2207 NE 15th Avenue A Carefully Preserved Craftsman 4-Square from 1912

The architectural firm of Goodrich and Goodrich  designed and built this lovely Craftsman house for Joseph and Anna Basler in 1912. The Basler's daughter Agnes never married, and continued to live in the house well into her eighties.  This explains the amazing original condition of much of the house.  It is also what attracted the current owners, antique show producers with many collections to display.  They knew this was the house for them as soon as they crossed the threshold back in 1991.

You can't help but notice the first of those collections as soon as you enter.  Over 100 parasols, spanning the last two centuries, (and over 10 years off collecting efforts), cluster around the entry foyer in a dazzling variety of materials and motifs.  Fashioned out of bone and gold, ivory and carved mother of pearl, embellished with glass jewels and carved into the most whimsical of shapes, they capture imagination before you are ten steps into the house!

Once you pry yourself away from the parasols, the wonders of the home continue to unfold.  Almost all of the fixtures in the house are original gas/electric combinations, from the grand dining room chandelier to simple upstairs hall lights. The slag glass living room fixture is original to the period, but not to the house.  It may surprise you that the graceful Povey brothers stained glass in the living room is also not original to the house.  The owners found it at one of their antique shows and brought it home, fully expecting to customize the frame.  When they held it up, they were startled by a fit so precise, it required only a few screws for perfect installation.

The home is a treasure trove of marvelous original features and fascinating quirky collections.  The kitchen and breakfast nook, which sports recycled skating rink flooring, still has it's built in ironing board and telephone cupboards, as well as most of a pulley system used to adjust the basement furnace.

The firm of Goodrich and Goodrich, the home's designers, was comprised of Clenath L. Goodrich, who served in 1907-8 as City Engineer for St. Johns, and his brothers William and Thomas.  The pleasing proportions and fine detailing both inside and out attest to their capabilities.  The attribution to the Goodrich brothers is based on their drawings for the house, which have survived.  It is believed that they also produced three or four other homes in Irvington, among their several dozen residential and commercial commissions in the historic record.