Walkabout: Beverley Road Bruhaha

Prospect Park South was designed to be an exclusive suburban community in the heart of Flatbush. Dean Alvord, the developer of the neighborhood thought of everything in developing his community. As important as the houses themselves, the landscaping of PPS was designed to enhance the neighborhood. Alvord and his landscaper, John Aitken, chose the trees, shrubs and flowers that lined each street, and each median. The success of Prospect Park South inspired other Flatbush neighborhood developers to imitate that exclusive neighborhood’s signature look, from the large houses to the landscaped lawns. For Flatbush builder, Walter R. Lusher, the dream of landscaped property proved to be a large pain in the posterior, as well as an expensive journey. It all takes place in a little development called Matthew’s Park….

Dean Alvord was not alone in thinking that Flatbush was ripe for development as a successful suburban oasis. Other builders, investors, and developers were also buying up the farm lots of Flatbush, and planning communities. By 1897, the neighborhood of Matthew’s Park had been established, comprising the blocks from Beverley Road to Avenue C, Coney Island Avenue to 15th Street. Today, this area is called Beverley Square West. Walter Lusher was a builder, and one of the real estate brokers who helped develop the area. In 1900, he built a house for himself on the corner of East 12th Street and Beverley Road, a large Queen Anne house with a corner tower (photo). (Today, 12th St. is called Westminster Road, and ironically, this house was one of Brownstoner’s Open House Picks this last weekend, which I did not know until I checked on Google.)

Lusher called his house a “pinker” due to the bright pink paint job on the house. He was very proud of it, and in addition to this one, also owned three other houses, one next door to him on 12th St, and a block away on 13th St, two neighboring houses on the corner of that block, now called Argyle Road, and Beverley Rd. Prospect Park South begins right across the street, and Mr. Lusher could not help but notice the nicely graded lawns and luscious plantings there, and indeed, these plantings were his inspiration. At quite some expense to him, $600, according to newspaper accounts, Lusher had all of his properties terraced, to slope down to the sidewalk from the top of the lawns, planted with shrubs and flowers. He built stone steps from the sidewalk to the front porches, and by all accounts, greatly enhanced the curb appeal of all of his properties. Ah, but no good deed goes unnoticed or unpunished.

One of his neighbors, Robert Johnson, lived right down the block on 12th Street. Mr. Johnson, who was a successful printer, had a son, and that son had a bicycle that he liked to ride on the sidewalk. He enjoyed the early 20th century’s equivalent of popping wheelies on his bike right near Mr. Lusher’s new terraced lawn. Apparently, on several occasions, Lusher came outside and chased him away, telling him to practice his stunts in front of his own house. The boy’s father took a dim view of someone telling his child what to do, and in retaliation, went to the Matthew’s Park Improvement Association, the local homeowner’s group, and complained that the terraced lawns protruded out on to the sidewalk and on public property, and were an eyesore. He wanted them removed.

Using the Matthew’s Park Improvement Association as complainant, Robert Johnson brought his allegations to the Department of Highways, which oversaw sidewalks and roads. He said he had the backing of 60 homeowners in the neighborhood. The Highway Department sent out an inspector, John J. Hailey, who wrote out a summons, through the local police station, and on July 29th, 1901, the case came before the court. Armed with maps and yardsticks, the Highway Department argued that the sidewalks near Lusher’s home were only eight feet wide, and that the terraces extended out ten feet, and were thereby an encumbrance. Lusher argued that his 6 stone steps and the planted terraced lawn were an improvement, and that if he was made to change it, then the courts better go over to Dean Alvord’s development, and other Flatbush communities, and start tearing their terraces and steps, as well, because everyone had them. The case was adjourned a total of three times, as the courts were hoping that an out of court settlement could be made. But that was not to be.

In August of 1901, the case was again before the judge, but this time only Lusher’s attorneys were in court. Mr. Lusher, they said, had left the country, and was in Ireland and England on a trip. The Highways Department and the complainant, Mr. Johnson, were incensed, and the formal summons was turned into a formal complaint, and a warrant for Walter Lusher’s arrest was issued.

When he arrived home a month or two later, he was arrested and released, appearing in court that December 1901, to finally end this case. The city again argued that two feet of the terraced lawn protruded out into the public sidewalk, and was a menace to pedestrians. The judge agreed, and Walter Lusher was found guilty of violating a corporation ordinance, and his sentence was suspended upon his promise to remove the landscaping, which he did, with great sadness and reluctance. Robert Johnson, now a man with a cause, stated in court that several other property owners had equally offending violations, and he was going to make sure they were prosecuted, too. His kid and his bike must have really annoyed a lot of people.

A footnote to our piece: In January of 1902, a deed for the smallest piece of real estate in Brooklyn’s history was recorded. The T.B. Ackerman Construction Company, which was developing Beverley Square West, the new name for Matthew’s Park, conveyed to one Walter Lusher, a triangular piece of land measuring one foot by three inches on each side. This land was located in front of one of Lusher’s properties on the new Argyle Road, formerly 13th St. it was thought to be part of the plots Lusher had bought from the Matthews Family earlier, but a perusal of all of those land maps during the trial taught him the value of better-safe-than-sorry. The small sliver of land had been included in a verbal agreement, not a document, so for the price of drawing up the plans, Walter Lusher made sure this part of his lawn was really, truly, his. And now he had papers to prove it.

Photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark