Building of the Day: 25 Cranberry Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Semi-detached wood-frame house
Address: 25 Cranberry Street
Cross Streets: Hicks and Willow streets
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Year Built: 1829, or a tad earlier
Architectural Style: Federal
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District (1966)

The story: This is one of the oldest houses in Brooklyn Heights.Looking at this house really helps one imagine what Brooklyn looked like in the first half of the 19th century. Part of the difficulty in doing research here in one of the oldest parts of Brooklyn is that the streets have changed quite a lot over the centuries, and so have the street numbers. When this house was built, sometime around 1829, it was 45 Cranberry Street. The streets were renumbered in 1871, and 45 Cranberry became 25 Cranberry Street.

Back when this was 45 Cranberry, it first appears in the Brooklyn City Directory in 1829. The house belonged to a “Mrs. Bruce,” about whom nothing else is said. In 1842, it was home to Dr. and Mrs. Robert Rosman. They lost their three year old daughter, Jane Alida, on January 5, 1842. The funeral was held at the home.

In 1862, 25 Cranberry belonged to a man named James Heckler. He was, according to the Eagle, “a dealer in surgical instruments.” He was called up as a juror on a murder case that year, but was not empaneled, as he told the court that he had already formed a prejudice against the defendant from what he had heard and read in the papers.

Mr. Heckler died in 1897. His obituary stated that he had lived in this house for 35 years, which meant he bought it before the address change. Heckler’s offices were at 47 Henry Street, and he was very involved in the Freemasons. He was also in the Masonic Veteran’s organization, which meant he probably served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

The obituary noted that he was an attendant, but not a member of Plymouth Church, for 35 years. He was also a staunch Republican, and was most upset that he had been sick, and couldn’t get out to vote in the last election — the first time in his life, since reaching voting age, that he had not been able to vote. After Mr. Heckler passed on, the house belonged to the Rusher family. There’s no real information available after that.

The house was in the news in 2013, when the lot next door was developed, and construction noise and vibrations affected the current owner. She was one of several people interviewed in an article in the New York Times that discussed the hardships of living next to construction. There is a great photo of the house with the article.

The house has great curb appeal. It is one of the iconic Federal style wood-framed houses that survived the constant rebuilding that took place in the Heights over the last two centuries. The house has weathered wooden shingles. It sits on a brick first story, and has two prominent attic dormer windows that look out over the street. Up until recently, there was an empty lot next door, which gave the house a bit of room, but now it’s once again squeezed between two taller neighbors — a strong survivor, to be sure.

(Photograph:Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark)

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