Steinway Mansion

The Steinway Mansion (also the Benjamin Pike Jr. House) is at 18-33 41st Street on a quarter-acre hilltop in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City.

History
The mansion was constructed as a summer home from 1857-1858 at a cost of $85,000 on the Long Island Sound by Benjamin Pike Jr., a Manhattan-based manufacturer of optical and scientific instruments. After Benjamin Pike Jr.'s death in 1864, his widow sold the mansion to William Steinway of Steinway & Sons in 1870. In response to the tenuous labor situation in Manhattan, Steinway expanded his Queens property to a massive 440 acres, upon which he would build the Steinway Piano Factory and what would become Steinway Village and the North Beach Amusement Park at Bowery Bay Beach. This area would eventually transform into LaGuardia Airport.

Jack Halberian, an Armenian-Turkish immigrant who came to the United States in 1913, purchased the mansion in 1926, shortly after being put up for sale by the Steinway family. However, due to its isolated location, the mansion's electricity and running water had come from the nearby Steinway factory, and hence, once the Steinways left, said services were cut. This led to a massive financial undertaking during which Halberian installed new water lines and convinced the nearby Con Edison to build new power lines that connected his home to the larger grid. Upon Halberians's death in 1976, his son Michael Halberian inherited the property and began an extensive restoration.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a landmark in 1966, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Henry Z. Steinway, the last member of the Steinway family to be president of the piano company Steinway & Sons, said the "Steinway Mansion" name was misleading, because "the Halberians owned the mansion longer than the Steinways did".

The mansion was placed for sale after Michael Halberian's death in 2010. The Friends of Steinway Mansion attempted unsuccessfully to raise $5 million and acquire the house. After years on the market, as well as numerous price reductions, Sal Lucchese and Phil Loria paid $2.6 million for the property in 2014. Parts of the surrounding land were then developed into commercial warehouses, leaving the mansion on a quarter acre of property. The nearly 150-year-old mansion was deteriorating quickly, so the mansion's owners began a massive restoration that included the reconstruction of the mansion's grand balcony. In addition, to pay homage to both the Pike and Steinway families, the mansion was decorated with a grand Steinway piano and numerous original scientific instruments manufactured by the Pike company.

Description
The Steinway Mansion is a large Italianate Villa-style dwelling. The architect is unknown. It is constructed of granite and bluestone with cast iron ornamentation and has a two-story, T-shaped central section gable roof. It has a one-story library, that is now an office, with a wing with large bay windows. It features a four-story tower topped by a balustrade and octagonal cupola. There are three porches supported by cast iron Corinthian order columns. There are five Italian marble fireplaces and pocket doors that hold original cut glass depicting many of Pike's 19th-century scientific instruments. The center main hall contains elaborately carved walnut balustrades, a two-story domed rotunda topped with a central stained glass skylight, 12 ft ceilings throughout. There are three large underground cisterns designed to collect rainwater from the roof for grounds irrigation and a 1000-gallon (1000 usgal) copper tank in the attic to furnish the house with a pressurized water system for bath and kitchen use.

In 2006, a documentary film titled The Steinway Mansion was produced and includes extensive interviews with Michael Halberian and Henry Z. Steinway and many rare photos.