QUEENS — A historic house in Kew Gardens, which has been falling into disrepair for more than a decade, was sold last month for nearly $1 million.
The house, at 84-62 Beverly Road, constructed in the 1920s, is described as being built in an Anglo-Japanese style. It combines architectural elements of an English cottage with curved lines typical of Japanese rooftops, and is the only one of its kind in Queens, according to local historians.
Its previous owner, listed in public records as Mun Chang, moved out about 15 years ago and the house began to deteriorate, locals said. Chang could not be reached for comment.
In 2009, the Department of Buildings declared the house unsafe after a building inspector found it vacant and its front door and garage door left open, according to the DOB.
The agency then obtained a court order to seal the building by pouring concrete over the ground floor windows, according to the agency.
But despite its decrepit shape, the 3-story house was purchased on Sept. 10 for $990,000, according to Mitra Hakimi of Mitra Hakimi Realty Group, which closed the deal.
Hakimi declined to say who purchased the house.
Since the house was boarded up, buyers bought it "as-is," with no access inside the building, according to Rakefet Landes, a real estate agent at Exit Kingdom Realty, who lives in the neighborhood and is familiar with the property.
“It’s the property and what you can do with it," said Landes about the price the new owners paid for the house. "I hope that whoever bought it, will renovate it, because it’s so beautiful," said Landes.
The concrete was removed from the windows earlier this month, Landes said.
Scaffolds have been placed around some portions of the house, hinting that the renovation has already begun, although according to a spokesman for the Department of Buildings, the owners were already issued a full stop work order on Oct. 28 "for a gut rehab and removal of chimney post without a permit." Workers were also not wearing safety equipment and debris was scattered all over the yard, according to the agency's website.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Finance said that the documents pertaining to the Sept. 10 sale, listing the new buyer as Beverly Kew Gardens, LLC, were submitted for recording on Sept. 22, but had to be sent back on Sept. 23 for missing information. As of Wednesday, the documents haven’t been resubmitted to record the deed, she said.
