Building of the Day: 46 Grace Court

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Grace Church
Address: 46 Grace Court
Cross Streets: Corner of Hicks Street
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Year Built: 1847-1849
Architectural Style: Ecclesiological Gothic Revival
Architect: Richard Upjohn
Other works by architect: Church of the Pilgrims, Christ Church, Green-Wood Cemetery Main Gate, Brooklyn. Trinity Church, Manhattan.
Landmarked: Yes, part of Brooklyn Heights HD (1965)

The story: Nestled next to some of the most impressive real estate in the Heights is Grace Church, one of Brooklyn Heights’ most important churches, architecturally and historically. Grace Church had its start in Manhattan, and up until the 1840s, Brooklyn members would cross the river on the ferry to make their way there. But after Grace moved uptown to 10th Street and Broadway, its Brooklyn parishioners decided it was time to have their own church close to home. The Heights already had Episcopal churches, but there were enough Grace people to start their own parish, and in 1847, the cornerstone was laid for this magnificent building.

The architect was Richard Upjohn, one of the most important architects of his day, a man who specialized in church architecture, and was an early American proponent of the English Ecclesiological Gothic style. This style, long story short, was part of an entire social movement seen as a return to the high Gothic ideals of Europe’s medieval past, especially in architecture. The Gothic style was seen as the purest of architectural styles, and the churches and other buildings built during this mid-19th century time period, especially in England, were designed to return to the best that the original Gothic style had to offer.

One of the important features was the long chancel, and Grace Church has it, the long length of the church that stretches down Grace Court. The church is made of ashlar cut brownstone, and blends into the streetscape in that particularly urban Brooklyn way, with the many gables, finials, projections, towers, spires, and stained glass windows that make it such a great church.

Like most of the Ecclesiological churches, Grace was built as High Church, much more so than its sister Episcopal churches, like St. Ann’s or Holy Trinity. It remains that way today. Upjohn was able to put a lot of the necessary details he wanted into the interior of the church, most especially the openwork wooden ceiling, which ties it firmly to the Medieval Gothic period. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to hear Gregorian chant here, or smell the incense. It’s a glorious building, and one of the Height’s almost hidden treasures. GMAP