The Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday approved plans to replace the townhouse at 34 East 64th Street that was destroyed in a gas explosion July 10, 2007.
The brownstone building with a stoop had been owned by Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who was involved in divorce proceedings with his wife, Cordula Hahn. Dr. Bartha was injured in the explosion and subsequently died. Four other people and 10 firefighters were injured in the explosion.
After the townhouse lot was cleared of debris, the property was acquired for about $8.3 million by Janna Bullock, who commissioned Preston T. Phillips to design a new townhouse. Ms. Bullock has acquired and quickly "flipped" several townhouses on the Upper East and an article July 26, 2007 by Penelope Green in The New York Times said that 32 East 64th Street "will be her fifth Upper East Side project, and she said she might put it on the market for $30 million or $40 million when it is finished, in one to four years.
The commission's vote was 8 to 2.
The handsome design of the planned 5-story building is modern with a rectilinear facade arrangement of stone and glass. The building will have four bedrooms, a conservatory, a spa, an indoor swimming pool, a wine cellar and a geothermal heating system.
According to the article, Ms. Bullock, who was born in Russia and who "turned 40 in May," got her first job in New York as "a 24-year-old nanny to an Orthodox Jewish man with seven children on Kings Highway in Brooklyn whose wife was in a mental institution."
The property is just to the west of The Links Club, which is housed in a very handsome Georgian-style, red-brick building.
Mr. Phillips worked for Paul Rudolph before opening his own architectural practice in 1977. He moved his office in 1984 to Bridgehampton, New York, and in addition to having designed numerous residences in the Hamptons he has designed the corporate headquarters in Boston for Fanny Farmer Candies.
The brownstone building with a stoop had been owned by Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who was involved in divorce proceedings with his wife, Cordula Hahn. Dr. Bartha was injured in the explosion and subsequently died. Four other people and 10 firefighters were injured in the explosion.
After the townhouse lot was cleared of debris, the property was acquired for about $8.3 million by Janna Bullock, who commissioned Preston T. Phillips to design a new townhouse. Ms. Bullock has acquired and quickly "flipped" several townhouses on the Upper East and an article July 26, 2007 by Penelope Green in The New York Times said that 32 East 64th Street "will be her fifth Upper East Side project, and she said she might put it on the market for $30 million or $40 million when it is finished, in one to four years.
The commission's vote was 8 to 2.
The handsome design of the planned 5-story building is modern with a rectilinear facade arrangement of stone and glass. The building will have four bedrooms, a conservatory, a spa, an indoor swimming pool, a wine cellar and a geothermal heating system.
According to the article, Ms. Bullock, who was born in Russia and who "turned 40 in May," got her first job in New York as "a 24-year-old nanny to an Orthodox Jewish man with seven children on Kings Highway in Brooklyn whose wife was in a mental institution."
The property is just to the west of The Links Club, which is housed in a very handsome Georgian-style, red-brick building.
Mr. Phillips worked for Paul Rudolph before opening his own architectural practice in 1977. He moved his office in 1984 to Bridgehampton, New York, and in addition to having designed numerous residences in the Hamptons he has designed the corporate headquarters in Boston for Fanny Farmer Candies.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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