Huge, Historic Henry Street Property Sells
This is big news that can’t wait for next week’s Biggest Sales post…A unique, roughly 100-by-200-foot property at the corner of Henry and Kane Streets in Cobble Hill has just changed hands for $5,400,000. In addition to 200-foot deep side yard (with a large parking lot on Strong Place) the plot includes two double-wide brick…
This is big news that can’t wait for next week’s Biggest Sales post…A unique, roughly 100-by-200-foot property at the corner of Henry and Kane Streets in Cobble Hill has just changed hands for $5,400,000. In addition to 200-foot deep side yard (with a large parking lot on Strong Place) the plot includes two double-wide brick townhouses that, according to the LPC report, were most likely built in 1848. When we stopped by, we couldn’t exactly tell what was up with the property. The buildings, which are architecturally gorgeous, seem to be in decent structural shape, but still look a bit shabby with some of the windows broken. The buyers live in the neighborhood, at 27 Strong Place, and there doesn’t appear to be any sort of development company involved. Anyone know the history of these two properties? Looks like a pretty good investment to us. Update: Lost City has done previous detective work and confirms the site was once a convent. See here for a post about the wall surrounding the lot, and here for a picture of the backyard inside it. GMAP
What makes the property even more curious is the large grove of bamboo on the north west corner of the property- indicated by the lighter green in the Google satellite view. The unusual fourth “bay” was likely a reception or receiving room.
What is the consensus regarding two house together?
Is a bundle of two attached houses worth more than the two individually? I could imagine a condo development that spanned both properties.
I have looked into the hallways of these buildings many times, and as near as I can tell, they are similar laid out to a 25′ wide building, except they have another set of smaller rooms off the other side of the stairwell.
From LPC report…
The northernmost three houses (Nos. 439 – 445 ) provide a handsome terminus for this block. They were built as early as 1848, with the two mansards added later in the century. On the basis of the windew alignment, these three houses, though on different sized lots, were built as a row.
Except for the mansard, Nos. 439 and 44l are pairs. Each is unusually large, being four windows wide with the entrance off center. They retain their mid-century proportions and long parlor windows. The stoops have
interesting later ironwork. The mansard added to No. 44l in the 1860s has three pedimented dormers and rests on a cornice supported by an unusual closely serrated row of brackets. This north end of the block running through
to Strong Place was assembled in 1846-1848 by John Van Nostrand, grocer-merchant of New York City. He made his residence at No. 44l. James Van Nostrand, president of the Merchants Exchange Bank of New York, made his residence in 1848 at No. 439. which had a large garden. Both houses now comprise the Convent of the Infant Jesus, with a total frontage on Henry Street of 101 feet, including the spacious walled garden along Kane Street.
This building is a fascinating case study in neighborhood evolution. As “Carol Gardens” notes, at the turn of century, before this was bought by the Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor (and later the Hare Krishnas), it was the location of the Swedish Engineers’ Club, which reflected the Scandinavian population in the neighborhood. They had meetings, lectures, dinners, and other events. Swedes were centered around Atlantic Avenue, which according to the Eagle was once known as the “Swedish Broadway” (though other nationalities probably also claimed it), while Norwegians and other Scandinavians seem to have clustered further south toward Red Hook, along the waterfront and in today’s Carroll Gardens. Many of the Norwegians moved to Bay Ridge and then to Staten Island and New Jersey. Many Swedes were shipbuilders, mechanics, and in technical trades, hence the formation of the engineers’ association. The Club was founded on Sackett Street in the late 1880s before moving to 439 Henry (this building) a few years later, and then it moved to Hicks Street and Manhattan. I believe it evolved into the American Society of Swedish Engineers, which is still active.
I remember a Swedish restaurant on Atlantic near Hicks but it disappeared in the 1980s or perhaps early 1990s. I never ate there, but was always curious.
randi, not being very photogenic, you have nothing to worry about
I did some digging, just for fun. This house was once owned by John J. Van Nostrand. Very old NY family, probably somehow related to the guy who inspired Nostrand Avenue.
Van Nostrands seem to have mixed it up with Remsens and Middaghs and Gardiners and other established fancy families.
when these houses were new, they must have been palatially appointed inside. They look like they housed very prominent families who wanted to live a little distance away from the more congested parts of the Heights. This part of what is now Cobble Hill must have had a great deal of wide open land in 1848.
What guy? It’s called Google Earth.
does anyone else find it troubling that this guy just roams around and takes pictures over people’s fences??? a bit of an invasion of privacy if you ask me.