Building of the Day: 259-61 Cumberland Street

Editors note: An updated version of this post can be viewed here.

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 259-261 Cumberland Street
Cross Streets: DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues
Neighborhood: Fort Greene
Year Built: 1876
Architectural Style: Transitional Italianate/Neo-Grec
Architect: Thomas H. Brush
Other Buildings by Architect: Brush was more a builder than architect, with row houses and other buildings in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bedford.
Landmarked: Yes, part of Fort Greene Historic District (1978)

The story: People become successful housing developers by getting the most out of a piece of property. Thomas H. Brush, who was the owner, architect and builder of these houses, and many others in Brooklyn, understood this well. He was in possession of a 25 foot plot of land on Cumberland Street between DeKalb and Lafayette Avenue in 1875, when Fort Greene was in the middle of a great building boom. He could have built a handsome 25 foot wide mansion on this lot, it would not have been too unremarkable here, but he chose differently. He built two 12.5 foot wide brownstones instead.

Acting as his own architect, and possessing a fine sense of balance and proportion, he divided the property in two. He designed them to look like one large house by placing the doorways on the ends of the plot, allowing an unrelieved bank of windows on the upper stories and a shared cornice to give the illusion of much larger homes. He gave his houses wide brownstone shelves and lintels, and framed the doors and windows with heavy molded sills. They eye carries upward, and then across, creating the illusion of one big house that just happens to have two doorways.

But in reality, there are two very narrow houses here, among the narrowest in Brooklyn. The houses have a center staircase, maximizing the floor space in the front and back rooms. 261 sold in 2012 and there are still photographs of the interior on the Corcoran website, showing the layout of the rooms and a floorplan.

Life in a narrow house has some getting used to, although it didn’t faze the Victorians. They probably stuffed their large furniture and low hanging paintings and lots of drapery in both houses anyway. When Miss Mattie Towers died in 1897, her funeral was held in her home at 259 Cumberland. That was probably a crowded affair. Miss Towers probably had a nice parlor window view, with the mourners gathered from the front parlor to the back of the house.

The family of Edward Ostrom lived for many years in 261, beginning around 1901. They were well-off enough for the son’s wedding to make the society pages of the Eagle and the Brooklyn Life society pages. Edward Ostrom was many things, during his life. His father had been a prominent Brooklyn banker. He was one of the first members of Company C of the elite 23rd Regiment. He taught a bible class for young men for 50 years in his capacity as the superintendent of the Mayflower Mission, part of the ministry of Plymouth Church. He was also a professional curmudgeon. He was one of those people who were always writing to the newspapers, complaining about something.

He wrote complaining in 1903 that the coal chutes in the new Post Office building downtown on Washington Street were too small. When coal was delivered, the wagons took forever to empty because the men couldn’t get that much coal down the chutes at one time. Consequently, there were huge traffic jams on Washington Street whenever coal was delivered. Ostrom wrote to the Brooklyn Eagle to complain. They printed it, and Ostrom received a letter from the Postmaster that thanks to his complaint, this would be fixed and larger coal chutes would be installed.

Emboldened by his new power, Ostrom’s next target was closer to his heart – Christianity. In 1907, the Board of Ed had received many complaints by non-Christians about school celebrations of Christmas. They wanted to eliminate children being forced to sing religious carols in class and assemblies. The B of E was considering it, as it was a clear separation of Church and State issue. Ostrom was one of many writers who were incensed that a religious Christmas would be banned from schools. He wrote in and complained, as did many others, both pro and con on the issue. Who said there was anything new under the sun?

Finally, in 1917, he opined once more to the Eagle, complaining about the ingredients that bakers were putting into their breads. He accused bakers of pulling off a massive “humbug” on the public. He noted that flour rose in part because of the gluten in the flour. The more gluten, the more the loaf reacted to the yeast, and the higher and fluffier it rose. He accused bakers of taking advantage of World War I shortages and war programs and cheating the consumer by not using more gluten.

He said that the humbug came when bakers protested that they could not sell a loaf for ten cents, as had been the wont, because of the war. In actuality, he said, they were instead making huge profits by passing all of their higher costs on to the consumer. He wanted it stopped. He did have a point. Unfortunately, his complaining days ended in 1923, when he died at the age of 76. Good or bad, Mr. Ostrom’s work continues. Letters to the editor are still extremely popular. He would have loved the comment sections on newspapers and blogs.

GMAP