Architecture Design Awards
We already told you about one—Christina Griffin’s Hastings-on-Hudson house—in our last post, but three other unusual homes in Westchester also won a 2010 Design Award given annually by the Westchester Hudson Valley chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
In Mamaroneck, Habitat for Humanity’s “Flood House,” which was built for an mother and her daughter who lost their family cottage when the Mamaroneck River flooded in April 2007, was among the winners. This time around, Jason Taylor, principal of the J. Taylor Design Group in New Rochelle, decided the house should stand on concrete piers to withstand future floods and hurricanes.
In Pound Ridge, architect Carol Kurth won an award for what she calls the Link House, a three-bedroom residence she originally designed in 1983. But over the years, it had a series of owners and reincarnations. This time, the newest owners called her back in to return the house back to its original style, and to add a guest suite and a music room. Also, it has a new ambience: Kurth describes it as a “spa-like serenity” that is very much in vogue these days.
In Harrison, Mockler Taylor Architects of Greenwich, Connecticut, returned a 1950s mid-century modern home to its essence. But that style became passé over the years, and it was converted to a shingle-style abode the 1990s. Now, mid-century modern is once again in vogue, and the husband-wife team of Sean Taylor and Lisa Mockler Taylor restored the house to its essential elements , renovatingspace for the owner’s two college-age children and adding another 4,800 square feet of open-plan space.
For more details, check out the upcoming winter issue of Westchester Home.
Listing of the Week
Lucky Houlihan Lawrence! The agency has just listed the $11.5 million, 21-room Scarsdale Colonial of Earl G. Graves, one of the country’s most prominent African American businessmen and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine. After 36 years in the Scarsdale residence, Mr. Graves, 75, and his wife Barbara have decided to downsize, according to the New York Times. Built in 1907, the home, which is on almost five acres, has 7,876 square feet of space, 10 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, eight fireplaces, an ice cream parlor—fancy that!—a 60-foot swimming pool, a tennis court, a playground, and a even putting green, according to the agency’s listing information. But be forewarned: it also has an annual tax bill of $89,170. If that’s no obstacle, give sales agents Susy Glasgall (914-967-7680, ext. 307) or Susan Greenberg (914-723-8877, ext. 319) a jingle.
New Charity: Giving House
Especially in the current real estate market, good news is more than welcome. 
In this case, it’s a new charity called Giving House, which will donate a part of the broker’s commission—in a residential or commercial deal—to a nonprofit group. First in line, thanks to mega-developer Joseph Simone, will be the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Simone, a member of the board of directors at the hospital, has a $7.9 million estate in Purchase, which he built, on the market, and a portion of the proceeds from that sale is earmarked for the children’s hospital. Simone says another 10 new luxury homes in Purchase will become Giving House properties.
The goal: to build a $6.5 million hospital addition to serve another 450 more sick kids each year. Giving House is the brainchild of Kerry Fedigan-Cid and Steve 
Cid, real estate agents with Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York City, whose own daughter was treated there. In all, about 70 sales agents from Houlihan Lawrence, Prudential Holmes and Kennedy, Prudential Centennial Realty, Better Homes & Gardens, Houlihan & O’Malley, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby’s have signed on to the philanthropic effort, agreeing to donate a portion of their commissions to a designated nonprofit group.
New name for Realtors organization
The Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service has been renamed the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service (EAMLS)—reflecting the increasingly large role the service plays in the New York area. Since 1996, the listing service has served real estate firms from the Bronx to northern Dutchess County. The regional service will continue to be owned by the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors, Inc., says P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of both organizations.
House of the Week:
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Philip Johnson’s First House |
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he Booth House, as it is known, was the architect’s first constructed commission, built in 1946. Bauhaus-inspired, it’s a classic mid-century modern. Although such houses fell out of fashion for many years, there is once again intense interest in them and the purity of their design. The Booth House has 28 feet of floor-to-ceiling glass on one side of the living room, which opens onto expansive views of woodlands, including a 36-acre nature preserve. The nearly two-acre complex includes an 800-square-foot studio building.
Anthony Ardino, William Raveis Real Estate (203-249-9833; philipjohnsonsfirsthouse.com)
