Building of the Day: 1132-1140 Bergen Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 1132-1140 Bergen Street, between Nostrand and New York Avenues
Neighborhood: Crown Heights North
Year Built: 1897
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival
Architect: George P. Chappell
Other buildings by architect: Much of Dean St, between Bedford/Nostrand, Prospect Pl. between Nostrand/NY, houses, churches in Park Slope, Clinton Hill, Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Hts North.
Landmarked: Not yet! Part of Phase 2 of CHN HD, to be voted on next week.

The story: The versatility of a great architect like George Chappell is evident in the extensive body of work he did in Crown Heights North. Over the course of his career, which spanned the years between 1880 and 1920, his styles evolved from Romanesque Revival to Queen Anne, to Renaissance Revival. And within those general styles, even more variety was achieved. While there are themes that run through his work, he was inventive enough to keep you guessing, and finding out a building is a Chappell is always a pleasant surprise. Phase 2 of the CHN HD, which includes this block, is going to be chock full of this talented man’s architecture.

This group of houses is very different from most of his Renaissance Revival work. Even before I had ever heard of George Chappell, I’ve admired these houses for their strong classic beauty and pride of place on this block. They’ve always reminded me of the terrace houses of West London, strong and very Classical in detail. These five houses were built as speculative housing for J.O. Carpenter in 1897, and were featured in an ad in the Brooklyn Eagle. The houses were in the St. Marks District, lauded as one of the finest areas of the city, home to some of Brooklyn’s wealthiest people.

The houses are made of Indiana limestone, and are in an ABABA configuration. The differences are subtle, the third floors on the A houses have two windows, capped with pediment lintels supported by brackets, while the B houses have a tripartite window, with a more ornate pediment lintel. These lintels are supported by very ornate brackets and have a center carved cartouche. The side windows had stained glass panels, which are still present in one of the houses. All of the houses have the same doorway; two stone columns support a very substantial carved lintel capped with a rounded pediment. Additional Classical details are found in the colonnettes rising to the cornice line on all of the buildings.

There is little information on the people who lived in these houses for the last 100 plus years, but all of them are well kept. 1138 Bergen was home to a Dr. William Stimpson Hubbard, who practiced from his home for over fifty years, between during his long career between 1894 and 1930. He was on staff at Brooklyn County Hospital, Kings County, and St. Giles the Cripple, only blocks from here. He was also president of the nearby Kings County Medical Society. In 1936, a taxi driver named Emil Stein lived at 1132. He was awarded a medal by the police department for chasing a car full of armed robbers and forcing them to a sidewalk, where they were then captured by police. GMAP

If you are interested in seeing more of Crown Heights North, “Amzi Hill” and I will be leading a walking tour this Saturday, beginning at 11 AM. See morrishillandsparrow.com for more details.