Lady Moody’s House Is On The Market & It’s ‘Priced To Sell’

Lady Moody’s House could be yours!

The historic Gravesend residence, located at 27 Gravesend Neck Road, is “priced to sell” at $869,000, according to a Zillow listing. The five-bedroom duplex includes two working fireplaces, a new eat-in kitchen, a formal dining room, 2.5 bathrooms, and a private driveway.

Here are some photos, via Zillow:

Though there is little evidence that Lady Deborah Moody herself lived in the home, records show that the residence was built on the property owned by Gravesend’s freethinking matriarch, and it is one of the few remaining structures associated with the neighborhood’s rich history.

As Gravesend historian Joseph Ditta wrote for this publication:

Whether or not the house ever belonged to Lady Moody is a moot point. The residence stands at the center of Gravesend, across the street from its ancient cemetery, and next door to P.S. 95, which has occupied that site since 1838 … It has been a constant, visual reminder to this community of its history, and provides a link (however nebulous) to its remarkable founder.

Architecturally, the building is one of a handful of surviving “Dutch Colonial” farmhouses, only a small portion of which have been designated by the LPC. True, 27 Gravesend Neck Road has been considerably altered, but LPC has designated other buildings that are far from pristine (such as this church on Staten Island) solely for their historical associations.

The real estate listing casually omits the home’s historical significance to the neighborhood, and without landmark designation, any developer could potentially purchase the property and tear it down.

The structure has been languishing on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) waiting list since 1966, but a hearing that year, and later ones in 1970 and 2004, did not result in landmark designation due to opposition for the home’s owners, according to Ditta. Most recently, Lady Moody’s House was nearly removed from the LPC’s list — along with nearly 100 other historic New York City sites — in an effort to clear a backlog of requests.

The LPC will hold another hearing on Lady Moody’s House on October 8, and community members are encouraged to send letters to backlog95@lpc.nyc.gov urging the panel spare Lady Moody’s House from future alterations.