The Beville family descendants are searching for the perfect buyer for the c. 1848 Allen-Beville House, located 13 miles east of Manhattan. (Joseph DeMaria for Station Realty)

For four years, the owners of a Greek revival farmhouse built in Queens, N.Y., in 1848 have refused to sell to a developer. Instead, the descendants of the Beville family, which has owned the Allen-Beville House since 1948, are holding out for a buyer who will use tax credits to finish restoring the five-bedroom house, on the market for $2.85 million.

"They got several offers from developers, and they just wouldn't sell," says Maxine Conlin, one of the listing brokers. "We live in a community that is so incredible, but it's going away because people are allowed to build McMansions."

Located on half an acre, the house is one of three original structures in Douglas Manor, a National Register-listed and city historic district, so new owners cannot alter or demolish it without permission from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

To find the right buyer, the brokers and the local Douglaston Little Neck Historical Society are planning a candlelight tour of the partially restored house on Dec. 11. All proceeds will go to the historical society.

"It's one of those unusual moments when our goal matches the realtors' goal. They want to hunt somebody who wants it for what it is," says Kevin Wolfe, vice president of the historical society, which he co-founded in 1989. "There aren't many houses like this in New York City or in the environs around New York City. It's remarkably rare."

For more information, visit www.allenbeville.com or call (718) 279-4800.

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