A Cozy Wood-Frame Survivor in Boerum Hill

Editor’s Note: This post originally ran in 2012 and has been updated. You can read the previous post here.

For many, this little frame Italianate at 143 Bond Street in the Boerum Hill Historic District is housing perfection. I tend to agree. It’s in great shape, in a great neighborhood, and has lots of room around it. It’s cozy, and scaled to a comfortable living scale, and for a single person or a couple, would give them room to live, work, and still have a guest over once in a while. What’s not to like?

According to Property Shark, this house is 40 by 26 feet. The driveway, and the huge lot and the building behind it are part of the same parcel, at least on their map, but their details on the building in the back are lacking. A look at a Brooklyn map from 1886 shows two wood frame houses on this block back then: This one and an adjoining one next door to the left.

According to The Brooklyn Eagle, if address numbers haven’t changed, this house was home to Cornelius De Mai Pelletreau and his family. He died here in 1897 of a stroke when he was 66 years old. He was born and lived in Brooklyn his entire life. He worked for the Dime Savings Bank, and was a member of the Volunteer Fireman’s Association.

The Pelletreau family has a long history in Long Island and Brooklyn, and Cornelius was a member of the Society of Old Brooklynites. His passing, on November 23 of that year, left a widow and five children.

Over the years, the house has had bars and iron gates added for security, and vinyl siding, but other than that remains remarkably intact, with a classic Italianate scrollwork portico, found in every neighborhood that still has these great houses.

I always enjoy walking past here, and wonder about the building in the back. Whatever its use or ownership, this house is still a remarkable survivor, one of only a few wood framed homes in this immediate area, in a neighborhood of brick and brownstone.

[Photos by Susan De Vries]

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