Building of the Day: 155-159 Lafayette Avenue -- Unusual Flats by an Unsung Architect

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Flats buildings
Address: 155-159 Lafayette Avenue
Cross Streets: Carlton Avenue and Adelphi Street
Neighborhood: Fort Greene
Year Built: 1897
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival with Palladian and Classical details
Architect: Frank Bosworth
Other Buildings by Architect: Was not able to find any
Landmarked: Yes, part of Fort Green Historic District (1978)

The story: The architect of these two twin flats buildings was an unknown named Frank Bosworth. He would have loved the Internet, because it takes only one real estate ad to create a tsunami of positive hype for oneself that is still rather amazing even in this day of jaded Internet use — as our story will show.

When I looked up Frank Bosworth, to see if he had designed anything else, I got a flood of entries. The only problem was that they were all copies of one listing for one of the larger apartments in the building, first run in 2014.

The real estate broker had described the building as being built by “famed architect Frank Bosworth.” Because that description was repeated by all the sites that rerun the listings, “famed architect Frank Bosworth” finally got his 15 minutes of, well…fame. An entire page of Frank Bosworth mentions. Unfortunately for us architect geeks, that was it.

Mr. Bosworth remains a cypher, an unknown in the pantheon of Brooklyn architects.

He doesn’t turn up in the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, either. There are many entries for Frank Bosworth in the Brooklyn Eagle. Unfortunately, they all refer to Frank Bosworth the boxer, a pugilist of some popularity and skill in Brooklyn in the years between 1885 and 1895. Frank Bosworth the architect – no.

At any rate, he is on record for these two buildings. They are obviously much later than their neighbors, and were built in 1897. (Most of the surrounding buildings date from the 1850s through 1870s.)

Incidentally, the Bosworth flats buildings replaced a handsome mansion that once stood at 155 Lafayette Avenue. The Brooklyn Eagle reported in 1885 that this was the home of Thomas H. Brush. The Brush family hosted social events here for their church, the Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church.

Photo: Google Maps

In 1888, the Eagle wrote a piece on interior decoration, and praised William A. Brush for his elegant wall and ceiling décor in his study and dining room. Mr. Brush had his walls papered in the latest, a Lincrusta-like covering that resembled fine leather. It coordinated well with his walnut wainscoting.

But that’s all gone.

Frank Bosworth designed two mirror image twin flats buildings in a Renaissance Revival style. The buildings are a good story taller than their neighbors. He mixed all kinds of stylistic details here, including the prominent Greek key friezes and entry porches with Ionic columns supporting heavy porticos.

Photo: Scott Bintner for PropertyShark

He’s got Palladian style windows on the second floors, just above the entries, and two large three sided bays in the center. Tying both buildings together is a large bracketed cornice, as well as the band of stone running along the ground floor.

It’s really a bit of a design mess, but it holds together well because Bosworth used complementary materials and the scale of the buildings is good. The various design elements work to create apartments that are airy and seem to be wide and generous. Part of that is his client’s targeted audience.

The developer was a man named G. R. Barteaux. The building was marketed and rented out to well-to-do people.

Ad in Brooklyn Eagle, 1916

Over the next generation, the newspapers note the weddings, funerals, vacations and summer homes of many of the residents. Today, according to PropertyShark, there are 35 units in the buildings. I don’t know how that’s possible, unless most of them are studios. I don’t think Frank Bosworth anticipated that.

Photo: Google Maps

(Top photograph: Christopher Bride for PropertyShark)