C M ANNIV page 19 Y K
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In Richmond Hill, a glance back in time On neighborhood tours, residents can explore area’s Victorian homes by Anna Gustafson Senior Editor
alking down the streets of northern Richmond Hill, it’s easy to believe you’ve gone back to a time when carriages jostled around the neighborhood and men in top hats and women in long skirts spent their Sunday afternoons in Forest Park.
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Many of the houses from the turn of the 20th century include large porches and towers.
Massive Victorian homes, almost doll houselike with their wraparound porches and turrets, line the streets marked by giant oak and chestnut trees, their leaves now exploding into colors almost as vibrant as the houses around them. For residents used to the borough’s many garden apartment complexes or the unremarkable mid-century two-story dwellings that dominate many neighborhoods, a stroll around Richmond Hill will help to awaken the inner architect. There are a number of tours easy for residents to take on their own — all you’ll need is a pair of walking shoes and some time to gaze at the neighborhood’s homes, many of which are in the Queen Anne mode. The houses are large, spacious structures that were built in an elaborate style unveiled at the Great Centennial World’s Fair in Philadelphia in 1876. Richmond Hill, once a rural haven dominated by farms, began to develop after the railroad station opened at the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Babbage Street. Its population continued to grow when the elevated train line came to Jamaica Avenue. The houses that began to pop up in the neighborhood around the turn of the century were, and remain, characterized by expansive verandas, balconies on the upper floors and towers topped by finials. The homes are so unique that many north Richmond Hill residents have long lobbied for the area to be landmarked, though the city’s Landmarks continued on page 30
Page 19 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 17, 2011
HIDDEN GEMS OF
This home at 108th Street and 86th Avenue is representative of many of the old, PHOTOS BY ANNA GUSTAFSON beautiful homes that line the streets in north Richmond Hill.
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