Cobble Hill

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Jenny Jerome Birthplace (but not)
Address: 426 Henry Street
Cross Streets: DeGraw and Kane Streets
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: 1840’s
Architectural Style: Greek Revival
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: When’s an historic birthplace not an historic birthplace? When it’s here. For many years, this unassuming four story brick Greek Revival house has been called the Jenny Jerome House, and it has an official plaque to prove it. Jenny Jerome was the American-born mother of Winston Churchill, and Brooklyn has always been proud to point to this house and tell the tale. Winnie even came here and blessed it, with great pomp and circumstance. But it seems, the tale is wrong. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former carriage house, now residence
Address: 140 Kane Street
Cross Streets: Henry and Hicks Streets
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: 1892
Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival
Architect/Builder: Owen McShane
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: Perhaps it’s the legacy of too many episodes of “Deadwood”, but the name “Owen McShane” conjures up the image of a hard-scrabble entrepreneur with a bottle of something in front of him, sitting at a rough oaken table. Ironically enough, this Owen McShane probably did that, at one point or another. It turns out that this carriage house was built by Mr. McShane to not only stable his horses, but also to hold inventory or equipment for his bottling company. Who knew? (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: George A. Jarvis House
Address: 491 Henry Street
Cross Streets: Corner of DeGraw Street
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: between 1844 and 1850
Architectural Style: Greek Revival
Architect: Unknown. Recent exterior restoration: Baxt Ingui Architects
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: Talk about your Extreme Makeovers. This house was literally brought back from the dead, where it languished like a cold, white, brickface and stucco-clad husk of its former self. As one of Cobble Hill’s few free-standing houses, this elegant home was built between 1844 and 1850 for George A. Jarvis, a New York based merchant-grocer. He was a self-made success story, who came to New York from Connecticut with $10 in his pocket and worked in the grocery business, eventually running his own wholesaling business from a location on Front Street, in Lower Manhattan. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Private House, now co-ops
Address: 219 Clinton Street
Cross Streets: Corner of Amity St.
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: original building, 1845, altered in 1890-91
Architectural Style: Greek Revival, with Romanesque Revival and Neo-Flemish additions
Architect: original house, unknown. Alterations: D’oench & Simon (1890-91)
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: This is one of Cobble Hill’s more impressive residential properties, and like several houses in this old neighborhood, has been added to, and enlarged, as the fortunes of its owners have increased. The original house, like most of the houses in the neighborhood, was a Greek Revival style home, built in the 1840’s. It was built as the suburban retreat of Abraham J. S. DeGraw, a wealthy Manhattan commission merchant. His father, John DeGraw, also a commission merchant, and president of the Brooklyn Horticultural Society, lived here, as well. During this period, Cobble Hill was home to many wealthy merchants and businessmen who had second homes here, set on large garden-filled lots, far from the crowded hustle and bustle of Manhattan life. Some even got streets named after them. (more…)