Building of the Day: 1574 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, one building at a time. Name: Row House Address: 1574 Bergen Street, between Utica and Troy Avenues Neighborhood: Weeksville section of Crown Heights Year Built: Unknown Architectural Style: Italianate Architect: Unknown Landmarked: No The story: These attractive clapboard, or in this case, shingled, houses appear here and there throughout Brownstone Brooklyn. I always enjoy…
Brooklyn, one building at a time.
Name: Row House
Address: 1574 Bergen Street, between Utica and Troy Avenues
Neighborhood: Weeksville section of Crown Heights
Year Built: Unknown
Architectural Style: Italianate
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: No
The story: These attractive clapboard, or in this case, shingled, houses appear here and there throughout Brownstone Brooklyn. I always enjoy seeing them, as they represent rare survivors, and are more often than not, the first houses in neighborhoods to be covered over with aluminum or vinyl siding, asbestos siding or some kind of stone faced stucco. They often lose their cornices, hooded window cases, and porches. Rarely will you find an intact row of them, usually, like here, there will be one, perhaps two in the row that are whole, or almost so. This particular house is in the Weeksville section of Crown Heights, far to the east of the wealthy and upper middle class area near Nostrand Avenue. These were always working class homes. This one is remarkably original, with fish scale shingles, and mostly intact brackets and dentils on the window frames. The porch is also intact, featuring standard catalog issue, turned wood gingerbread, in great shape. These are classic vernacular Brooklyn houses, often pooh-poohed for their ordinary-ness, but a vital part of the pantheon of Brooklyn architecture.
(Photo: Property Shark)
I also love the singled houses. We have one in Bedford Corners that is painted a pale yellow. I just love that house. I always imagine these house are owned by cookie baking grand mothers.
Mopar – the aluminum is panning that is cut around the historic brackets, they didn’t attach the old on top of the new. Still, much better than a typical window replacement would do, though!
lovely, this is special and the colors are terrific.
I said relatively easy.
I’m sure the costs would be less than a re-brownstone job.
Much less. As always with architecture, God is in the details.
Perhaps Chrishavens can pipe in?
Who should Mopar contact?
Minard, it is easy? How do I do it? Our house was clapboard, not shingle, with tons of gingerbread. Who do I contact, how much will it cost? Thank you!
it’s quite pretty. I especially like the rusty copper color.
beautiful shingles and trimwork.
Restoring these features to a house that has been stripped and aluminumized is relatively easy. Easier than restoring crumbling brownstone facing. I hope it becomes the next trend.
And — it looks like they put in new windows and attached the old gingerbread on top. Remarkable. Admirable.
I love it. I love shingled houses.
Curious: Could this house have been built in the 1890s, judging by the little roofs over the parlor windows, the mass-produced porch roof, and the shape of the house as the end of a developer-built row?
Curious why you call it Italianate. I guess I’d call it a very simple vernacular New York row house of the late 19th century. I guess maybe Italianate is the closest thing, or maybe you could call it an Italianate-Queen Anne hybrid? I bet if you go inside, it has gingerbread and square slate mantles, not the earlier curved Italianate mantles and the handmade, curved stair molding — though I suppose that doesn’t affect the exterior style.
I suppose the style is the style regardless of the year and interior. New York row houses are so confusing.