Remodeling a house in Douglaston, Queens

What this page covers

This page is for owners of single-family and two-family houses in Douglaston who are planning kitchen, bathroom or whole-interior work. Douglaston is a Queens neighborhood, not a separate municipality. Building permits for any address here come from the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB). Structural alterations, additions and new construction are not planned services. Project availability and service-area approval have not been established.

Landmark status

Two historic districts, not the whole neighborhood

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Douglaston Historic District on June 24, 1997. Its designation report says the district takes in the whole Douglas Manor suburban development plus several adjoining blocks. LPC's master plan for the district describes more than 600 houses on a mile-long peninsula reaching into Little Neck Bay. LPC designated a second, much smaller Douglaston Hill Historic District on December 14, 2004. Its report describes thirty-one wood-frame houses built mostly between 1890 and 1930.

The city's PLUTO tax-lot file puts these districts in context. DCP's Douglaston-Little Neck neighborhood tabulation area (NTA) has 5,118 tax lots with homes. Of those, 659 (about 13%) carry one of these district names. Most homes in that NTA, which also includes Little Neck, are outside both districts. NTAs are statistical areas built from census tracts, and their names and edges are not official neighborhood boundaries.

Kitchens and baths in a designated house

Which interior work LPC says it reviews

Designation is mostly about what can be seen from outside, but some interior work still goes to LPC. LPC's permit page says an LPC permit is required for interior work that needs a DOB permit, and for interior work that affects the outside of the building, such as HVAC louvers and vents. It is also required for work on designated interior landmarks. LPC also says that exterior work needs an LPC permit even when it needs no DOB permit. If a property is designated, the LPC permit must come before DOB can act on the DOB application.

The kitchen ventilation guide explains why the hood's exhaust route is a planning decision, and renovating an older home covers conditions often found behind old walls.

Contributing houses and the Douglas Manor restrictions

LPC's master plan for the Douglaston Historic District treats houses substantially built before January 1, 1945 as contributing to the district. It allows more flexibility for changes to later houses. The plan also summarizes the Douglas Manor deed restrictions, which it describes as still in force. Applications for additions, new buildings, outbuildings, fencing or retaining walls are referred to the Douglas Manor Association for a separate review.

For an interior kitchen or bathroom, that mostly matters if the scope starts to grow outward: a bump-out, a new side door or a rear deck. Those are not planned services here. The master plan PDF carries 2003–2004 dates, so ask LPC whether it is still the current version before relying on it.

Flood maps on the shoreline blocks

PLUTO flags tax lots that are partly inside the 1% annual chance floodplain on FEMA's maps. In the Douglaston-Little Neck NTA, 264 lots with homes (about 5%) are flagged on FEMA's 2015 Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and 256 on the 2007 effective map. Of the 264, 254 sit in a single census tract, and four of the NTA's six tracts have no flagged home lots on either map. Of the 628 lots PLUTO places in the Douglaston Historic District, 56 are flagged on the 2015 preliminary map.

A flag means only that part of the lot touches the mapped floodplain; the house itself may or may not. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. The city's NYC Flood Maps page says flood insurance is still based on the 2007 maps while FEMA revises the 2015 preliminary maps. If a basement or ground-floor bathroom is part of the plan, ask a design professional what the flood status means for it. See basement remodeling and the basement moisture guide.

Address worksheet before asking for proposals

1. Search the exact address on LPC's Discover NYC Landmarks map and save the result.
2. If it is designated, note which district, and ask whether the house is treated as contributing (built before 1945) under the master plan.
3. Mark every item in the plan that changes the outside of the house: vents, windows, doors, exterior lights, condenser or equipment locations.
4. Note any plumbing that moves. Moved plumbing usually means DOB filing questions, and in a designated house it is also interior work LPC lists.
5. Look up both FEMA maps for the address if the basement or ground floor is involved.
6. Gather existing plans, the Certificate of Occupancy if one exists, and photos of the street and rear elevations.
7. Ask each bidder to state who prepares and files any LPC and DOB applications, and to list exclusions. See how to compare remodeling estimates.

For room-level scope ideas, see kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodeling. The Queens page covers the borough-wide permit, lead-paint and licensing context.