BOTD

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Private house
Address: 77 Prospect Place
Cross Streets: Sixth and Flatbush Avenues
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: original building – late 1880s, current building – 2004.
Architectural Style: Post Modern?
Architect: Original – Unknown, Transformation – Baumann Architects
Landmarked: No

The story: There is a huge hunk of undiscovered information about this building out there, and hopefully this will be one of those times where the Brownstoner community can fill in the blanks. I’ll tell you what we’ve got, though, and it’s pretty interesting, in terms of tracing the development of a building, as well as the development of a neighborhood.

77 Prospect Place shows up in a 1907-08 map of Brooklyn, as a brick structure; the first in a small group of similar structures on this very short street, in between Sixth Avenue and Flatbush. From the outline of the building on the map, they look like small one or two story houses, or more than likely, carriage houses. A photo from 1972 bears that out. A check in the Brooklyn Eagle is no help, no entries there, in the digitized editions up to 1902. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 611-655 Carroll Street
Cross Streets: Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: 1889
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: A.E. White
Other Buildings by Architect: Row houses on Dean Street, and elsewhere, in Crown Heights North, houses in PLG and Bedford Stuyvesant.
Landmarked: Not yet

The story: Alfred E. White was one of the more eclectic and interesting architects who designed in the up and coming later brownstone neighborhoods in Brooklyn. His houses and apartment buildings can be found in Crown Heights North, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Bedford Stuyvesant and Park Slope. His buildings are elegant, solid structures which define their blocks, and it seems that he was a stickler for using the best materials, as his homes, most of which were speculative housing, have passed the years well. In Crown Heights North, for example, his houses on Dean Street, one group between Nostrand and New York, another between New York and Brooklyn Avenues, are among the finest, and most photographed in that part of the historic district.

White established his practice in Brooklyn around 1888-1890, and worked here until at least 1905. He sometimes partnered with George Roosen, especially on his flats buildings. Alfred White was also affiliated with the Architectural Department of the Brooklyn Institute of Art and Science, one of the great training grounds for late 19th century architects, an affiliation that included most of Brooklyn’s best known and accomplished architects. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row Houses
Address: 516-522 Third Street
Cross Streets: Seventh and Eighth Avenue
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: 1929
Architectural Style: Neo-Tudor
Architect: Slee & Bryson
Other Buildings by Architect: Albemarle and Kenmore Terrace, Flatbush, houses in Prospect Park South, Crown Heights North and South, Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Landmarked: Yes, part of Park Slope HD (1973)

The story: These are very attractive houses on one of Park Slope’s finest blocks, but I’m sure the first thing most people think when passing by is “I HATE them, they have GARAGES!” And you would be correct. In fact, I would bet that a survey of all of the houses that Slee & Bryson built in Brooklyn would show that 80%, of them, in all the neighborhoods listed above, have garages. Slee & Bryson were the heralds of the 20th century, and the car was their chariot.

By 1929, when these houses were built, America was a place of immense opportunity and prosperity. Who knew the crash was at the door? World War I was over, we were victorious, of course, and the world was full of the new things made available to the middle class for the first time, including the automobile. Prohibition may have taken some of the surface sass out of the Flapper Age, but for a home buyer in Park Slope, seeking the good life in the city, these houses were the height of modernity and class, and even then, parking was at a premium. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former St. Matthew Evangelical English Lutheran Church, now Mission for Today Holy Tabernacle Church
Address: 306 Sixth Avenue
Cross Streets: Corner 2nd Street
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: 1895
Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival
Architect: LB Valk & Sons
Other Buildings by Architect: 6th Ave. Baptist Church, houses at 21-27 7th Ave in Park Slope. New Utrecht Reformed Church parish house, Bethel 7th Day Adventist Church, Grand Ave, Clinton Hill, Centennial Baptist Church, Adelphi St. Fort Greene.
Landmarked: No

The story: St. Matthew’s Evangelical English Lutheran Church was founded in 1859. It was the first English speaking Lutheran church in Brooklyn. Its parishioners were first and second-generation German immigrants who made the decision to worship in English, another step in becoming mainstream Americans. After leasing space in other churches for many years, they bought this lot in 1895 for the purpose of building a large church for their growing congregation. They hired the firm of L.B. Valk & Sons to design and build their new church home.

The rather battered stone signage on the church declares it to be St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, but the architecture would bear that out, anyway. It is very much one of Martin Luther’s “Mighty fortresses”, a solid and sturdy structure, with a very impressive bell tower and stained glass facades. Brooklyn-based architect Lawrence B. Valk, along with his son, Arthur, were primarily church architects, responsible for many churches in Brooklyn, as well as dotted around the country, from Baltimore to New England and beyond, working from the 1870s through the early 1900s. Here in Brooklyn, their best known buildings are the New Utrecht Reformed Church parish house, a landmarked building, as well as the 6th Ave Baptist Church, right near here. Their most remarked on buildings are not churches, but the group of houses on 7th Avenue and Sterling which includes the wonderful corner house with the oriel tower, the “Lillian Ward” house. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Commercial/office building
Address: 503-509 Fifth Avenue
Cross Streets: 12th and 13th Streets
Neighborhood: Greenwood Heights
Year Built: 1886
Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival/Queen Anne
Architect: Robert Dixon
Landmarked: No

The story: Sometimes a building can be quite architecturally and visually arresting, sometimes whoever messed with them should be arrested. This one is a little bit of both. And frustratingly, sometimes the mysteries just can’t be solved.

Well, let’s see what’s on the surface. The group consists of four buildings, built at the same time, same design, and same architect. The original buildings are a handsome red brick, and whoever designed them architect Robert Dixon put care into them, with interesting brickwork as trim, nicely arched window hoods on the top floor, interesting limestone bandcourses for variety, as well as some nice terra-cotta plaques, which were the first thing to catch my attention. I’m sure, when built, the buildings were capped with a heavy wooden cornice, probably sufficiently ornate, a nice finish to four quality buildings. (more…)