For sale: Zaferiou House - Blauvelt, NY

[DavidC]

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Socrates Zaferiou House is for sale

48 Clausland Mountain Road, Blauvelt, New York, 10913

Rare Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Mid-Century Home in Blauvelt, NY - (4:09)


David

[DavidC]

Want to own a Frank Lloyd Wright design? 1961 Blauvelt property is on the market


David

[Roderick Grant]

This is one of the nicest Erdman houses on the best site of all of them, heavily wooded and practically free of development. If I had any desire to live in New York, I would consider it. Of course, having $1.5M to spend would also be nice.

[DavidC]

The Zaferiou's were great homeowners who kept this house immaculately. The location is wonderful and it abuts a wooded park. It's a teriffic home on a great site.


David

[DavidC]

The house is still listed as of today. Somewhat surprising since the article from Oct. 19th stated that “In just nine or 10 days, we’ve had 40 to 45 showings,” says listing agent Richard Ellis, of Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty. “I have six offers so far and I think we’ll probably have another six by this weekend. The offers are going way, way, way above” the asking price of $1.525 million."


David

[DRN]

Huh...I thought it had sold. There had been a bit of bid war.

[DavidC]

HOUSE TOUR: Inside a Frank Lloyd Wright Home That's Like a Time Capsule - (30:41)


David

[SDR]

Astounding . . . to see this original Erdman I prefab in loving if uninformed hands.

How is it possible that a graduate interior designer could not be aware that she lives in an Erdman Homes Prefab #1 designed by Wright, rather than a "Wright Case Study" house ?

Perhaps the elderly Zaferious remembered the couch and its covering as having been designed at Taliesin---an unlikely scenario. (Would Olgivana have selected that fabric ?) Perhaps they led their successor to believe this was a Case Study House---somehow. (It is interesting to learn that Socrates Zaferiou was head pastry chef at the Plaza . . .)

And a landscape architect (?) living with "cherry blossom trees" ?

Well, she at least got it that remodeling was best left to other residences under her care, and not this one. Anyway, as revealed in the real-estate news posted earlier, she is moving on.

S

[Roderick Grant]

The couch may have been by FLW: Notice the dentil-like base. The upholstery? A casual knowledge of Wright's work would not make that mistake, as well as the "Case Study" error. As a student, how could she have avoided studying the Case Study houses?

But withal, she has taken excellent care of the house and painted the exterior a proper color. (When I visited in 2002, as I recall, the color was a rather bold yellow with bright red trim.) As she hands it over to her "realator" for #3 owner, we can only hope it stays in good hands.

[DavidC]

The Zaferiuos loved and greatly cared for their home. When my wife and I visited them, around 2012, they had just completed another project - refinishing the exterior wood. The interior was kept immaculately. They invited us into their home, gave us a wonderful tour, sat us down in the kitchen, and served us lunch - all the while telling us stories of their life and terrific home. What a treasure and blessing they were. Hopefully, the house will continue forward in hands that can see and care for it as much as the first two owners have.


David

[SDR]

Yes, it's wonderful to see the house well-cared-for. One can imagine many worse outcomes in subsequent ownership. And I'm not sure I've heard of another case where a new owner of a Wright property waited before updating kitchen and/or bath, and subsequently decided against it.

Storrer reports that the exterior paint specification was "wet sand"---for base wall color and for CMU masonry. The stark white fireplace is a false note. I can say nothing helpful about the interior decor as seen in the video, beyond noting a mish-mash of forms, colors and textures.

S

[DRN]

A very well maintained house indeed....my sincere congratulations to the Zaferiou's and the current owner for their stewardship.

... a mish-mash of forms, colors and textures.

A quick look in a current interior design mag such as Architectural Digest or Metropolis shows that an eclectic mix of forms colors and textures is currently fashionable. Not necessarily what one has come to expect in Wrightian interior, but then not all my furniture is of a piece either...

[SDR]

None of us probably has a completely curated collection of furnishings; I certainly don't. I suppose "Many of these pieces have personal meaning for me" could explain some of the choices, as well. Clashing colors are painful; imagine Mr Wright's reaction to what's seen in that video ! I believe the owner/designer did mention "the cobbler's children" at one point . . .

S

[Roderick Grant]

FLW himself did the same thing at Taliesin: Look at the furniture in old photos of the living room. Chairs were bought from a department store, originally with Queen Ann feet ... though they have been replaced. There are bits and pieces of Japanese bric-a-brac throughout the house. Then there is that BLUE rug! Shag!!

Of course, none of it is jarring, but still, ....

[SDR]

I am reminded of the "participation trophy" phenomenon. If the bar is lowered far enough, everybody's a winner.

I was accepted at Pratt in 1960--without having to submit a portfolio--but I would have been a commuting (non-resident) student and that didn't seem like a good idea to anybody. Thus, RISD . . . in far-off Providence.

S