What Will Become of Yorktown’s Underhill Mansion?
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
It’s sad to see how the once regal Underhill Mansion has, on its face, been left to deteriorate into something that looks like a deteriorating, boarded-up haunted house.
How has this been allowed to happen? How does the current apparent state of disrepair factor into Unicorn Contracting‘s master plan, especially now that the mansion is without landmark protections. Does this dilapidated outward appearance in any way indicate that Underhill Mansion may now have become structurally compromised on the inside as well?
Anyone driving along Underhill Avenue would have been shocked to see nearly all of the mature trees surrounding the now decrepit-looking building cut down. This devastation looks like the aftermath of a battle scene out of “Gone With the Wind.” Unicorn Contracting has erected a six-foot, fully screened steel fence surrounding the property. It’s for pedestrian protection, but the screens now keep what’s going on with the development out of view if you drive past.
When they ultimately remove the fencing, what will be left of Underhill Mansion: a fully restored 19th century architectural treasure serving as what the developer called the property’s crown jewel, or something more along the lines of a 21st century vinyl-clad multipurpose McMansion surrounded by 148 housing units in a treeless lot?
Stephen Brown
Yorktown
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