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3 Historic Chelsea Homes That Pitted Preservationists Against New Owners

By Maya Rajamani | April 27, 2016 5:54pm | Updated on April 29, 2016 5:20pm

CHELSEA — A millionaire’s plan to alter the oldest house in the Chelsea Historic District has riled neighborhood activists and local officials who claim the alterations would create a “megamansion” and destroy all but the home’s facade.

But the plan for the landmarked house at 404 W. 20th St. is not the first to upset neighborhood preservationists.

At least three other homes in the neighborhood — two within the Chelsea Historic District — have been the sites of alterations that pitted advocates against their new owners.

460 W. 22nd St.

460 W. 22nd St.

After Bill White and Bryan Eure bought the 1854 Italianate-style house in the Chelsea Historic District for $4.6 million back in 2012, they filed an application with the Landmarks Preservation Commission seeking to alter aspects of the property, a letter from Community Board 4 to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission said.

CB4 approved of the alterations, including replacing windows and repairing and restoring ironwork, while asking the owners to decrease their requested 10-foot extension at the property’s south facade and keep a “historic tulip tree” in the yard, among other modifications.

But a year after the LPC approved the alterations, White came back with changes to the original plans, said Pamela Wolff, a member of advocacy group Save Chelsea.

Italianate

Architect William Suk — whose firm is also currently working on 404 W. 20th St. — said conditions had emerged that “necessitated demolishing the building,” Wolff said.

The LPC granted approval of the modified plans without a public hearing, she added.  

“It was completely gutted” Wolff recalled. “Its south wall was completely removed, and… the interior of the building, basement level to roof, was completely removed."

White and Eure originally told CB4 they planned to live at the property with their aging parents, Wolff said. But in the fall of 2014, the “beautifully renovated” home hit the market for $16.5 million, Curbed reported.

Eure maintains that before he and White renovated it, the building was in shambles.

The work carried out was vetted by CB4 and "unanimously" approved by the LPC, he noted.

"... [W]e brought back a rotting, deteriorating building that was going to fall to the ground if it wasn't maintained, to a beautiful home that will last another 200 years," he told DNAinfo. "Some people just don't like change, and they're going to fight it no matter what the issue is."

436 W. 20th St.

436 W. 20th St.

Broker Michael Bolla bought the 1835 Greek Revival-style house in the Chelsea Historic District — down the street from the oldest house in the district — for $6.1 million back in 2008.

“This house retains much of its original flavor: the simple early iron railings at the stoop, and that at the yard… the six-over-six paned windows and the attic windows set in the fascia,” a city description of the property reads.

Greek Revival

But community opposition mounted after news broke that Bolla planned to transform the house into “five swanky rental apartments,” the New York Post reported.

Save Chelsea member David Holowka, at the time blogging anonymously on his site Architakes, accused Bolla of “flouting landmark laws” by “raising the height of the building’s roof and installing illegal windows,” the paper reported.

An LPC spokeswoman confirmed the commission issued two violations to Bolla in 2010 for "work on a rooftop addition and a parapet wall."

However, "the condition was legalized and both violations have since been cleared," she added.

That same year, the townhouse hit the market for $21 million — more than three times what it was purchased for two years earlier.

The “painstakingly restored mansion” was most recently listed for $22.5 million, the Daily News reported.

Bolla, who is no longer involved with the building, told DNAinfo he felt he had been "bullied and picked on" during the renovation process.

Work carried out at the house was LPC-approved and "completely historically correct," he said.

"I had always felt that the situation that was being waged against me wasn't about preservation at all — it was someone with a personal vendetta against me," he said.

339 W. 29th St.

Hopper Gibbons House

For years, preservationists have fought to force the owner of the Hopper-Gibbons House at 339 W. 29th St. to remove what they claim is an illegally built fifth floor addition.

Built between 1846 and 1847, the house was owned by the family of abolitionist Abigail Hopper Gibbons and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, city documents show. The building was landmarked in 2010.

After current owner Tony Mamounas started building the rooftop addition about a decade ago, advocates maintained he should have received permission from the city to alter the building.

Hopper Gibbons

Last year, advocates including LaGuardia Community College professor Fern Luskin got a partial victory after a panel of state Supreme Court judges ruled Mamounas would either have to go before the LPC to get a new building permit for the addition or tear the structure down.

“I was so excited that I was shaking, because it could have gone the other way,” Luskin told DNAinfo at the time.

Since the news broke, however, Luskin says the city's Department of Buildings and the LPC have yet to respond to a “very strong letter” elected officials sent the agencies about fast-tracking the issue.

“The next step will be to have renowned historians of the Underground Railroad send a letter… and to distribute it as an online petition” Luskin said.

A lawyer for Mamounas did not immediately return a request for comment.