$1.8M Forest Hills home has an English garden, attic studio, and a unique history

It’s also more modern than you might think. In 1909, noted architect and urban planner Grosvenor Atterbury, employed with the firm McKim, Mead and White, was, with partner Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (son of the famous landscape architect) commissioned to plan a new community in Forest Hills, Queens. The result was one of the first–and most successful–uses of the prefabricated housing process that we’ve seen to date. These rarely-on-the-market homes–like this semi-detached brick townhome at 20 Ingram Street–have withstood the test of time, possessing both a timeless quality and, in this case, a fascinating sense of an early modern era long past but still somehow present in these unique rooms.

This unusual historic home is situated in the heart of Forest Hills Gardens, a 175-acre enclave within the greater Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills–and one of America’s oldest planned communities. Surrounded by an English-style front garden and private backyard, the property also offers a detached, separately deeded garage.

Throughout the house you’ll find original woodwork and wood floors, a center hall design, a wood-burning fireplace and wainscoting. On the first floor is a magical sunroom with the original tile floor. The living room has custom built-ins and the home’s wood-burning fireplace.

An efficient galley kitchen opens out to the private back yard.

On the second floor are the home’s master bedroom with two big closets, another bedroom and a full bath.

On the third floor are two more bedrooms; from the looks of it, one of them is enjoying life as a charming art studio. There’s a laundry area in the basement along with a half-bath, and the home’s gas boiler is new.

Dollhouse-like rooms have as much personality as potential, from the dreamy top-floor studio and tucked-away stair landings to old-meets-new baths.

This gorgeous garden path and backyard garden would give anyone a big case of spring fever.

Atterbury’s love of the Tudor style gave the community the aesthetic that defines it today. The Arts and Crafts style popular in the 1920’s can also be seen in the Atterbury-designed homes. Atterbury embraced modern innovation as well as history; a new prefabricated building technique created wall slabs to increase construction speed and keep down costs, especially when building row houses.

This unique community consists of over 800 free-standing and attached houses and 11 apartment buildings as well as churches, parks and storefronts. Though the community lies within the boundaries of one of the world’s most modern and populous cities, it has retained much of its idyllic nature.

[Listing: 20 Ingram Street by Robert Hof for Terrace Sotheby’s]

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Images courtesy of Terrace Sotheby’s.