imagine that the plans were beautiful, but they were denied by the Historical Preservation Commission. Basically the town would rather the cars be left on the street than make such a change to the exterior of the building. I watched this episode as a teenager and still remember this! So I totally agree with you – it’s a tough call either way sometimes!.
In terms of home/property owner rights, I agree 100%. These people have every right to change their house in whatever way they deem necessary to suit their own taste or lifestyle. I am not a fan of anyone telling a legitimate property owner what can/cannot be done with their own property. I, personally, really detest HOAs, etc. for this very reason.
Now, having said that, my heart ACHES at seeing those pictures. it literally brought tears to my eyes. The house had such beauty and grace, IMHO and this redo did just about everything it could to suck the soul right out of the place. It really made me quite sad to see.
On the (other) other hand, I know there have been many times I’ve actively detested some of the work Julia has showcased here. But obviously somebody thought it was wonderful because they spent a *ton* of money on it. So I’m wondering how it would feel to pour my heart into a remodel, to love the outcome and to be proud of my efforts, only to have my house touted all over the internet as an atrocity…
Very complicated situation. And a very sad house.
Amy, don’t get me wrong – I love a CRAZY ass house, and I appreciate homeowners who are indivuduals and go their own direction… however (the big however), this house just seems to be going for the cheap, new McMansion look with no regard to, well, individuality or authenticity.
What on earth did they do with the old house? I only hope some lucky salvage business got a few peices, rather than the dump!
The saddest part, according to original article, is that Nancy – the historic preservationist who restored and maintained the integrity of the house – fought so hard to have her street (where the house is) designated a historic preservation nighborhood. Her applications were denied, and the rest is history.
I agree. The vision of Nancy’s dream died here.
Amy I totally agree with you that the homeowner has the right to do what they want with their house. But have to say it’s god awful ugly and typical of the ugly homes in the NYC area. The story of carpenter ants is just b.s.
in my opinion. The owners wanted this look and don’t like being questioned why they changed things, easy to blame ants. Find it hard to believe that a preservationist with such a lovely home didn’t know or fix a carpenter ant infestation.
I agree that the carpenter ant situation is just a scapegoat. The homeowners were definitely going for this look, carpenter ants or not! An interesting question is – I wonder what the homeowners found appealing about this property in the first place – since they made such drastic changes and the surrounding properties all have that historic look?
That sucks. Hope the current homeowners get punched in the face.
That is so sad! I just breaks my heart that someone would do that!
I don’t get the reasoning behind the changes…If the potential future owners want a McMansion, wouldn’t they just buy one? Having grown up in a town famous for its well preserved and maintained Antebellum and Victorian homes this just makes me sick. Well, I suppose money has never and will never buy taste. Blech!
Just as sad to me, is the fact that they cut down the trees along the back and ruined all the beauty and privacy of the yard.
My heart is broken for this poor house as well as the neighborhood. I’m so glad there weren’t any pictures of the inside-who knows what tragedies were inflicted there. Why would someone do something so hideous to something so lovely?
Ughhhh….. terrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t even imagine what they did to the INSIDE!!! How sad! And horrible for Nancy’s family and friends.
heartbreaking…
An unfortunate renovation. Very sad that the house could not find buyers with an interest in preserving its style. The changes to the yard are just as bad.
That said, what’s really sad are the comments about the new owners. Punch them in the face? Tar and feather them? Publing ‘whooping’? String them up?
And from the original blog :
“…This is nothing more than vile criminality, and the new owners should be prosecuted for foisting this abomination on an already-reeling city. I don’t care if this is your architectural heritage, if it’s that important to you stay in your own country and buy or build a tacky, tasteless house there. Don’t come to the US and destroy our history, we have enough Americans already willing to do – and doing – that…”
“…Why do so many people accept this cultural relativism bullshit? It behooves people from other countries to at least attempt to understand the culture they’re moving to….”
Mmmhmm. Nice. But this one’s my favorite:
“Would we retouch the Mona Lisa if the paint were flaking or print a new declaration of independence simply because the old one was torn? Save me your bullshit stories and stop buying old houses you disgusting savages.”
Hey, it’s TOTALLY the same thing.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
There are no words. Except one: deplorable. And did the carpenter ants invade the grass, too, so that everything had to be paved over?
Wow, while I can agree that this house renovation may not be to my liking I simply CANNOT believe the reactions that are being posted on here. It is far from an abomination or a tragedy becaus of how this house was renovated. Thankfully we live in America – the land of the free and the new owners had EVERY right to do as they saw fit for this house. It is their property and they are the ones putting out the money.
I’m all for historical preservation BUT there are clearly more things that go on in this country that are an abomination and tragedy moreso than this could ever be. Would be great if we could see this much passion about the issues that really do matter.
As every one of you that’s posted here….this is clearly JUST my opinion and one I’m given the right to have living in America.
Have a blessed day!
Kudos! I absolutely agree. I cried when I saw the Before and After photos. That was my immediate emotional reaction.
But how far do we go to restrict personal freedoms? I understand citing homes where hoarders ( one just made the news recently) actually endanger neighbors’ health and where huge piles of trash in the front yard may affect home values. There are city codes about this and a friend of. Ine had to deal with a rat infestation after a hoarder living next to ner was cited and the rats from his home were removed and…of course…tried,to move into her very clean, lovely home.
But that is a very different situation.
However, people will have reactions to seeing the before and after photos.
Unfortunately, in many areas of LI as well the aesthetic seems to be that there’s nothing that can’t be improved with 17 whitewashed lion statutes from the local monument company.
This made me physically ill.
I guess that shows right there just how badly we need historic preservation. That is so sad. Over the years, I’ve seen many horrible attempts at
“remodeling” older homes but that one takes the cake. Truly horrendous.
What a crying shame! Can you imagine what that abomination must have cost? I will see that house in my nightmares for a long time to come.
oh my. that is such a tragedy.
Of course you can do what you want with your house. We all know that. And you can say “they should be tarred and feathered” or “punched in the face” on a website and not literally mean it. These aren’t salient points.
Here’s the heartbreak of this: Why did they buy this house, if they hate the style? Why spend all that money to ruin something? Love brick facades and cement all you want, and pick a different house. People who love the aesthetics of old houses and mature landscaping (and the driveway with the grass in the middle? Oh man, I’m back at my grandparents’ house…) are very sensitive to the loss of it, as there is so little of it actually left. For every new-old house being built there are a gazillion soulless cookie cutter boxes going up, and we are powerless to stop that. But here you have this house that evokes grandparents and lemonade on the porch in a long white dress in the summer and a big Christmas tree with fairy lights twinkling in the bay window in the winter, you could roll your ball with a stick down that driveway or sit in a big galvanized tub in the side yard while mom hung up the washing on a warm summer morning, and you could have pictures hanging in the house of family posing in front of that porch with their son home on leave from the war. Any one of us could go on about this house.
But these people, with their carpenter ants that forced them to tear out all the plants and trees and pour down cement and tear off (!) portions of the house while adding a new facade and apparently some carpenter ant-repulsing eagles (I think those eagles repulse everyone), they don’t even have the moral courage to say “we did this because we love this look, sorry if you don’t like it”; they lied to us about ants.
I feel like they tarred and feathered my grandma, and then punched her in the face. I hope they are driven from that house by poltergeists in the form of giant angry ants, and swooping cement eagles. I hope somewhere down the road someone tears up the cement and tears off the facades and restores that house again.
tarred and feathered grandma! LOL!!!
I agree, Sarah. Also, as much as we Americans love our personal freedoms, we do have to take other people into account, sometimes. With real estate we can’t just consider our personal taste, we also have to consider how potential buyers will view our changes, how our changes might affect our own property valuation, and how they might affect the property values of our neighbors. This “remuddled” home appears to be quite out of place for the largely historically sensitive neighborhood. I’m not a local or a realtor, but my best guess is buyers don’t go looking in that neighborhood for this kind of home–they go looking for Victorian ones.
Whoops, sorry, Shannon! I mixed up names there, sorry.
…carpenter ant-repulsing eagles (I think those eagles repulse everyone)…
This is the most classic line and I think it wholly sums up the situation nicely! Big thumbs up!
Oh, sure…blame the ants! This was heartbreaking to see, makes my heart sad.
We had carpenter Ants but we didn’t have to dig up our garden and put masses of concrete down, there is such a thing as exterminators!!! Ants Smants!!!
I lived in Richmond Hill,NY for over 30 years and was born in the neighboring town of South Ozone Park. I moved to the Poconos about 13 years ago. Several years ago I went back to SOP to take pictures of my childhood home.It was gone.Sadly in its place was a McMansion quite similar to the one in RH.All the trees on the street were gone.It looked barren and sad.I cried my heart out.My husband then drove to RH and I hardly recognized it.The area where the house above was located is known as Richmond Hill North.What separated it from the rest of RH were the big beautiful Victorian homes that graced the once tree lined streets.Many homes have been torn down to make way for these McMansions.Other large properties have had several 3 family homes crammed onto the lots-all tall brick buildings.In most cases,beautiful gardens have been replaced with large areas of concrete that add nothing to the aesthetics of this once fine neighborhood.It all so sad.
Wow. I didn’t realize that having a carpenter ant infestation causes you to completely destroy what was once a beautiful house.
They could have done something else with it. Simply changing the colour of the house would have been a huge change.
Heartbreaking! What they did to the windows? Just awful…. how can you look at such beauty… and not see it???
I looked at the link this is sad
!!! I don’t like the new fixed up version at all. I don’t even like the yard it looks to sterile 
this is indeed a sad house…..sigh….
It’s too bad that Nancy’s own house couldn’t have been protected. There ought to be a law against such outrageous atrocities done in the name of ‘renovation’. Disgraceful.
Why in the world did they need to buy this particular house, if what they really wanted was to have some ugly house with tacky eagles? Talk about creating some bad karma!
That renovation looks terrible. What an awful thing to do to such a beautiful place. The homeowners should be ashamed of themselves.
What a shame. If you WANT a newer home BUY ONE – but please, please do not remove history – it cannot be replaced. We had neighbors who removed heart pine floors from their historic home because of supposed beetle bug damage – replaced the floors with 1995 floors. Such a shame. The bug damage in our 165 year old heart pine floors is purely character.
-Trish
I bet they painted all the interior woodwork with white paint too! Tragedy.
As a preservationist/architectuural historian it always breaks my heart to see these kinds of renovations. Architecture, like art, can be very polarizing because beauty is often in the eye of the beholder. However, even if I don’t like a particular building I have to remember that it helps to tell the story of the neighborhood it’s in, the people who designed/built it, the people who livec
d or worked there, and even the people who walked by it. Getting other people to see our historic buildings that way is often the tricky part!
I grew up in an area where horrible transformations like this were common. Old Victorians and Arts & Crafts cottages, full of finely crafted details, where ” modernized” with shortened windows, dropped ceilings, formica countertops, vinyl sided and sheet rocked over in the name of progress. Some of them still might have orange shag carpeting for all I know. I remember seeing my mother wipe tears away as one of our neighbors ripped out a beautifully crafted butler’s pantry in order to add bar seating to the already large enough to eat-in kitchen. I can only turn to the Buddhist idea that all in this world is temporary and we just have to roll with it.
…sad indeed…i shudder to think of what may have happened to the interiors…about nancy… don’t be sad…God is good…her new home puts this one to shame…blessings laney
I have a feeling Nancy’s ghost is haunting them in a big way. How awful. I’ve seen this stucco fad creep East to where I live as well, usually on new builds where three stand on the site of what used to be one. There truly is no accounting for taste. Wow. Just wow. A Victorian may not be everyone’s taste but I just can’t imagine how you could buy an historic home and completely obliterate its history. Beyond me. The neighbors must be thrilled. Get a load of those birds at the entrance. Welcoming, no? Yikes. So sad.
Here’s the comment I left on ScoutingNY’s blog:
Although I’m sure this “renovation” meets with the new family’s lifestyle, having this home lose its original charm and grace would be more in the lines of a “bastardization” to me than a “renovation”.
I’m going to paraphrase something I heard someone else say “If you want to start “renovating” a house to be something it didn’t start out to be architecturally, then maybe you need to look for a different house.”
Bottom line: There are some things, like the house in this article, that are meant to “stay the same”. Preservation NOT renovation!
But how do you enforce that if it isn’t on the historical registry?
You don’t enforce that if it isn’t on the historical registry. It may be sad but it wasn’t on the registry so those owneres were within THEIR rights to do as they saw fit with their own house. PERIOD. Can’t believe the comments about this are still going on….
The concrete in place of so much greenery … such a sin. Not to mention what damage may occur when there’s little room for water to drain.
Sad. I’m sure the owners thought they were improving their home. Hopefully, this example will help educate others. TIP – Hire an interior designer or architect for an hour or so.
I totally believe in the right we have as Americans to private property, BUT I do disagree with the attitude that just because you own a home you can do whatever you want with it. That’s why we have certain ordinances to ensure that there are limits because you’re not living in a vacuum, you’re living in a neighborhood. What you do to your home CAN and DOES impact the value of the neighborhood. When you don’t maintain your home and let the landscape die or paint your house candy apple red with yellow stripes, you’re adversely impacting the value of that neighborhood. The very reason why HOAs are created.
If you want to build something so unique that doesn’t enhance the neighborhood, then go buy a rural piece of property and do what you want or buy in a down and out neighborhood because you’ll probably be able to help improve that neighborhood.
Just saying…
Exactly. There are plenty of neighborhoods in the outer boroughs of NY where these kind of tacky houses are the norm – so go there and build your ugly house.
Oh my! I agree, terrible renovation, but, that being said, terrible negative responses! There are people starving to death in our world, and we are all fired up about a house renovation???!!! This house is still being loved and cared for, just in a different way. We are all entitled to our opinions, but in the end, it is just a house. It’s the people inside that make it a home.
You warned me and I looked anyway. I need to recover from this. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. The update is disgusting – tacky and ugly. It also feels mean in some way – like the new owners made a concerted effort to undo every little bit of charm from the original house.
By the way – my grandparents and parents are from there – and all (or most) of the driveways have (or “had” I should say) that strip of grass going down the middle of the driveway – which I always thought was sweet. My grandmother’s house had it.
i don’t understand why you would buy a historical house and do that? There are tons of McMansions just like that everywhere! If that’s the kind of house you want, why not just buy one instead of renovating a house that doesn’t need it? I mean, maybe the interior could have used some updating or fixing, but the outside was fine. Now, it’s just garish. I’m sure the new owners are pleased with it and think it’s lovely. That’s a shame though.
Although i cried when i saw that beauty of a old home turned into its present state, I have mixed emotions.
I have a friend who lives in a home entered in the historical registry (sorry if I.m not using the correct term). Anyway, she wants it to stay on the registry but has often encountered difficulty meeting the guidelines conflict with her budget. Most exterior and interior changes are subject to review. Is the the case everywhere?
Jane – review for interior changes is incredibly uncommon unless your friend is trying to utilize any kind of tax credit or other financial incentive (in which case design review keeps the project in the public interest justifying any tax incentives on private property). Design review for local landmarks or districts (new windows, new outbuildings, additions, etc) is typically limited to the exterior. It all depends on local ordinances, but what you’re describing seems unusual.
Thank you. I know so little about this. We were looking at a historical home when it was for sale and questioned a bathroom feature but I can’t remember what. Anyway, we were told that they had thought about changing it but consulted “the officials” and it wouldn’t meet standards to reain on the registry.
I have no idea if this was accurate. I knew the house because an old friend of mine grew up tere. Happily, the new owners had barely changed a thing except for some kitchen updates (discreetly hidden when possible).
I was very sad to discover that the formerly peaceful setting, so ideal for a home located in the middle of farmland, was now surround sed by crowded suburban homes and noisy streets. I am not trying to be judgmental but I remember sitting on the gorgeous porch in the summer , listening to the sounds of nature. Now that is destroyed by cars and radios and other noise.
Saddest house in NYC. Really? No, saddest series of readers’ outragest comments on a non political blog ever. There is a way to voice opinions in a “polite” manner which is lacking today. I am sad because I didn’t think I would read such words on this blog. I am guessing generally everyone who reads and comments on this blog would consider themselves civil and polite people. You know, ones with manners and considerate of others. Words do hurt adn if the owners ever see these how will they feel? Obviously they got all the permts, etc. necessary for the renovations. Maybe it reminds them of where they grew up! The style especially the brick is reminensant of other eras gone by on houses I have seen. The ugly comments here really caught me by surprise.
I could not agree with you more – well said. Thank you.
we should all be tarred and featherd, naughty us
What goes on the internet seems to be fair game. I do wonder, though, how many of their neighbors have said anything to them
Maybe the people commenting about the owners stupidity do so tying to convince us that they are superior.
So having carpenter ants precluded them from replacing what was there originally? That is perhaps the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. That front porch is horrid.
This house does make me sad. But they own it, so they can do what they want with it. That’s why we all need to look at our neighborhoods, make sure to continue the work Nancy (the previous owner) was involved in. I’ve seen so many people want to buy an older house, not realize how much work they take, and then proceed to rip everything out. I actually bought one of these houses. Someone had ripped out almost everything in it (except the douglas fir floors). We restored it back. Someone commented on it that we had one of the happiest houses around.
Old houses take time, patience and sometimes lots of money to restore and maintain. I suspect these people bought the house, then realized it wasn’t what they wanted at all. I say don’t buy it. There are plenty of newer houses around that meet those criteria. Not everyone can/know how to renovate. Changing a house like this can change the whole character of the neighborhood unfortunately. Let’s preserve what we can and work with local and national authorities to keep it that way.
That is such a lame excuse. If the problem was carpenter ants the owners could have done the base of the porch with brick and do the same all around the house at the same level of the porch and continue the rest in the same style of the house. The porch was such a bad idea. Its a complete different style than the rest of the house and adding the balustrade did not help. I know they can do whatever they want its their house but still. Im sure that house looks like it doesn’t belong there when compare to other neighborhood homes. Such a shame that some that did not care much about the preservation of the house bought it.
I feel very sorry for the neighbors. I would be beside myself if I were in their shoes.
Yes, the property owners have a right to do whatever they want to their house. But we also have the right to say whatever we want about their choices.
You are absolutely right in that you do have the right to say whatever you want about their choices BUT that doesn’t make it right. As I and a few others have tried to point out this is absurd – the comments being made.
Just because you have a given right as an American including the one to scream about anything you want to doesn’t mean that its always the right thing to do. Have a little compassion and consideration for another human being – the owners of this house in this case.
Go and scream to the top of your lungs about a subject that really matters – such as the homeless, hungry children and others in our own country, cruelty to animals…..I could go on and on with topics that are worth using our right to scream or say what we want but the topic of this renovation is certainly NOT one of them.
In my opinion, this, ahem, “renovation” is worth screaming about. A pristine historical building and an important portion of a woman’s life’s work has been lost forever to the whims of the current owners.
It’s your opinion that isn’t something to be upset over. Agree to disagree. But who are you to determine which causes are worthy.
For the record, I haven’t said anything nasty about these people. But I think that the exterior of anyone’s house on a public street is open to comment.
No one here is “screaming”, unless you count enthusiastic use of exclamation points as screaming. Well, that Haydee lady did use all caps, but I think that’s more like yelling.
Pretty sure the people that own this house aren’t reading this blog. And if they are, I’m sure they aren’t surprised and I strongly doubt they would care.
This blog is about houses. People come here to comment on houses. Commenting with enthusiasm, encouragement, emotion, humor, sarcasm, nastiness, whatever. That’s the context. As soon as anyone throws in starving children and the homeless, you’ve lost the context. Of course those things matter more. It has not been suggested they didn’t. But if comments are to be filtered through the reality that there is immense suffering in this world, and our replies should be tamped down accordingly, blogs wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to read. They would seem rather pointless. And they are not. I see heartbreaking tragedy daily in my job, and I come here to decompress and look at the interesting and beautiful houses and get ideas for my own house. I don’t ever come here and think, “how can you complain about that porch after what I saw today??”
There is an irony in enthusiastically expressing an opinion that others are being absurd for enthusiastically expressing their opinions about a house renovation being, well…absurd.
I am not the only one in this comment section that has had issues with the things beings said. What’s stated above is clearly the opinion of the two of you – mine is clearly not the same. Both given the right to have them. My opinion and beliefs are just as important to me as yours are to you…both valid to the one that feels them. We clearly aren’t the same. Enough said.
I’m sorry but all you strangers out there who are crying need to get a grip. You’re right, these people did a really tacky renovation. But as one reader pointed out, it’s an (inexplicably) popular style in some parts of Brooklyn as Queens. There are old homes on my block with WAY worse renovations in this style. But you know what makes me sadder? When I see an old home that’s empty and completely falling apart. I used to live in an upstate NY area that was severely economically depressed. There were 5 or 6 beautiful Victorian style homes on my block alone that were completely abandoned and in ruins. They were in such bad shape it was unlikely that anyone would ever purchase or restore them. They jut sat there. So even though the new owners of this home may not have the greatest taste, at least this old home is loved and lived in– yes, I’m sure these people LOVE their house. People dont spebd that kind of money on a house they don’t love. Not in New York. That’s why they bought it, because they loved it and wanted to make it their home. Maybe some day someone else will buy this home and restore it. If you feel so strongly about it, why not put on an offer. Or go buy an old home in your neighborhood and restore it properly. But really, there’s no need to be melodramatic about someone else’s property. That goes for both comment posters AND bloggers. Normally your posts are so thoughtful, but I found the content and title of this one in bad taste.
Kait, as someone who loves old houses and is actively trying to restore one as originally as possible, seeing someone destroy the integrity of an old house like that just makes me heartsick. No one is ever going to want to come in and spend the $100,000 (or more) to tear out the entire first floor and restore it back it’s original condition. Even if you had unlimited money, it would be almost impossible to track down/have made details like original moldings, stained glass windows, etc (I speak from experience here). The damage these owners has done is permanent. It will forever look tacky and horrible. The story that it will tell to it’s community is that it was once a beautiful historic home that had the misfortune of being purchased by people who had no concept of taste, style or history, or as my Mother would say, they had more money than sense. It’s particularly heartbreaking knowing that houses done in this modern…how did one commenter put it, “butterscotch and brick” style…are a dime a dozen. These owners could have easily found a modern house in that style that they loved, rather than taking a vanishing breed and forcing it into something so ugly. So forgive us old house lovers for being a bit harsh and melodramatic, and we will forgive you for blithely suggesting that we go buy a house in our neighborhood and restore it. Because this old house is lost forever, and that is indeed a sad, sad thing.
Kait you are missing the point here its not only the house that was lost also all the work that Nancy Cataldi is lost. She worked tirelessly to preserve the neighborhood and its even more sad that the house belonged to her. Its almost like an insult to her memory that her house was sold to someone who had no intentions of preserving it. I see your point but telling us, including the bloggers, to get a grip its in a way kind of insulting. Everyone has a thing that they are passionate about, something they really love and for us its this kind of houses and you should not tell us what we are suppose to feel. Im sure that if we all have the money we would buy these amazing homes and restore them to their original glory but unfortunately we don’t. Too bad that that its not the case and its sad that there aren’t many people like us because if there were this kinds of thing wouldn’t happen. I respect your opinion and I’m not trying to be rude or offend anyone especially you, just don’t make remarks about the way other people should feel. If you find this post in such bad taste nobody force you to read nor should you criticized the creator of this amazing website for writing a post like this. Next time if you find a post in bad taste do us a favor and don’t read it, don’t comment and saves us the troubles of having to go through things like this again. Thank You!!
Whilst I prefer it in its original condition, there are plenty of people who prefer more modern looking houses. Is that a crime? Do you expect to be abused because you prefer old ones? Maybe they bought it because it was a good price or was close to work or had big rooms etc and NOT for its history. Maybe they saw it as an opportunity – an old, dated home that they could spruce up and modernise to their taste. I personally don’t know anyone who lives in a house that they haven’t modernised over the years. As I said, I definitely prefer the original version, but it’s a little narrow minded of some commenters to be so rude (even threatening!) about other people’s tastes – they probably think yours sucks, too. Yes it’s a shame, but seriously, are some of these comments really necessary?
I feel sorry for the neighbors.
First thought….the Portokallis house from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which is fine for Chicago’s Greektown….but Richmond Hill?? Tragic.
Totally thought the exact same thing!
Bad idea to look at what they have done to the house …..i puked a little in my mouth..no jokes. THAT is a TERRIBLE renovation.
Ohhh, Julia. This makes me so sad. It’s hard to believe that some people have so little taste! Or respect for buildings’ character. I understand if they had to renovate due to carpenter ants (if that’s true), but that’s no excuse for what they did.
Wow, what a tragedy. I didn’t know that I could feel so sad for a house!
Honestly I thought the new house looked pretty nice, and I didn’t see what was so great about the old one. I like old houses, but this one was just so blah. I know my opinion varies from the opinions of the majority, but honestly, stop hating on the owners. Even if they don’t have any appreciation for beauty and history as you claim, it is their house, and it is their right to make changes to it. Probably they just wanted to seem more modern: is that really a crime? If you’re so worried about old houses getting renovated in a more modern style, buy one yourself and then you can keep it the same for eternity.
It made me sad that a preservationist was ultimately unable to preserve her own home. I found it poignant that her work was undone almost immediately upon her death. Clearly, not everyone shares my sadness, and that’s okay. I just wanted to share a story that resonated with me.
I think these comments have made me sadder than the original article I was linking to. I’m closing them now.
LAWD, have mercy.