FRIENDS' Testimony:

FRIENDS’ Preservation Committee takes no issue with the addition of a modest greenhouse structure at the rear yard of this very fine Colonial Revival home. Its masonry materials, steel windows, and sensitive details complement the house itself. However, we are not convinced by the incorporation of American Holly trees, which may grow up to 15 feet in height at their maturity, in the creative planter devised to sit on top of the rear of the greenhouse structure. While we are understanding of the desire for privacy, trees of this scale appear to more than double the height of the existing rear wall and will encroach inappropriately on the common green space at the center of this block.

Before the construction of the homes on this block, this area was at the western edge of Jones’ Wood, a privately owned woodland bordering the East River that was considered as the original site for New York’s Central Park. Houses on these blocks continue to be clustered around common garden open space at the rear, and the tall trees as a privacy screen would diminish this shared context.