Building of the Day: 515-533 2nd Street, an Elegant Romanesque Revival Row

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 515-533 2nd Street
Cross Streets: 7th and 8th Avenue
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: 1894-1898
Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival
Architect: Robert Dixon, James Nelson, J. L. Allan
Other Buildings by Architect: Robert Dixon was responsible for row houses and flats buildings throughout Brownstone Brooklyn
Landmarked: Yes, part of Park Slope Historic District (1973)

The story: This group of 10 houses is the product of the cooperation of three separate and otherwise unconnected architects. While that has probably occurred in our brownstone neighborhoods more often than we think, this is one of the few documented cases.

The houses were built for a single developer between 1894 and 1898, but were designed by three separate architects who decided to work together to design complementary houses.

The literature is unclear as to the roles Robert Dixon, James Nelson and J. L. Allan played in the design of the houses. Of the three, Robert Dixon is the best known, with a great body of work to his credit, including elsewhere in Park Slope, as well as Bedford Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Heights, Crown Heights North, Prospect Heights and Clinton Hill. He worked in Brooklyn from 1876 until 1903.

Perhaps Dixon laid out the general plan, and the others filled in the details, or the interiors. In any case, this is a beautiful row of houses in the Romanesque Revival style, characterized by the arched windows and doors.

The houses are in Roman brick, a fine brick that lends itself well to elegant understated detail such as the voussoirs above the windows and doors. Adding to the general style are the dog-leg stoops, and the Mediterranean tile roofs.

529 appears to have had an extra story on it from the beginning. A good sales move for a larger family, or perhaps this one was purchased before completion and the addition was worked in at that time. The sale of the house was noted in the Eagle in 1907, with a photograph.

The occupants of the houses were the upscale upper-middle class folk that you would expect: successful merchants, lawyers, etc. They were certainly some stories in this group over the years, ranging from the usual weddings and funerals, as well as at least two stories of thefts from servants or break-ins.

There were sad deaths of those who died suddenly or too young. One man, who lived in 533, died of a stroke while kneeling at prayer at his bedside. His family had gone out of town, and he wasn’t discovered for a couple of days.

In 1923, a well-to-do African American family named DeWitt lived at 529, the house with the extra story. They announced their niece’s engagement in the society column of the New York Age, a New York City-based African American daily paper.

Jumping far ahead to 1946, a World War II vet and his family renting an apartment in 527 found themselves without water or electricity after the landlord turned everything off in order to renovate the building’s other apartments. The landlord was forced to turn the power back on, and was cited for working on Sunday.

But the biggest stories of the group took place in 521 2nd Place. In 1896, an immigrant wash woman was accused of stealing and arrested. She could have disappeared into the system, and because she couldn’t speak English, could have been lost forever, but for the diligence of a district attorney. That story will be told in an upcoming Walkabout.

Meanwhile, in the same house, according to some sources, during the same year, the house was the headquarters of a mild mannered elderly watch repairman who was accused of being the mastermind of a counterfeit coin scheme. That too, is some story. Stay tuned.

Top photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark