Building of the Day: 79-81 Decatur Street
Editor’s note: An updated version of this post can be viewed here. The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy. Address: 79-81 Decatur Street, between Throop and…
Editor’s note: An updated version of this post can be viewed here.
The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.
Address: 79-81 Decatur Street, between Throop and Marcus Garvey
Name: Clermont Apartments
Neighborhood: Stuyvesant Heights
Year Built: 1900
Architectural Style: French Gothic Revival
Architect: Montrose Morris
Landmarked: No
Why chosen: This fanciful French chateau was built for Stuyvesant Heights’ growing middle class population, at a time when apartment living was becoming popular. Made of brick, limestone and pressed metal trim, the Clermont is Morris’ second and better attempt at French Gothic.
A darker, but similar apartment building by him stands on Clinton Avenue, between Fulton and Atlantic Avenues. The building has a strong street presence greatly enhanced by a 2003 restoration by Danois Architects, PC, and is now an 8 unit co-op building.
[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]
This building is not landmarked but calendared in the Stuyvesant Heights expansion.
You sure that block isn’t Landmarked? I always thought it was since they street signs pointed down the block onto Decatur. As far as the building goes, it’s all co-op apartments. There is also a vacancy in the building. I used to live in the building.
Romantic.
“Build me a house that will holler the loudest.
Gimme my money’s worth I’ll pay the bills.
Columns ionic, eaves Babylonic,
roof was Egyptian, gables coniption….,
I forget the rest of the poem.
Great building. They were definitely making a point.
PS to MM: Awesome looking building.
t6,
Just drop the hyphen and it should work. My old Astoria address comes up properly that way.
And that is totally off and I apologize… but still want an answer. 🙂
Speaking of Queen’s addresses…. when you get those weird hyphenated numbers, how do I enter them into google maps so it brings me to the right place?
BS11216, Decatur is partially landmarked. Only the warehouse, now office building on the corner, right next door, is landmarked on this block, which I think was a huge oversight by the LPC, way back in ’71. Decatur between Lewis and Stuy is landmarked, and just across the street on the east side of Stuyvesant, but nowhere else.