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Decrepit Historic Kew Gardens House Listed on Craigslist for $1.2M

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | November 21, 2014 4:23pm | Updated on November 24, 2014 8:57am
 The house on Beverly Road has been decaying for many years.
Anglo-Japanese House in Kew Gardens
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QUEENS — A Japanese-style house in Kew Gardens, which the Department of Buildings declared unsafe in 2009, has been listed for sale on Craigslist for $1,200,000.

The house, at 84-62 Beverly Rd., was built in the 1920s and was initially a neighborhood attraction. But neighbors said the owners moved out more than a decade ago, allowing the house to decay.

An inspector who came to examine the house in September 2009 — after the agency received complaints that it was unguarded — found the front door and garage door left open, according to records provided by the Department of Buildings.

The agency then issued two unsafe building violations, which remain open.

In January 2010, the DOB obtained a court order to seal the building by pouring concrete into its windows in order to make it safe, the agency said.

But the ad on Craigslist describes the 3-story property as a “huge beautiful 1 family house.”

"Tons of options," the listing says.

The ad also notes that the 3,600 square-foot house features a garage and a driveway. The lot, where the house sits, is 7,000 square feet, the ad says.

A man whose phone is listed in the ad declined to answer questions on Friday.

A spokesman for the Department of Buildings said in an email that the agency “encourages individuals purchasing property to ensure the building is in compliance with all pertinent codes and zoning regulations.”

The house, built in an Anglo-Japanese style, combines architectural elements of an English cottage with curved lines typical of Japanese rooftops.

Built around 1920 by Joseph Fleischman for his daughter, the house is not landmarked, according to local historians.

The property belongs to Mun Chang, who has owned the house since 1973, according to records provided by the Department of Finance.

Chang could not be immediately reached for comment.