Building of the Day: 78 Cambridge Place

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Semi-detached house
Address: 78 Cambridge Place
Cross Streets: Gates Avenue and Fulton Street
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Year Built: 1860
Architectural Style: French Second Empire
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Clinton Hill HD (1981)

The story: What a little surprise this house is. When it was built for Jeremiah Peterson in 1860, it stood alone, a fine shingled Second Empire Mansard-roofed villa in a part of Clinton Hill that was far from the more prosperous “Hill” side of the neighborhood. Yet those who lived here enjoyed close proximity to Fulton Street’s transportation and shops, and were certainly in the comfortable upper middle classes. However, the suburban villa that this house was didn’t stay suburban for very long. By 1864-65, the row of houses attached to it had been built. Too bad Mr. Peterson had his house built right on the lot line. I would bet there are a lot of closed up windows on that side of the house, now under plaster and lathe.

The house is quite charming, but its most remarkable features are the floor to ceiling windows on the ground floor. One rarely sees a window so low you could walk right in, right on a city street. When the house was landmarked, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s experts determined that the house had a porch. Even a very low ground level porch would have offset the windows being more like French doors than French Second Empire windows.

Nonetheless, this house remains a charmer. The grey wooden shingles and grey painted trim give the house a very New England feel, almost like being in Salem, Mass. Also quite nice is the multi-colored slate Mansard roof, with the classic flower patterns on either side of the window on the large bay. The doorway is a glass confection; the multi-paned front door and sidelights a later addition, adding to the New England look of the entire building.

Over the years the house was home to the Peterson’s, about whom I have no information, and later, in 1883, a Doctor Brown. In 1885, the address made the Brooklyn Eagle when a Mrs. St. John had a bike stolen by three young boys who were sent to the reformatory. From ads in the Eagle, it appears that she was an expert dressmaker. Today, the house is still a one family dwelling, and a great part of Clinton Hill’s diverse architectural heritage. GMAP