Property history

The land our home was constructed on was originally held by Samuel Waldron who, during the 18th century owned a lot of land in NYC. Gradually, Sam’s heirs parceled and sold off most of his original plot of land. One of these parcels was purchased by Sven P. Nelson and his sons George and Walter who, at the time were living in Manhattan. The area, known as the German Settlement, experienced a construction boom during the late 1800’s; the majority of the development focused along the main avenues of today. During this time, the Nelsons may have had the first iteration of what is now 31-81 built, before renting it to Frederick (a Piano Maker at Steinway) and Dorothy Bauer.

Frederick and Dorothy (“Dora”) were born in New York, both of German parents. They started out as tenants and later purchased their home. While living at 31-81 they had three daughters Adelphia (~1885), Marguerite “Margaret” (~1889) and Julia (~1894). Marguerite became a public school teacher and Julia did clerical work. In the 1930s Marguerite was listed as the head of the household, at the time the house was valued at $7,000. Marguerite later married and her last name changed to Rennemann.

The home was owned by the Rennemanns until 1968 when they sold to Artin Mardikian (a Pharmacist who worked in Astoria) and his wife Koharig. Koharig passed away in 2000 and Artin followed her the year after. From Artin’s death in 2001 until 2004 the home was left unoccupied and in a state of disrepair until it was sold at auction to a pair of general contractors who had hoped for an easy “fix and flip” project. The pair ran out of money before their project was complete and the house sat nearly completed for a few months before Jennifer and Thomas purchased it in 2005.

Since purchasing 31-81, Jennifer and Thomas have worked continually to improve the property, eliminate areas of questionable workmanship and restore the home to what it once could have looked like. All work performed since 2005 has been done by licensed, bonded and insured professionals. Past projects have been documented throughout the site and vary from restoring the back yard to a lush garden oasis to finished radiant heated concrete flooring and the second floor renovation (completed in January 2017).