Building of the Day: 47 Montgomery Place

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Originally the Victor Koechl House
Address: 47 Montgomery Place
Cross Streets: Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: 1890
Architectural Style: French Renaissance
Architect: Rudolph L. Daus
Other Work by Architect: NY & NJ Telephone Building, Downtown Brooklyn; 13th Regiment Armory, Bed Stuy; Lincoln Club, Clinton Hill; and houses in Park Slope, Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, among many other buildings.
Landmarked: Yes, part of Park Slope HD (1973)

The story: On a block of “look at me” houses, this one excels like no other. Amidst C.P.H. Gilbert’s brick fortresses, George Chappell’s elegant row houses, and other luminaries on this short block, Rudolph Daus’ frothy French creation, the only house in red sandstone, loudly proclaims “C’est moi!” Or rather, more to the point, “Hier bin ich.”

Developer Harvey Murdock began commissioning houses for this block in 1887, hiring talented young CPH Gilbert to design one of kind houses, many specifically for their first owners. This would be THE block in Park Slope, already an upscale community in the blocks nearest Prospect Park. Other talented and star Brooklyn architects would follow, all designing fine homes for their clients. Rudolph Daus was one of the up and coming stars of Brooklyn’s architecture world, and was probably the most Continental of the bunch.

He was born in Mexico to German parents who were a part of a large number of Germans who emigrated to Mexico and Texas in the mid-19th century. They were wealthy enough to send young Rudolph to Paris to attend the L’ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he excelled in architecture, winning several student prizes. He came back to New York in 1879, and began working for some of the most important names in American architecture, including Richard Morris Hunt and George B. Post. By the time he went out on his own, he was known for his excellent taste and grasp of Classical form, which he would use to great advantage over the course of his career.

Daus was a huge Francophile, so much so, that later in life after he retired, he moved back to France, and eventually died there in 1916. His choice of a very French Renaissance style for this house sets it apart from all the rest. It’s a huge house, first of all, 25 feet wide, with over 6700 square feet of living space. And there’s his choice of reddish pink sandstone. It probably cost much more to bring this in, and it was unlike anything else on the block. Having the ornament carved in this stone also would have been expensive. There’s a lot of ornament, too, and lest you forget it’s French, there is a whole field of fleur-de-lis to remind you.

This very French house was built for a very rich German. Victor Koechl was president and sole owner of Victor Koechl & Company, an importer of coal tar dyes and chemicals. Keochl was born in Germany in 1851, and came to the US where he and partners founded Schulze-Berge & Koechl, dye and chemical importers. After many successful years, he bought out the company and renamed it. In addition to the dyes, which were used to dye fabrics used in every conceivable fashion from clothing to tents and beyond, the company also imported chemicals used for many industrial uses, including medicinal. Koechl therefore had his fingers in several vital American industries, and consequentially, was quite rich.

Like many men of his period, Koechl didn’t flaunt his money as obviously as some, but he enjoyed the good life. He sat on several boards, gave money to his favorite charities, and belonged to the Chamber of Commerce. He also was an avid horseman and racer, and belonged to the swanky Riding and Driving Club, located only blocks from his house, as well as the Montauk, Germania and Brooklyn Clubs. He retired from business in 1899, and he and his family enjoyed his house, his summer home, his horses, and later, his cars.

Today, the Koechl house is a three family, and remains one of the most noticeable and photographed houses on this block of exceptional houses. GMAP