Building of the Day: 33-43 Strong Place

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 33-43 Strong Place
Cross Streets: Kane and DeGraw Streets
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: 1891
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: Cobble Hill is an old neighborhood, with the majority of its housing stock dating back to the 1840’s and 50’s. So when you get a group of houses in that new modern Queen Anne style of the 1890’s, they stand out. This group is perfect for its location, and an excellent example of how a later brand of symmetry can complement a much earlier form of Italianate and Greek Revival repetition.

This group of six houses was built in 1891. The architect is unknown, but we do know that the houses were built for Louis Lehn, who lived in the larger Italianate right next door at 45 Strong Place. All of them are 16.75 feet wide, and function best if looked at as a larger unit, made of smaller symmetrical parts. The two houses on each end have very charming large gables and tall peaked roofs, with unique second story pointed bays. The houses also have a small bit of ornamental terra-cotta, but are in general, very subdued for Queen Anne row houses. The two center houses actually give an illusion of width to the entire group, and are much plainer, with flat fronts and flat rooflines. All of the houses are joined by the use of a single window at the parlor level and matching doors and stairs, although some have been altered over the years.

These houses were for upper middle class people; two of the houses at least were originally owned by merchants. Number 33 belonged to Walter S. Bailey, who was an importer of teas and coffee. He was co-owner of a company called Booth & Bailey. The owner of 37 was also a merchant, Claude H. Mulhorn. Number 35 turned over a lot, being offered for rent in 1897 and again in 1902. Earlier, in 1892, the house belonged to one Otto Reiner, who complained to the Brooklyn Eagle about the introduction of electric trolley lines and cars in the neighborhood.

The neighborhood must have really been buzzing with the news coming out of number 39 Strong Place. In 1897, the owner, William Paul Gerhard was told that he had been left a fortune by some unknown and distant German relative that he had never met. A “sanitary engineer”, during the War to a Colonel Waring, Mr. Gerhard was supposed to receive $90,000. He seemed to have a very level and clear head about the whole thing, and told the paper that he didn’t think he would actually get anything, as they had a lot of details wrong, and he was probably not the right man. Unfortunately, that proved to be the case, but in his fifteen minutes of fame, Mr. Gerhard was a rich man. If his relatives and descendants had managed to hold on to the house, they wouldn’t be doing too badly either. GMAP