Back in the Day, Brooklyn Had Mayors and One Had a Great Clinton Hill Mansion

This brick and brownstone mansion at 405 Clinton Avenue, built in 1889 by renowned architect William Tubby for one of the last mayors of Brooklyn, fell into disrepair in the 1970s. It sold in 2009 for $1,750,000, was renovated and sold again in 2014 for $6,500,000. Here is what Brownstoner columnist Suzanne Spellen said about it:

Here’s the house of a German immigrant who made it to the big time – the Mayor of Brooklyn. He was one of the last mayors of Brooklyn, actually. His name was Charles Adolph Schieren, and this enormous, late Victorian pile was his home. It was built here on Clinton Avenue, at the time, the Gold Coast of Brooklyn, home to wealthy manufacturers, oil men, and financiers.

Schieren commissioned William Tubby to design this mansion, suitably large and impressive enough for his status. Tubby gave Schieren a grand mansion of brick and brownstone, with a deep arched porch, with brownstone balusters and columns. The house is a Queen Anne style massing of shapes and materials, with a very interesting patinated copper oriel on the side, and a steeply pitched roof of Mediterranean tile, fronted by a Flemish gable.

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