In Historic Vote, LPC Unanimously Designates Lady Moody House and Park Slope Extension

It’s a big week for preservationists. In a monumental move for the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the commission voted to designate eight backlogged sites as official city landmarks on Tuesday, April 12 — including Brooklyn’s Lady Moody House and Green-Wood Cemetery’s Fort Hamilton Parkway Entrance and Cemetery Chapel — in addition to expanding Park Slope’s historic district to encompass another 292 buildings.

Completed in 1877, the Fort Hamilton Parkway Entrance to Green-Wood Cemetery was designed by Richard Mitchell Upjohn, and includes various gates and a Visitors’ Lounge. The chapel, meanwhile, is a 1913 Gothic gem with Beaux-Arts massing. It was designed by the Warren & Wetmore architectural firm, responsible for various other New York City stunners such as Grand Central Terminal.

It took the commission only four minutes to come to unanimous agreement that Gravesend’s Van Sicklen House — also known as the Lady Moody House — deserved historic designation, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

“Non-designation could lead to the loss of this resource,” Commissioner Michael Devonshire commented on the home’s merits, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.

The home, located at 27 Gravesend Neck Road and built in the Dutch Colonial style, is thought to have been constructed between 1659 and 1663, or possibly as late as 1700, making it one of the oldest homes in Brooklyn. Despite 20th century alterations, the Lady Moody house has never been moved from its site and contains much original material, including portions of the cellar walls that date from an earlier house constructed in the 1600s.

The initials of Thomas Hicks are carved into a beam in the living room, and tunnels below the home protected the community during the Indian wars of 1646 to 1645.

Moving on to Park Slope, the LPC unanimously approved the designation of 292 buildings as a part of the the Park Slope Historic District Extension II. Located in the north of Park Slope, the extension consists mostly of single-family row houses and apartment houses built between approximately 1850 and the early 20th century. Included in this swath of buildings is the St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church Complex, built in 1872, at the corner of Sterling Place and 6th Avenue.

The Park Slope designation marked the 139th historic district and extension citywide.

It is difficult to say which vote — for the Lady Moody House, Green-Wood Chapel and entrance, or Park Slope Historic District Extension II — represents the most significant designation for Brooklyn.

The hearing was part of a much longer and larger process of clearing out the LPC backlog.

Which do you think was the most important item the LPC voted on today? Let us know in the comments.

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