Building of the Day: 105 Montague Street
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: 105 Montague Street, between Henry and Hicks Name: The Montague Apartments Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights Year Built: 1885-86 Architectural…
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: 105 Montague Street, between Henry and Hicks
Name: The Montague Apartments
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Year Built: 1885-86
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architects: Parfitt Brothers
Landmarked: Yes
The Parfitt Brothers were among the best of Brooklyn’s architects. Their buildings appear all over Brownstone Brooklyn. There are several Parfitt Brothers buildings in the Heights, and this one is one of the best.
I especially like the fine terra-cotta ornaments in the form of a grotesque leaning over to see the street below, and the floral bands. The grotesque must have been a private joke, as it can barely been seen from the street.
The Montague was built at a time when residential hotels and the new, upscale apartment buildings were just beginning to take hold. Luxury and space were paramount, and the Montague had both.
The seven floors of the building housed fourteen apartments, fourteen servant’s apartments and an attic party room for tenants. The building had a elevator, and all of the other modern conveniences of the day.
In 1900, Brooklyn Heights Developer Louis Horowitz bought the Montague and converted it into a residential hotel, breaking up the large apartments, increasing the total number of units in the building.
He was aiming for the new, mostly single gentlemen residents, who were swiftly populating gentleman’s flats and hotels across the city. He put a restaurant on the ground floor to service his tenants.
The now faded Hotel Montague on the side of the building is from this time. Today, the building is an eight story, 25 unit co-op. The Parfitt Brothers also designed the similar Berkeley and Grosvenor apartments just down the street from the Montague, their large brick, stone and terra-cotta buildings a dominant presence on Brooklyn Heights’ main street.
[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]
Oh no, Minard! Can’t it be landmarked?
Coincidentally, I came across a reference to this building this morning – in 1890 Frederick J. Stone sold the building to Martin & Brother of NYC for $200,000.
I just want to thank you for pointing out this building. Just love that there are people who love old buildings.
Yes, probably. I do know that quite a few buildings in general (not necessarily only Victorian apartment buildings) were broken up in the Depression to make them more affordable AND keep the buildings from going broke.
I am glad Minard is back! I like his added information on these posts.
And yes, mopar, too bad these elegant buildings are broken up into so many units – to make more money, yes?.
Love the Parfitt Brothers. One of their buildings nearby is very endangered. 186 Remsen Street, built for Abiel Abbot Low, is a six-story Romanesque beauty. It has been vacant for a long time and I think it is on its way out. The historic district boundaries do not quite reach it.
I would have loved to have seen the insides in the building’s heyday.
Too bad so many sprawling, glorious Victorian apartments have been broken up and altered. I wish there were more documentation available about them. They seem so appealing.