Crown Heights North Brooklyn -- 578 Lincoln Place History
Photo by Suzanne Spellen

The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.

Address: 578 Lincoln Place, between St. Francis Place and Franklin Avenue
Name: Private House
Neighborhood: Crown Heights North (Crow Hill)
Year Built: Unknown
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival
Architects: Unknown
Landmarked: No

This house is wedged into a small pie shaped lot between two apartment buildings. I was attracted to it for several reasons.

On a block with some colorful paint jobs, this house draws the eye because of the creamy white with the golden wheat color of the trim and ground level, but also because of the architecture.

Crown Heights North Brooklyn -- 578 Lincoln Place History
Map via Property Shark

This is a wide little house: 27.33 feet. It’s only 35 feet deep, but has three levels and is listed as a two family.

The architecture packs a punch worthy of a much taller and larger building. The keystones above the windows are quite large and well done, and then there is that cornice.

Swags, floral arrangements, and cartouches. The wreaths ringed through brackets, which are really well done, are then echoed on the second story brackets in a simplified form.

Sometimes paint jobs done to highlight architectural ornament are really a mistake. This works because the colors, although striking, are harmonious, and the elements chosen to be painted, such as the lintels, the basement level, the entire keystones, along with the cornice, all balance out.

They could have easily blown it by painting the doors, or the ornamental stone on the sides, or the window frames.


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