2475 Richmond Road, Staten Island
2475 Richmond Road, Staten Island
With a low-interest loan and grant from the Historic Properties Fund the owners were able to restore the cupola of their Landmark Staten Island home.This Italianate villa on Staten Island is where Gustave Mayer, the inventor of the Nabisco sugar wafer, once lived and worked. The owner, a carpenter by trade, spent a decade carefully stabilizing and restoring the building. However, the house still needed extensive major repairs to keep out water, and the owner’s resources could only stretch so far — so they turned to the Conservancy’s Historic Properties Fund.
A City Landmark, the 1885 home features two-and-a-half stories and a one-story porch, arched windows, bracketed cornice, hipped roof, and crowning cupola. The owner bought the property from Mr. Mayer’s daughters in 1990, and the property needed extensive work. With his own hands and some help from contractors, the owner had slowly restored the house sills and front exterior stairway, demolished the deteriorating interior plaster, installed new electrical and plumbing systems, and copper gutters and roofing on the porch.
In 2001, the Historic Properties Fund awarded the owners a $28,000 loan and $5,000 grant to restore the drainage system, roofing, and flashing on the third floor and cupola. While the house still needs extensive restoration, this work was the highest priority.
