Building of the Day: 915 Putnam Avenue

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: 915 Putnam Avenue, between Patchen and Ralph Avenues
Name: Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church complex
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1890
Architectural Style: Neo-Gothic (church) Renaissance Revival (school)
Architects: Unknown
Landmarked: No

It’s not often a parish priest builds his own church, but that’s exactly what the Reverend Eugene P. Mahoney did in 1886.

Inspired to build a church in this then sparsely populated part of the Twenty- Fifth Ward, or the beginnings of the Eastern District, as this area was once called, Father Mahoney called upon his brothers, who were all wealthy builders in Manhattan.

They purchased twelve lots on Madison St. and directly behind on Putnam Ave, during one week, and two weeks later, completed a large one story church, 40×90 feet, which would seat 800.

The church was consecrated with much pomp and ceremony, led by the now famous, Right Rev. Bishop Loughlin. By 1889, the church had a large school, by 1890, a much larger stone church was built on the other side of the original structure, facing Putnam Ave.

Today, Our Lady of Good Counsel has two large school buildings, both used as SRO residences for the formerly homeless, both on Madison St. One building is especially fine, a Renaissance Revival palazzo, with polychrome terra-cotta trim amidst white glazed terra-cotta tiling.

Behind these buildings, the stone church rises above the two and three story row houses in the area, on Putnam, and is a handsome building, built in a very pared down, but elegant, Neo-Gothic style.

The creamy variegated limestone is especially beautiful. The properties also include a convent and rectory. The convent, housed in a large row house at 921 Putnam, was a topic of conversation here several years ago, when it was for sale, although I can’t find the reference, as it came up in the discussion of another property.

Our Lady of Good Counsel grew from a wooden church on donated land, to a very large religious complex, housing the church, two school buildings and residences for both priests and nuns, all located in what was once a very Irish and German neighborhood. The Rev. Mahoney stayed at the helm of his parish until his death, many years later.

[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]