Front Page Forum: 1375 Dean Back on the Market

Because this is an old and historic house, the good thing in figuring out a true restoration is that there may be historic photos and information that would aid the owner, architect, restoration crew, and LPC. There certainly is the tax photo, so one could get an idea of the porch, fencing, etc, that existed in the 1940's. Some research at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the library, even the Museum of the City of NY may turn up earlier photos, drawings and/or descriptions. The LPC report on this house is full of clues and details, as they did all of the above research for their report. This is available on line through the LPC website.

According to that report, which is fascinating to history/arch geeks such as myself, the house is typical of the mid 19th century country villas built all over NYC's suburban areas, which this was at the time. The porch is orginal and typical of the type seen in these country houses, and is an essential element of the style. The house is a Greek Revival/Italianate blend, and was probably designed to be similar to the houses of Dowland and others, all conforming to that ideal of a genteel country retreat.

As to the restoration costs, I have no clue. Part of the puzzle would be removing modern "repairs" to see what's underneath, and taking it from there. These houses were not complicated in facade, so I don't think it would be too hard for an imaginative architect to draw upon past evidence, such as existing drawings and photos, ghosts on the original woodwork, and stylistic clues from other homes of the type. A period style fence could also easily be designed from historic sources. All of this, of course will be costlier than a regular renovation, but for committed people, it would be worth every cent.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 18, 2008 11:12 AM

Ooohhhhh, just noticed my pet peeve: realtors who know nothing about styles of architecture, local history, or research.

It would take no time at all to figure out this house is older than the surrounding brownstones, so that date of 1910 is crap. It would take even less time to look up the house and realize that it had historic provenance and a name, thereby leading to a quick Google search to discover the LPC report, or even mention on Brownstoner, and discover that the house was actually built around 1856, not 1910. Big differnce, there.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 18, 2008 11:16 AM

BRG, the entire neighborhood was calendered to be landmarked, within months of when this house was slated to be torn down for condos. The LPC had been aware of the house at least as far back as 1976, when the intitial survey of Crown Heights North was done by Andrew Dolcart and the LPC research team. I have a copy of that survey, and it was common knowledge in the preservation community that this was the oldest standing home in CHN. Between '76 and 2004, or so, we lost the 2nd oldest house, which was on Bergen, between NY and Brooklyn Ave, a great old Italianate woodframe, complete with cupola. It was replaced by 3 pink brick Fedders specials.

While we, at the Crown Heights North Association, were getting ready to celebrate the upcoming designation, which we had worked on for years, we found out that permits had been drawn up to demolish the house. We contacted LPC, which was able to get it stopped. They individually landmarked the house, which is much easier to get through committee. The report for the house was easy to write, as all of the research was done for the larger CHN report, and they had all of the research done in '76 to aid them.

As I said on the Forum post, I don't feel bad about stopping the owner from demolishing his property. Landmarking was a done deal, paperwork from LPC had been sent several times to every homeowner in the area telling us about landmarking, hearings and community meetings had taken place. The house was an occupied SRO, and was quickly emptied in order to tear it down before the designation, so he was trying to pull a fast one.

We haven't lost much since the Bergen Street house was demolished, I can think of only one house, currently with a stop work order, that was torn down since. That one is on St. Johns Place, a street that is in Phase 2 of landmarking, and was to have been calendered right after Phase 1 was declared, but lost out to other districts. There was no time to declare that one separately, which also would have been harder, as there is not the same historic precedent or significance. Landmarking is keeping Crown Heights North intact for future generations to restore and preserve.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 18, 2008 11:50 AM

I know the DOB site has ridiculous dates, due to a fire, and probably other human errors, as well, NorthHeights. It just gets me that if I was selling real estate, like any other product, I would make it my business to get to know something about that product. If I were selling houses, I would do some research on the history of the area, architectural styles, and interior styles. I can't tell you the ignorance I've seen from people selling properties in this city.

If I was buying a Lamborgini, I'd expect the salesperson to know everything possible about the car, so that he/she could tell me why it was worth a huge amount of money. I'd want to know about the history of the company, the designer, as well as the car itself. What's more expensive than a house? I've heard RE agents tell people that sinks in the dressing room areas of brownstones were there because there was no running water anywhere else in the house. They quote dates that don't make sense in regards to the history of the area, the houses themselves and just common sense. Some of the explanations I've heard about architectural detail would make you cry.

Argh!!! Like I said, it's a pet peeve. I'm a little irrantional about it.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 18, 2008 12:25 PM

Eh, spelled Lamborghini wrong. Guess that shows I'll never have one.

Nevermind.

BRG, I've never been inside, which I may see if I can rectify. On the face of it, I'd be loathe to see it chopped up, even if not much detail remains. I wouldn't want to see more than two units, no matter what. But that would be preferable to seeing it empty, and then decay even further. I'm hoping BrookLynn and her husband get it.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 18, 2008 12:29 PM

Gyp Bd? I'd have to have the walls replastered. I'm with you, my friend.

What I love about this style of house is that the rooms are open and flow into each other. One could do an historic restoration and still be able to decorate in a modern manner without it looking out of place. I, too, would love to have the bucks to do this right, myself.

Mega Millions is over 70M, today, I believe.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 18, 2008 12:53 PM