Cobble Hill

(Photograph: Nicholas Strini for Property Shark, 2012)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Originally St. Peter’s Hospital, later Congress Nursing Home, Cobble Hill Nursing Home, now Cobble Hill Health Center
Address: 380 Henry Street
Cross Streets: Warren and Congress Streets
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: 1888, “remodeled” 1964, restored 1994
Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival
Architect: J. William Schickel & Co. 1994 restoration: Stanley Maurer
Other Buildings by Architect: Most Holy Trinity Church, WB, St. Ignatius Loyola Church, Manhattan
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: St. Peter’s Hospital was founded by the Sisters of St Francis, aka Sisters of the Poor, in 1864, and operated from a building on the corner of Congress and Hicks Streets, in what was then South Brooklyn, today known as Cobble Hill. This order of nuns originated in France, and its mission was to help the poor. After 26 years, the hospital had outgrown its original buildings and funds were raised to build this new building which spanned the block of Henry Street, between Warren and Congress Streets. The architect was J. William Schickel & Co. and the year was 1888.

In a report in the Brooklyn Medical Journal of June, 1890, Dr. Henry Conkling wrote of the mission of the Sisters, and the new hospital. It was a free hospital, he declared, welcoming in any who needed help. “The hospital is under the direct management of the Sisters,” he wrote. “The idea of its creation was to care for the poor and the sick. To it they may come without money and without price. The poor man who comes to the door is never asked whence he comes or if he has money. The simple question to be decided is ‘Is he sick?’” (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 33-43 Strong Place
Cross Streets: Kane and DeGraw Streets
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill
Year Built: 1891
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Cobble Hill HD (1969)

The story: Cobble Hill is an old neighborhood, with the majority of its housing stock dating back to the 1840’s and 50’s. So when you get a group of houses in that new modern Queen Anne style of the 1890’s, they stand out. This group is perfect for its location, and an excellent example of how a later brand of symmetry can complement a much earlier form of Italianate and Greek Revival repetition.

This group of six houses was built in 1891. The architect is unknown, but we do know that the houses were built for Louis Lehn, who lived in the larger Italianate right next door at 45 Strong Place. All of them are 16.75 feet wide, and function best if looked at as a larger unit, made of smaller symmetrical parts. The two houses on each end have very charming large gables and tall peaked roofs, with unique second story pointed bays. The houses also have a small bit of ornamental terra-cotta, but are in general, very subdued for Queen Anne row houses. The two center houses actually give an illusion of width to the entire group, and are much plainer, with flat fronts and flat rooflines. All of the houses are joined by the use of a single window at the parlor level and matching doors and stairs, although some have been altered over the years. (more…)