Beautiful Victorian House with Garden Near Staten Island Ferry

• Wonderful experience

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Wonderful experience

  • Guest Rita
  • Date of stay 08/16/12
  • Review Submitted 02/12/13
  Thank you again for letting us stay at your home. it was a wonderful experience and our friends want to forward your information to them. I will be recommending you to all of them.

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• Thank you for the nice stay

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Thank you for the nice stay

  • Guest Andreas
  • Date of stay 10/05/12
  • Review Submitted 02/08/13
  Thank you for the nice stay in your house, we enjoyed it very much! The heating also worked very well. Once again thank you for your hospitality! Regards from the eight of us!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/2

• Very fine time, gracious hosts

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Very fine time, gracious hosts

  • Guest Bill, Charlotte
  • Date of stay 12/23/12
  • Review Submitted 02/02/13
  Our two families had a very fine time having this house as our home base The hosts were very gracious to our earlier than expected arrival. We appreciated the neighborhood tour they gave us, and special effort to assure we had enough blankets. They even brought some fruit, bread and cake as a welcome gift. It was a quiet, safe neighborhood and it had a great view of the bridge. The dishwasher, washer-dryer and kitchen appliances all worked fine, The apartment was clean and it was apparent the hosts had been painting and fixing things up. It was warm and there was plenty of hot water. It was a pleasant place to come back to after exploring other parts of NYC and we especially enjoyed the ferry rides. Our walks to/from the ferry were fine. The price is fair.

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• Great place to stay in NYC

  Great place to stay in NYC

  • Guest Martin3
  • Date of stay 08/18/12
  • Review Submitted 09/03/12
  We stayed here for a week in August, 2012, family with 2 adults and 4 small children. The house was just as described, and was a good, quiet place to stay after a busy day on the town. The house is above the adjacent street, and the yard for the house is very private. My kids really enjoyed the swing, though the access to the treehouse turned out to be too difficult for our young children. A few comments: 1. I was relieved, that there were no issues with parking. I was always able to park at most, a few houses away. There are lots of stairs to get from the street to the house---great for privacy, but would not be good for people with mobility issues. 2. Because of the travel with small kids, we did drive to the ferry terminal and park at the pay-lot there. This was a good move; our 5 yr-old boy often fell asleep in the subway in Manhattan (on the way to the ferry terminal, even in mid-afternoon), so it was good to have the car at the terminal, rather than the steep uphill walk back to the house from there. The distance is walk-able for adults, though it is quite a steep hill. 3. Indeed, it is a mixed neighbourhood; the drive to the house passes a not-so-good street, but the neighbourhood improves rapidly as you approach the house. Remember, this is NYC, after all. 4. The first day there, we did groceries at Target, on the other side of staten island, but that is about a 20-min drive away (ok to see the area once, though). Usually, I found doing groceries at the Key Foods on Forest Ave worked well; that was only a few minutes' drive away (though too far to walk). 5. Remember to use bug spray in the yard at certain times of the year; we were surprised to see a lot of mosquitoes in a big urban area. This is because of all the trees in the yard, though. All-in-all, we were very happy with our stay, and would stay there again, on a future visit to NYC.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, tourists without a car, age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, families with young children, girls getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• Our recent stay

  Our recent stay

  • Guest threecboys
  • Date of stay 08/03/12
  • Review Submitted 08/09/12
  Our party of 9 arrived on a Friday afternoon and we were personally greeted by the owners. We appreciated their hospitality and knowledge of the area. The house was much older than we expected and we were a bit surprised to find the only air conditioning was a small window unit in the middle of the home. Now we are from the south and probably a bit spoiled, but we did find the bedrooms to be too warm for us at night. The gathering area in the home was a nice size and did accommodate our group, however the sleeping arrangements are really best suited for a smaller group. One of our sons had to sleep on the couch and two other kids slept on mattresses on the floor. The walk to the ferry was nice, a good workout with hills. The kids loved the adventure of taking the ferry everyday into the city. I do believe the owners try to keep the home as clean as possible but it just did not meet our standards. The age of the home and some needed repairs made it feel unsafe to us.

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, tourists without a car.

  Owner response: The headline description of the house indicates that it was built in the Victorian era. It being an old house is part of its charm, and a great rarety in New York City. As far as the a/c, this was the hottest summer on record in the USA, so we have to rethink our requirements a bit. We have one more room whose windows are suitable for a window unit, but we will still have to rely on fans to some extent. We should note that the hilltop location makes the place much cooler than almost anywhere else in New York, and most of our summer guests have been comfortable. Nine is listed as the maximum occupancy, which means it will be a little snug for a party of that size. But one has to make some allowances for this being New York. There are three double/queen beds, one single, and a fold-out double couch (which I don't think these guests used).

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• Beautiful House, Great Hospitality

  Beautiful House, Great Hospitality

  • Guest Zaofang F.
  • Date of stay 06/17/12
  • Review Submitted 06/26/12
  Dear Elena and Craig, We enjoyed our stay very much. We were deeply moved by your enthusiasm and hospitality. Elena is so lovely and energetic. The swing in the garden is the children's love. Whenever they came back from Manhattan, no matter how late it was, the first thing they did was climbing to the swing and played with it. We also spent a lot of time chatting in the living room, and it made us feel like at home. Thanks again and take care. Zaofang and her family

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• We had a great time.

  We had a great time.

  • Guest Josiane V.
  • Date of stay 05/12/12
  • Review Submitted 05/29/12
  Hi Helen and Graig, Sorry it took me so long to mail you. Thank you for the warm welcome and showing us around. We visited the Polish shop several times. I hope you where satisfied of how we left the house. We enjoyed coming home to Staten Island every night. The walk to the ferry in the morning took us 20 minutes, in the evening we took a taxi back to the house. It is nice to take the ferry to Staten Island, to see the skyline and Lady Liberty and the go home and have a cosy evening with friends. Best wishes, Josiane, Jean-Pierre, Christel, Patrick, Jos, Linda and Natalie

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• Ample room for a large party

  Ample room for a large party

  • Guest Monique N.
  • Date of stay 04/07/12
  • Review Submitted 05/29/12
  Craig and Elena were most welcoming even though we arrived two hours before check-in. The house was ideal for our large party of six as there was plenty of room. The kids enjoyed playing on the swing and going into the tree house when we got back after a long day out. There were plenty of shops nearby to buy food and the Staten Island Ferry was only a fifteen minute walk away. I agree with previous reviewers that it is easier in the morning than on the way back after a long day out in Manhattan but we felt quite safe in the neighbourhood, which is important when you are travelling wih children.

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• Helpful owners

  Helpful owners

  • Guest Herbert S.
  • Date of stay 04/24/12
  • Review Submitted 05/01/12
  Lena was very helpful with city experience recommendations. She gave us a private tour of the Metropolitan Museum highlights. She is knowledgeable and definitely a people person. We would recommend her sideline museum tour guide business. We didn't stay long enough to take her up on her offer of private guided tours of the other major museums she has certified at as a tour guide.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, tourists without a car, families with teenagers.

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• Great home! Thank you !

  Great home! Thank you !

  • Guest Paula B.
  • Date of stay 04/02/12
  • Review Submitted 04/13/12
  This home was great for our school group of high school seniors. The home was very clean, and comfortable. It provided a "family" atmosphere for our group of students that no hotel stay would have! The home owners were very attentive - made sure we had everything we needed and were just a phone call away! They even gave our group a walking tour to the Staten Island Ferry our first day with the history of the neighborhood. Every morning one of us would go to the local Polish Deli for sausages and to the bakery for pasteries - the home is very convenient to shops and restaurants that are in walking distance. We were also within walking distance of the St George Ferry (that is FREE!) into NYC and all of the city's attractions - once we figured out the bus schedule, we took the bus into the ferry each day! We felt like we were on our own adventure each day with a comfortable home waiting for us at the end of each day! The location was great - out of the hustle and bustle of the big city, and not too far from it to tour each day. The only real complaint we had was the hill on the walk back each night - the house sits ontop of a hill - our kids had no problem with this, just the "out of shape" adults! I say this last statement with a "smile" - this really is not a complaint! Just felt like it is some info that may be useful to a renter that may not be in the shape to make it up several flights of steps to the house (not a handicap accessible home). We would highly reccommend this home to any traveler that are up for a wonderful adventure and comfortable stay. Our group has wonderful memories that will last a lifetime and this home is part of it. Thank you, Paula Bowers Art Instructor Glenforest School

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

$130-$200/night .. $800-$1200/week .. $2200/month (off-season)
8.38% Tax

Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.