Building of the Day: 301-305 Washington Avenue

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row houses
Address: 301-305 Washington Avenue
Cross Streets: Corner DeKalb Avenue
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Year Built: 1880
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Architect: John Mumford
Other buildings by architect: 6th Avenue Methodist Church in Park Slope, 469-73 Clinton Avenue in Clinton Hill, Municipal Building (demolished) on Joralemon Street
Landmarked: Yes, part of Clinton Hill HD (1981)

The story: John Mumford was one of those Brooklyn architects who had a decently large body of excellent work under his belt, but managed to remain under the popularity radar. He’s one of those names that only Brooklyn architectural geeks know (I admit, I’m one of them). He was quite active in the Clinton Hill area, and his name also shows up in new buildings and alterations in Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Downtown.

Like many of his better known contemporaries, he did it all: houses, churches, civic buildings, stables and additions. His documented work includes his most important commission, the now-gone Brooklyn Municipal Building, which once stood on Joralemon Street, next door to the Brooklyn Courthouse, which is also gone. It was across the street from City, now Borough, Hall.

He designed at least two churches: the 6th Avenue Methodist Church, now HQ for Camp Friendship, and the second church built for the Hanson Place Methodist church. This one was structurally unsound, and was torn down in 1929 for the present day Gothic/Deco church now standing next door to the Williamsburg Bank building.

And he designed a bunch of houses. This group is my favorite. The three houses were designed to look like one large house, and were designed for developer Bernard Fowler. The Queen Anne group is wonderfully laid out with a delightful conglomeration of towers, bays, porches, dormers, cornices, brick, wood and terra-cotta, all topped off with what used to be a slate-covered mansard roof. Some of the detail on the corner house was stripped, robbing us of the full impact of this great grouping, but there is still enough here to delight the eye.

When I used to work around the corner on St. James Place in the late ’80s, I always used to walk down this block so that I could study the details on these houses. They have always been the quintessential city houses to me, quirky and interesting, and very much a part of the streetscape of Clinton Hill. I think it’s the towers and the porches. What more could anyone want? GMAP