A nonprofit organization that helped secure landmark status for the centuries old Ward House in Tuckahoe has asked a judge to revoke a demolition permit and stop more demolition.
“Outrageously, demolition work on the landmarked building has commenced and is ongoing, in clear violation of the Village of Tuckahoe Historic Preservation Law,” Friends of the Ward House Inc. stated in a Jan. 10 emergency request for a hearing in Westchester Supreme Court.
But no demolition is happening, according to a lawyer who represents Biggest Fish Westchester, the developer that owns the house. The request by Friends of the Ward House “is premised on a misapprehension – or misrepresentation – of the facts,” attorney Lee J. Lefkowitz stated in a letter to Justice Robert S. Ondrovic.
Ward House, on White Plains Road, was built in the 1750s and was occupied during the Revolutionary War by both patriots and British loyalists. The British eventually destroyed it, and it was rebuilt to the original specifications in the late 1700s.
The house has been used over the years as a stagecoach stop, post office, tavern, religious gathering place, and college dormitory.
Concordia College sold the house in 2021 as the college was shutting down and Iona College was buying the campus. Biggest Fish, a Bronxville company operated by Gregory Holcombe, paid $651,000.
As Biggest Fish worked on development plans, the village enacted a historic preservation law and designated Ward House as a landmark. No alterations or demolition could be allowed unless the new Historic Preservation Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness.
On Nov. 12, the village building department issued a demolition permit for interior work, including removal of cabinets, appliances, fixtures and radiators. No certificate of appropriateness had been issued.
Neighbors noticed, and according to Friends of the Ward House, and claimed that the work included removal of plumbing, heating, electrical fixtures, and gas and electric meters.
“The continued demolition of the Ward House poses an immediate and irreparable threat to its preservation as a historic landmark,” the nonprofit’s attorney, Salvatore Provenzano, stated in a request “to maintain the status quo and prevent irreparable harm.”
Biggest Fish’s attorney said the developer asked for a permit “to remove a few items from the house.” Legally, he said, landmark status applies only to the exterior of the house, and homeowners are free to remove appliances.
The request for a hearing was filed in a pending 2022 lawsuit that Biggest Fish brought against the village and Friends of the Ward House, where the developer is asking the court to annul Ward House’s landmark status.
Judge Ondrovic scheduled a Jan. 28 hearing to determine whether the demolition permit should be revoked and demolition stopped.
Westchester County has proposed using $2,550,000 from its 2025 capital budget to buy and restore Ward House, the nonprofit noted. Halting demolition will give the county time to negotiate a deal with Biggest Fish.
