NEW BERLIN – On State Route 8, just outside the Village of New Berlin, an iconic – and emphatically pink – local landmark sits on the precipice of collapse. But after years of neglect, the historic home may finally have a fighting chance.

Enter Endangered Places, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2025 with a clear mission: rescuing endangered historic structures before they’re lost forever.

Enticed by the unique history and architecture of the once-swanky New Berlin home, Endangered Places Founder and President Susie Olivarez has taken on the mantle of saving the pink New Berlin house from ruins – an undertaking she says isn’t about saving just one house, but about preserving an entire community.

A New Berlin outsider, Olivarez is now seeking the community’s support to save the house she’s dubbed “The Pink Palace.” “History doesn’t stop at county or state lines,” she said. “These places belong to all of us.”

Olivarez and the board of Endangered Places are presently in talks with Pink House LLC, the private company that has held ownership of the house since 2020, in hopes of having the property donated so that it can be properly restored. The organization is also anticipating the possible purchase of the house through a tax sale, should the property go into foreclosure.

In the meantime, Endangered Places is seeking financial and volunteer help from residents, businesses, and other nonprofits that are willing to step up.

“People sometimes assume a nonprofit must own a historic property before raising funds, but that’s not necessarily how preservation organizations operate,” said Olivarez. “Across the country, nonprofits frequently raise money for emergency stabilization, planning, or preservation projects before ownership is transferred.”

“I know there are people who look at the pink house and only see a collapsing building. When I look at it, I see the work of the craftsmen who built it more than 170 years ago. I see original wood that came from forests that no longer exist. I see handcrafted details that would cost a fortune to reproduce today. I see generations of families who lived there and a landmark that has watched New Berlin grow and change for well over a century,” Olivarez added. “Once a building like this is demolished, that story ends forever.”

In her effort to save the home from collapse after years of rot and neglect, Olivarez and her husband, a construction worker by trade, are working to secure the house on a very limited budget. Endangered Places initially set out to raise between $75,000 and $100,000 to hire contractors for dangerous structural work. However, the organization has a long road of fundraising to reach those numbers. It has started a grassroots online campaign, taking donations from all over the country. As a startup nonprofit, it had raised just $1,200 by the end of 2025, thanks to the support of a like-minded California donor. Another Ohio native helped raise money for Olivarez and her husband to make their first trip to New Berlin to try to stabilize the house. But fundraising is an ongoing effort, Olivarez noted. More than $250,000 in grant funding has been applied for through various charities and historic preservation agencies, although grant funding is especially competitive for startup nonprofits. Endangered Places also continues to bolster partnerships with local entities for consultation or financial assistance, including Curtis Lumber, the Village of New Berlin, local contractors, the New York State Historic Preservation Office, and all the volunteers they can get.

Olivarez said her first goal is to keep the house from falling in. The biggest threats: a failed roof, loss of structural support in the front portion of the building caused by water and fire damage, and collapsed floor framing resulting from rot and exacerbated by the current owner’s use of the space to house thousands of pounds of personal belongings, including several arcade machines.

“Before we can think about restoration, we have to stop the building from collapsing. That means rebuilding the collapsed front section, stabilizing the tower, installing temporary structural supports, and ultimately replacing the roof,” Olivarez said. “This isn’t a television renovation completed in a few weeks. We expect restoration to take several years, and we’re committed to seeing it through. We'd rather do it correctly than rush and compromise the building’s historic character.”

Once Endangered Places secures the structure and takes ownership, it can better determine what the house will be used for further down the road. “We’ve discussed possibilities ranging from educational use to community space, preservation programming, or other financially sustainable options,” Olivarez said. “We’ve also received advice from preservation professionals encouraging us to explore income-producing uses, such as apartments, because they may qualify for historic rehabilitation tax credits and provide long-term financial sustainability. Ultimately, we want whatever use gives the building the greatest chance of surviving for another hundred years.”

Endangered Places continues an online campaign aimed at gaining support to save the house. Anytime someone shares their Facebook or Instagram posts, there’s more opportunity to fulfill the agency’s mission, said Olivarez, citing the increased chance of finding donors, volunteers, or corporate sponsors. Endangered Places has created a website for information and collection of donations: www.endangeredplaces.org. The website includes information about the agency’s mission, ongoing projects, and multiple ways to donate. Contributions go directly toward stabilization efforts, preservation materials, equipment, and other project expenses.

“I chose this house because I believed it still had a chance,” Olivarez said. “If I thought it was beyond saving, I wouldn’t have started.”