YORKVILLE — A 19th-century wooden clapboard house, with a covered porch and wooden shutters, may finally gain landmark status by the end of this year.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday chose to prioritize the building at 412 E. 85th St., near First Avenue, as a landmark and hold its designation hearing later this year.
The building was one of 30 sites that were prioritized on Tuesday as part of the Landmark Preservation Commission's backlog initiative, an effort to purge a 95-building list of buildings that have been pending consideration for landmark status for decades.
The wooden home in Yorkville was the only Upper East Side site in the LPC's backlog and has been awaiting consideration since 1966, when it was first heard by the commission, according to the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.
Built around 1861, the house, possibly constructed by carpenter Albro Howell, is only one of six wood-frame houses in the neighborhood and the only one that is currently unprotected, according to the Friends.
The city's fire code outlawed such buildings south of 86th Street five years after it was built.
The building's current owners "have gone to great lengths to conduct a meticulous restoration," according to Rachel Levy, the preservation and planning associate at the Friends.
"The LPC’s decision today to prioritize 412 E. 85th St. for designation is a great victory for that special wooden house, and we look forward to the designation hearing later this year," she said.
One of the building's owners, architect Alfredo De Vido, did not immediately return a call for comment.
