Daily News from New York, New York • 122

J4 Gracie Mansion, shabby realities Continued from cover accommodate a bachelor like himself, a family man or a single woman. (Are you listening, Carol Bellamy)? The new style must also be consistent with the mansion's position as a place where heads of state sometime spend the night For example, when former President Carter stayed overnight in the since-dubbed Presidential Suite, he was treated to the taste of the previous tenant, Mary Beame. She had decorated it to her own tastes, complete with yellow wallpaper with tulips, and bamboo chairs and tables hardly the type of presidential suite you would get in a better hotel. The bedroom across the hall is done in a busy red pattern, also used on the bedspread, the curtains and the walls. Although Koch hardly changed anything in the house when he moved in, he made a point of having that wallpaper taken down.

"I was told you're never supposed tomse red in a bedroom," said one of the younger women on the, tour. "It's too Another critic of the room's style said: "It must have been horrible with the walls like that No wonder the mayor had it painted white." Joan Davidson, chairwoman of the conservancy, for the most part agrees with the criticism and wantr to bring it to a halt. But she cautioned: "It will be very hard to restore the house because there's so little of the original left" After investigating the problem for about a year, Davidson's group came up with a variety of suggestions. The important thing to remember, she stressed, is the fact that the house must be used as both a government office and a home where people actually live. .4 r' 1 fff A Former Mayors Beame and Lindsay and their wives: enjoying the Gracie Mansion days 'The conservancy calls its plan "the flexible approach." The plan is broken into three parts: Make the mansion work This proposal calls for the reconstruction of the porch, repairing the roof and other mundane tasks.

Enhance the mansion's character This is a more ambitious approach and calls for making the inside a monument to New York design. "We want it to be full of New York things from all periods," Davidson said. Insure the preservation of the mansion Hire one of two full-time curators to supervise the comings and goings of mayors more carefully. The only important item missing from the conservancy's plans is money. The city Is putting up just under $1 million, but the rest must come from private funds.

So far, $600,000 has been raised, but a lot more is needed if the goals are to be realized. All this for the house that Archibald Gracie bought for $4,625 back in 1798. Hammerstein house named a landmark This woman in need finds Guardian Angel By AL MIELE Ey BRUCE CHADWICK HOUSE named after a major Broadway show and in which many other hits had SEVERELY handicapped woman who needs 24-hour nursing and did not get it last cared for me, fed me and kept up my medication. They were wonderful. Some city officials complain about them, but to me they're lifesavers," said Overton, severely injured in a 1972 auto accident Lisa Sliwa, a leader of the Angels, said three Angels Arnold Hughes, Lydia Santiago and Adrian Perez-volunteered to help Overton.

"We do this when we can," said Sliwa. "We get into a lot of different areas people don't know about. When she asked for help and told us her problems, we did all we could immediately because she was obviously a lady in trouble." Overton has been in and out of hospitals for years. After her latest visit, the city promised round-the-clocfc care for her. Jack Deacy, the city's assistant social services commissioner, yesterday ordered a nurse to report to Overton's apartment this morning.

"If no one was there over the weekend it was because of a bureaucratic ergr," he said. "We'll make sure it doesn't happen again." weekend because of a bureaucratic snafu turned to the Guardian Within hours, she ws receiving round-the-clock care, it was reported yesterday. The patient, Georgette Overton, 33, of W. 27th was getting the proper care from a nurse assigned by the City's Department of Social Services, but the nurse left last Thursday for military reserve duty. Overton, who cannot use her legs or right arm, said she was told Friday by agency caseworkers that there was no nurse available over the weekend.

"I am bedridden and I need medication and attention to live. I didn't know what to do," she said. Overton called the Daily News to find out how to reach the Guardian Angels. 5 "The Angels were here right away and stayed through Tuesday morning. I had one at my side constantly.

They Marietta" (1910) and Rudolph Friml's "The Firefly" (1912). Hammerstein also worked with composers George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Vincent Youmans and with' such lyricists as Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein 2d. In one of his many collaborations with his nephew Oscar, he produced "Wildflower" (1923), which ran for more than a year on Broadway. The Hammerstein house, at 168 11 Powells Cove is currently a restaurant The commission also designated the Gerard apartment hotel at 123 44th St. and a cast-iron building at 361 Broadway as landmarks.

Built in 1893 94 when the west midtown area was still primarily residential, the 13-story Gerard was one of the first high-rise buildings north of 42d St It was cited by the commission as a fine example of an apartment hotel. Apartment hotels, a phenomenon of the late 19th century that still survive in some cases, catered city residents who didn't want to te saddled with large private homes and to affluent visitors who made periodic visits to the city. The six-story building at 3C1 Broadway is one of the city's largest, most beautifully ornamented commercial cast-iron structures. Built in 1881-'82, it was one of the last commercial buildings produced during the transformation of lower Broadway from a residential boulevard and was constructed during the last decade of cast iron's popularity as a building material. to their genesis has been designated as a landmark.

Also named were an apartment hotel and a cast-iron commercial building. The house, Wildflower, was the home of the late Arthur Hammerstein, the producer son of Oscar Hammerstein and uncle of Oscar Hammerstein 2d. Wildflower was built in 1924 in the Beechhurst-Whitestone section of Queens, which was then a theatrical enclave. Such personalities as singer Helen Kane, producer Joseph Schenck and magician Howard Thurston lived there in the '20s. In announcing the designation, the Landmarks Preservation Commission said that Wildflower is a "handsome example of the neo-Tudor style, which is relatively rare in New York City.

It was designed by Dwight James Baum, an architect known for his suburban and country residences. The Hammerstein house is beautifully crafted and detailed, featuring intricate brickwork and a picturesque silhouette. It represents "a major contribution to the rich legacy of this city," the commission added. Hammerstein (1876-1955) began his career in 1904 as a building contractor and assistant to his father. In 1910.

he began to produce operettas and musical comedies. As a producer, he brought 28 productions to Broadway, including Victor Herbert's "Naughty flOJIAMOVf DAILYpNEWS Manhattan Martin Gottlieb, Manhattan Editor Manhattan editorial offices: 220 E. 42d St. New York, N.Y. 10017.