James G. Ferreri has a nice article in the Staten Island Advance on a house in the Lighthouse Hill neighborhood that’s been recently saved from destruction:
Most of us detest wasting anything, whether it be our cell
phone minutes, the last drop of milk in the container or,
considering today’s sky-high prices, the gas in our
car.Why, then, do we allow the waste of our irreplaceable
buildings? Nearly every day, here in New York’s fastest
growing county, buildings that never can be replaced are
destroyed simply because they have no protection from
predators.Fortunately, there are success stories. One unique home
that has avoided the wrecking ball is "Crimson
Beech," the home built by the late Catherine and
William Cass on Lighthouse Hill. It is the only residence in
New York City designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and one of
only two buildings the world-famous architect designed that
is still standing in New York.There are two reasons for this building’s good
fortune: The Cass family and the Landmarks Preservation
Commission.Although Wright is perhaps best known for his residential
projects for well-to-do clients, he also had an interest
throughout his career in producing well-designed,
moderately-priced housing. He believed that "the
average American was entitled to a home that could also be a
work of art."Wright knew that if this home maxim was to apply to the
lower-income home, it would require either pre-fabrication
or a systems-built method of construction. It meant, he
explained, that the home would have to go to the factory,
rather than the skilled labor coming onto the building
site."
read the whole article