Landmarks Preservation Commission April 12, 2016; Designation List 487 LP-2341 JOHN WILLIAM AND LYDIA ANN BELL AHLES HOUSE, 39-24–39-26 213th Street, Queens Built c.1873; Architect, not determined; altered 1924; Architect, Lewis E. Welsh Landmark Site: Borough of Queens Tax Map Block 6236, Lot 18 On June 23, 2009, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Lydia Ann Bell and J. William Ahles House and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 2). The hearing was duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. The owner’s attorney testified and sent a written submission in opposition to the designation. Eleven speakers testified in favor of the designation including then Council Member Tony Avella, the president and several members of the Bayside Historical Society, Joseph Hellman, co-chair of the CB 11 Landmarks Committee who spoke on behalf of the Queensboro Preservation Council, and representatives of the Auburndale Improvement Association, the Douglaston Preservation Association, Municipal Art Society, and Historic Districts Council. The Commission also received letters of support for the designation from Borough President Helen Marshall, State Senator Frank Padovan, State Assembly Member Ann-Margaret Carrozza, the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance, Friends of Oakland Lake & Ravine, Inc., Rego-Forest Preservation Council, and the Queens Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. On October 8, 2015 the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a special public hearing on Backlog Initiative items in the Borough of Queens, including the Lydia Ann Bell and J. William Ahles House and the related Landmark Site (Item III - Borough of Queens Group, H). A representative of the owner spoke in opposition to the designation. Eight speakers testified in favor of the designation of the Ahles House, including State Senator Tony Avella, Queens Borough Historian Jack Eichenbaum, and representatives of Council Member Paul Vallone, the Historic Districts Council, Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance and Queens Preservation Council. The Chair read into the record a letter from Council Member Paul Vallone and Assembly Member Edward Braunstein in support of the designation. The Commission has also received one email and three letters of support for the designation including letters from the Aquinas Honor Society of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy, the President of the Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance, and one individual. In March 2016, in a meeting with senior Commission staff, the owner again expressed his opposition to the designation and submitted materials in support of his position, including a letter from a neighbor in opposition to the designation written in 2009. He submitted another letter and additional materials in opposition to the designation on April 11, 2016.

Summary This impressive Second Empire style residence updated in 1924 with Colonial Revival style alterations is a rare reminder of 19th-century Bayside, when it was a village of suburban villas and substantial farmhouses. Now located on 213th Street in Bayside, the Ahles House was built only a few years after railroad service reached Bayside in 1866 and residential subdivisions began to replace farms. It is the only remaining example of the substantial Second Empire buildings erected in Bayside during the 1870s and 1880s. It retains the cubic form and dormered mansard roof typical of the Second Empire style as well as details such as the molded cornice and hexagonal slate shingles. Very few 19th century houses survive in Bayside, making the Ahles house a rare example of the period. This house was constructed around 1873 by farmer Robert M. Bell for his daughter Lydia (usually known as Lillie) and her husband John William Ahles, a prominent grain merchant and officer of the New York Produce Exchange. It is located on a portion of a f

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