108-110 Waverly Ave. Google Maps

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 108-110 Waverly Avenue
Cross Streets: Myrtle and Park avenues
Neighborhood: Wallabout
Year Built: 1886
Architectural Style: Italianate
Architect: Andrew Spence?
Other Buildings by Architect: Frame houses, row houses, stables in many different Manhattan neighborhoods
Landmarked: No

The story: An entry in the Dec. 5, 1885 Real Estate Record and Builder’s Guide intrigued me: “Miss Ashley intends to build two three-story and basement brick and stone flats, 16.8x55x73 each, at Nos. 108 and 110 Waverly Avenue, at an estimated cost of $30,000. The plans are being drawn up by Andrew Spence of Manhattan.” I went to see if the houses were indeed built, and there they were. The dimensions were the same, although they didn’t look like classic flats buildings, they looked like single family brownstones. But that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of flats were built to look like single family homes during this time period.

Women appear as developers every once in a while on the pages of the Real Estate Record or the newspapers, in the late 19th century. One rare occasions they are true partners with their husbands, but more often than not, wives are merely fronts for their husbands. Taking advantage of the polite Victorian upper-class disdain for suing a woman, or dragging her into court, many developers used their wives as shields against bankruptcy or lawsuits. Of course, as this practice continued, the courts and creditors stifled their chivalry, and filed suit anyway.

But every once in a big while, a rarity would occur and a woman would be on her own in the real estate and development business. MISS Ashley, not even a married woman, would have been that rarity. Since the papers did not give her first name, I was unable to track her down any further, for the sake of this piece. There are just too many Ashleys. But then the property appears again the following year, with a man getting the credit, and perhaps for different buildings all together.

The Brooklyn Eagle announced in July of 1886 that “S. A. Ogleby got a permit to build two three story brown stone dwellings 16.8×68 at 108 and 110 Waverly Avenue, the cost of which is estimated at $16,000.” It would appear that Miss Ashley sold or otherwise transferred her plots to Mr. Ogleby. Sounds very Jane Austin-like, somehow. In checking the lives of the occupants of these houses as they appear in the newspapers, it also does not seem that the houses were flats buildings. They both appear to be single family houses that didn’t stay that way for very long.

In 1894, the parlor and ground floor of 110 was rented by the Rev. Zeno K. Durchman. He worked with sailors and other transients at the Danish Mission in Lower Manhattan. He had gone to bed as usual one December night, but the next morning he awoke to find his pants, which he usually draped over a chair opposite his bed, were on the floor. Further investigation led him to find that $100 and a silver watch that had belonged to his deceased wife was also missing. They had been locked in his bureau drawer, which was now open. His keys, usually in his pants pockets were also gone. A thief had known exactly what he was looking for, and had come into the house, and robbed him while he slept.

His housekeeper, who had her bedroom downstairs, heard someone tap on the window, but it happened around 3 in the morning, and since the sound wasn’t repeated, she fell asleep again. Another tenant upstairs said that she had heard the doorbell ring at that same hour, but since the minister was often called upon in the middle of the night, she too, fell back asleep. No one saw the burglar slip in or leave. Police surmised the thief had been in the house before, and knew the pastor’s habits and where he kept his valuables. Sure enough, two weeks later, the police arrested a transient Danish sailor who had been staying at the Mission where Rev. Durchman worked. It turned out he had been to the house on several occasion, doing odd jobs. He confessed to the theft, and the watch and most of the money was returned.

This part of Wallabout became really run down, and for a long time, both houses were empty. As of last year, 110 Waverly was still empty and boarded up. The houses in the neighborhood have been slowly rehabbed or replaced by new construction. This side of the block is broken up by more lots and a mixture of residential and industrial buildings, such as the large warehouse/garage only a couple of lots down. 108 Waverly was rehabbed in 2012-13, and is now condos. There appear to be five units. Somehow the sign advertising “Luxury condos” next door to an abandoned building comes off as ironic, at best. They are nice looking facades and clean up nicely. Unfortunately the tree on the sidewalk was cut down. Trees can add a lot to even the dreariest block. GMAP

(Photo: Google Maps)

Photo: Christopher Bride for Property Shark
Photo: Christopher Bride for PropertyShark
Photo: Alex Siu for Property Shark
Photo: Alex Siu for PropertyShark

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