If you’re in the market for a grand and charming cottage for two or more, you’re in luck. New to the market is 450 Grace Church Street, what’s left of the 13-acre “Petronia” estate built in 1900. In 1941, the then-30 room brick and stone mansion was listed for $15,510. That was then. The gatekeeper’s cottage was not part of the sale.

 

By Robin Jovanovich

 

If you’re in the market for a grand and charming cottage for two or more, you’re in luck. New to the market is 450 Grace Church Street, what’s left of the 13-acre “Petronia” estate built in 1900. In 1941, the then-30 room brick and stone mansion was listed for $15,510. That was then. The gatekeeper’s cottage was not part of the sale.

 

Architect Konrad Wos and his wife Meggan Walsh, owners of the cottage, find they are spending more time in their Manhattan apartment and are selling the property so they can purchase 15 acres in the Hudson Valley and open a winery.

 

When they bought the property from architect Warren Ransom in 1995, Mr. Wos didn’t want to change a thing. “But I did ask if the outside lamps were included in the price. They weren’t, because they came from Commodore Perry’s ship!”

 

Mssrs. Ransom and Wos shared a common bond of loving and preserving history. The original house, built by Mr. Ransom’s grandfather, was torn down in 1977. In 1984, Mr. Ransom designed the non-brick addition, doubling the size of the cottage.

 

“I feel we only ‘rent’ landscape, that we’re all short-term caretakers,” said Mr. Wos.

 

He elaborated on the joys of being the caretaker of 450 Grace Church Street. “Among them have been: tending the antique English rose garden; the cold frames we rebuilt after what the original gardener planted spring vegetables on for the estate kitchens; the three specimen trees: a weeping birch, a redwood, and a box elder; and the gracious outdoor entertaining space.”

 

The house is listed with Linden Real Estate in Rye. The asking price is $1,795,000.