Editor’s Note: A version of this post was originally published in 2013. You can view the original post here.

We know our historic neighborhoods have beautiful residential blocks, but often the commercial blocks get neglected — in landmarking, as well as in just pure appreciation for good architecture.

This is often for obvious reasons, as commercial spaces such as retail stores can be altered and renovated so many times that the original look of the façade is long gone. Sometimes a building seems to go through a completely new façade and interior every other year, especially if it is a restaurant. But sometimes they manage to stay more or less intact, and that can be a visual treat indeed.

brooklyn architecture 375 flatbush avenue prospect heights william

Take this building at 375-379 Flatbush Avenue, for instance. It’s a classic Victorian corner building with retail on the bottom floor and apartments above. Unlike most such buildings, which have a store entrance in the center tower, this one reserves the center doorway for the tenants above. But then this one is a bit different from many other corner buildings.

The original owner, John Konvalinka, owned this oddly shaped corner lot, as well as the two lots next door on Sterling Place. In 1885, he had architect William Cook design a group of Neo-Grec buildings that would complement each other and fit into the lot.

The houses he built at 185-187 Sterling fit well into the block, but the corner commercial/retail building was not going to be able to be centered and still fit into the space, especially if he wanted that distinctive and attractive Second Empire tower.

brooklyn architecture 375 flatbush avenue prospect heights

It’s a credit to Cook’s skills that he managed to create a balanced looking building that really is anything but. That’s because the houses on Sterling carry the eye around the block, creating the appearance of symmetry.

The avenue blocks of nearby Park Slope abound with these classic High Victorian corner tower buildings, and Prospect Heights has quite a few as well. So too does Bedford Stuyvesant. They immediately convey a time and place in the mind’s eye, a more gracious and slower time, when women in bustle dresses and men in morning suits and hats shopped the stores of Flatbush Avenue.

brooklyn architecture 375 flatbush avenue prospect heights william cook

This building has three storefronts, all of which are under the original lower cornice, and although quite altered, they still have a strong period presence. The Second Empire-style tower has a dormered slate roof and most of its cast-iron-crested widow’s walk. The building also has its original doorway and strong brownstone pedimented windows.

These are Cook’s only buildings in the Prospect Heights Historic District, but he obviously knew his way around brownstone and Neo-Grec design. Flatbush Avenue was well on its way to becoming an important retail corridor as well as an important north/south transportation route.

brooklyn architecture 375 flatbush avenue prospect heights william cook

From the park all the way to downtown Brooklyn and from the 1880s onward, retail shops with flats or tenements above line Flatbush Avenue. This one is as good as any along the strip, a proper storefront location, and a good building.

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