ELMHURST — A local group is fighting to save what is believed to be the last remaining home from the neighborhood's Newtown era after the historic farmhouse was gutted last month by a fire and slated for demolition.
The Newtown Civic Association has started a petition seeking landmark status for the the home at 90-11 56th Ave., which was built in the 1700s and became known as the Colonel Bernardus Bloom Farmhouse.
The Suydam family purchased the home in 1860 and remodeled it a few years later into its current early Victorian style, according to the Newtown Civic Association. But last month the house was gutted by a two-alarm fire and the city ordered a full demolition on Oct. 8 of the beloved home and its garage, according to city records.
The FDNY is still investigating the cause of the fire, officials said.
Newtown Civic Association has created a petition and penned a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission in the hope of saving what they say is the last residential house from the time when Elmhurst was known as Newtown.
"This house today as it stands today has survived throughout time and is a living museum of our past and our future," the petition says.
"It would serve best as a historical house museum and cultural center that focuses on the history of Elmhurst [...] as an important historical neighborhood in Queens and in New York City."
The home has never been considered for landmarking, and there were no records of requests for it to be considered, a spokeswoman with the LPC said.
It was purchased in August for $2 million by 90-56 L&Z Realty LLC, records show. A filing for the LLC shows the company was established in October 2014 by Kui Lin, of Sunset Park.
He could not be reached for comment.
