Building of the Day: 74 Halsey Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Rowhouse
Address: 74 Halsey Street
Cross streets: Nostrand Avenue and Arlington Place
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year built: 1886
Architectural style: Queen Anne
Architect: Rudolph Daus
Other buildings by architect: 13th Regiment (Sumner) Armory, Bed Stuy. 176 and 178 St. Johns Place, Park Slope. Lincoln Club, Clinton Hill. NY&NJ Telephone Building, Downtown Brooklyn.
Landmarked: Not yet, but soon. Hopefully, very soon.

If you look at any architectural guide that includes Bed Stuy, this house is always there. It’s unique, eye catching and extremely well done. The house is a testament to the great craftsmen and artisans who worked on Bedford Stuyvesant’s buildings, making it one of the most architecturally interesting and significant neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

The Mexican-born German-American architect Rudolph Daus certainly went the extra mile for this commissioned one-of-a-kind house. On first glance, the obvious: the magnificent wrought iron railings, the impressive ironwork on the balcony, the decorative brickwork. Look a little closer: the massing of shapes, with the center bay highlighted by half columns, the beautiful support bracket. One can only assume the base material is brownstone; it’s been painted for years and years.

Also noteworthy are the arched windows on the parlor floor, nestled between the bay, the entire mansard-roof top floor, and the perfectly balanced peaked dormers, decorated with deep set brackets. If you look really closely, you can see Daus channeled his inner Viking, with carved lion heads, like a ship’s prow, on two overhanging beams.

All of these elements produce a home unlike any other on the block, or in the entire neighborhood. When will these masterpieces be landmarked and protected, so future generations can get just as much enjoyment from them as we do today? Hopefully within the next year. GMAP

(Originally posted 08/13/10)