Flatbush Gets Two New Historic Districts Following Landmarks Vote

Flatbush has two new historic districts, Beverley Square West and Ditmas Park West, bringing the area’s total to five following a unanimous vote by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

At Tuesday’s meeting, all the commissioners backed the proposal, though two questioned why the districts couldn’t be extended as many locals requested. At October’s public hearing, 35 speakers supported the designations and most urged adding nearby blocks, including Westminster and Stratford roads and parts of Beverley Road. Three people opposed the plan.

LPC Director of Research Margaret Herman told the commissioners that LPC staff had surveyed the area repeatedly over nearly 20 years. Those reviews, she said, found the areas proposed by local residents lacked a high enough level of integrity to merit designation, though she said smaller sections could be considered in the future.

The newly designated Beverley Square West Historic District includes 118 houses built between 1894 and 1910 on three tree-lined blocks between Beverley Road and Cortelyou Road. Nearly all were designed by prominent Brooklyn architects such as John J. Petit, John B. Slee, and Benjamin Driesler, Herman said.

The Ditmas Park West Historic District contains 127 houses built largely between 1902 and 1910, just west of the Ditmas Park Historic District. Nearly half were designed by Arlington D. Isham. Both districts showcase distinctive turn-of-the-20th-century homes built as Flatbush shifted from farmland to early suburb — and houses in both districts are largely Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, or Shingle Style, Herman said.

“Research staff found the boundaries proposed today contain the highest quality architecture and most cohesive streetscapes not yet designated in Victorian Flatbush,” Herman said. “Together, the two proposed districts stand out from surrounding blocks and best represent the neighborhood’s development history and significant architecture.”

The new districts join Prospect Park South (1979), Ditmas Park (1981), and Fiske Terrace/Midwood Park (2008), which together make up what’s often called Victorian Flatbush, though much of the development occurred after the Victorian era ended in 1901.

Explaining why staff kept the boundaries limited, Herman said while some well preserved houses did exist outside the proposed lines, they were scattered and surrounded by altered homes that disrupted the overall streetscape. She added that two buildings originally included, 359 Rugby Road and 1135 Ditmas Avenue, were removed due to significant alterations for the former and structural issues and a homeowner’s request for removal for the latter.

LPC Executive Director Lisa Kersavage addressed concerns raised in testimony about the designation limiting housing options, saying the districts sit in zoning areas that allow for accessory dwelling units. While detached new-construction backyard ADUs are not allowed in historic districts, interior conversions and ADUs in existing garages are permitted with LPC approval.

Commissioners Michael Goldblum and Everardo Jefferson questioned why the historic districts could not be extended as per the community’s requests. “This is a pretty unique situation where a neighborhood and its representatives are basically begging us to include areas that they acknowledge are less intact than other areas that we have chosen in the past to not designate,” Goldblum said.

“You have a situation where homeowners are saying, take our historic but poorly maintained houses and include them in your district, and let us take advantage of restoring a historic artifact, I think that’s worth considering.”

Commissioner Everardo Jefferson asked whether restored structures could eventually be added to a district. Staff confirmed owners can restore properties voluntarily, but did not weigh in on expanding districts to include them.

LPC Chair Angie Masters said she was “delighted” to designate the two areas. “These harmonious historic streetscapes are well preserved and still evoke the time of their construction at the turn of the 20th century,” she said, adding that staff had worked very hard and carefully studied the larger neighborhood and selected the most intact blocks.

“On October 21 we had the pleasure of hearing public testimony from many homeowners from these neighborhoods, and we learned what a strong sense of community there was and what a wonderful neighborhood these were to live in, and I want to thank all the residents who took the time to speak at the public hearing.”

Related Stories

• Locals Call on Landmarks to Extend Proposed Flatbush Historic Districts
• Flatbush Could Soon Get Two New Landmarked Historic Districts
• Locals Celebrate Creation of Bed Stuy’s Willoughby-Hart Historic District

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