Building of the Day: 897-925 Sterling Place

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row Houses
Address: 897-925 Sterling Place
Cross Streets: Nostrand and New York Avenues
Neighborhood: Crown Heights North
Year Built: 1894
Architectural Style: Romanesque and Renaissance Revivals
Architect: Dahlander and Hedman
Other Buildings by Architect: Together and separately, row houses and flats buildings in Crown Heights North, Bedford Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Heights, Prospect Heights, Park Slope. Hedman also in Crown Heights South and Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
Landmarked: Yes, part of Phase II of Crown Heights North HD (2011)

The story: This row of fifteen houses was designed by the Swedish tag team of Magnus Dahlander and Axel Hedman. Both architects came to the US to pursue their careers, and both contributed greatly to streetscape of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods. Dahlander was here for only eight years before going back to Sweden, and he did more in that time than architects who were practicing here for fifty years. Hedman was even more prolific, designing literally hundreds of row houses and flats buildings, many of which were here in Crown Heights North. The two men partnered for a couple of years, and worked together and separately for some of Brooklyn’s most successful developers, including William Reynolds, Charles Betts and Eli Bishop.

This row is a nuanced combination of both the Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival styles of architecture. Dahlander was a master of the former, and Hedman, the latter. They combined to design a row that combines elements of both, with several different styles alternating along the row. The most striking features are the six third floor oriels in cast metal, with classical columns and finials. These houses also have pressed metal cornices with classical garlands and festoons. Other houses are more Romanesque in nature, with arched windows and carved Byzantine Leaf ornament.

The row was designed for developer Faustino Lozano, one of his few ventures into real estate. He was a prominent cigar manufacturer, a partner in Lozano Pendas & Co., makers of fine Havana cigars. They also imported and exported tobacco. The company had a large cigar factory on Pearl Street in Manhattan until 1889, when they moved their operation to Tampa, Florida. They maintained that plant for many years and also had a large plantation operation in Cuba. Faustino Lozano ran the New York part of the business, were the cigars and tobacco were wholesaled, while his partner, Enrique Pendas, stayed in Florida and Cuba. The Lozano family lived on Lefferts Place, in a large five story brownstone.

The group of 15 homes sold well, and by 1899, there were only two left, numbers 913 and 923. Mary Lozano, Faustino’s daughter, ended up living in 913 after her marriage to Robert Leary. She lived here for the rest of her life, passing away in 1950. The entire row was initially populated by well-to-do people, all of whom advertised for all kinds of servants in the first decade of the houses’ histories. From the notices of social activities, deaths and marriages, they ran the gamut of professions, including lawyers, bankers, politicians and doctors.

Dr. R.B. Anderson, in 925, was the Medical Examiner for the Street Cleaning Department for Brooklyn and Queens. George A. Morrison, who owned 911, was a multi-termed Alderman from this, the 59th Assembly District. He served in the early ‘teens. Lawyer Edward Perry lived at 909, while Wilbur Smith, of the East River National Bank, lived at 901. Emil Seiferts opened his New Music School at 901 in 1914. Many of these people were well off enough to summer in the country, an activity that was always noted in the society pages of the Brooklyn papers.

Probably the most interesting character in the row was Arthur D. Howden Smith, who lived at 907 Sterling. He was one of those adventurous individuals who wandered around the world ala Hemingway. Smith found himself in the Balkan States during their fight with the Turks, and ended up with a band of Macedonians up in the highlands. He wrote a book about his adventures, which was published and made the rounds in New York. He also traveled to Africa and supervised the killing of a lot of elephants for ivory. There is a photo of him perched on a mountain of tusks. I’ll have to write more about him later.

The houses didn’t start to have ads in the papers advertising rooms or apartments for rent until the mid-1920s, and the Depression. The ads for live-in servants had long ended by then. The row still looks great, and is pretty much intact, one of the many great Crown Heights blocks that make up the large Historic District. GMAP

Please join Morgan Munsey and myself for a walking tour of Crown Heights North tomorrow at 11 am. The tour is sponsored by the Municipal Arts Society, and tickets are available on their website. Unfortunately, this block is not on the tour, but we’ll be highlighting many of the neighborhood’s fine streetscapes and landmarks. I hope you’ll join us on what looks to be a fine late spring day.


(Photo:S. Spellen)