"The Weirdest Juxtaposition" on State Street

here we go again…great argument sealed with a “dis” to some other area. hasn’t anyone ever heard of taking the moral high ground?

if you’re going to accuse someone of being “jealous and bitter” on a blog, it would be prudent to make sure that you’ve got the right poster.

Whoa! In my life–a long one–I have never read such a collection of misinformation. Sorry to be tuning in late here, but just now (Saturday, Oct. 1) caught this thread and, if nothing else, will attempt to correct it for the Brownstoner archives. As a 23 year resident and home owner on Willow PLACE ( Willow Street is on the other side of Montague), here goes:
The contemporary house in the photograph was built in the same year, 1965, and designed by the same architects, Joseph and Mary Merz, as the two other contemporary houses on the block. One of those houses, no. 48 at the corner of Willow and State, is owned by the Merz’ who built it for themselves and have lived there since ’65 The house in the photograph, built for the present owners, is the smallest of the three and was designed to showcase their art collection. The largest of the three, 40 Willow Place, 50 feet wide, was built on two vacant lots. The original owner, Leonard Garment, was indeed Nixon’s law partner and then counsel to the White House. His wife, a well-known writer (she wrote a still- popular TV soap opera for years) did indeed commit suicide–but in Boston, not on Willow Place. This house,
now for sale , listed with Corcoran, has been owned for nearly 25 years by Edward and Suzanne Hamlin, an attorney and a reporter, respectively.
The “Tara” house on the left in the photographhas been owned for approximtely 35 years by two academics (both with impressive careers) who renovated it extensively initally and then, suddenly…stopped. Why they did so is probably not the business of Brownstoner, but to those who do visit the street and stand outside this house and make mean commnts, I’d like to say, hey!–in the summertime, when windows are open, people inside can hear converstaion on the street.
Back to the contemproary houses: all three were built on vacant lots, where brownstones once stood–the victims of Robert Moses, who, in his original plan to put the BQE through Brooklyn Heights methodically bought up brownstones and tore them down. Beofre he totally demolished the neighborhhod, the Willowtown association was formed, a gorup of neighborhood activists, who managed to beat back Moses (hence the BQE’s present location). The vacant lots were bought up by a BH philanthropist who held on to them for years, refusing to sell to anyone whose proposed plans did not respect the neighborhood. (those were the days!). She much admired the work of Joe and Mary Merz, and agreed to sell the lots to Garment, Klein and the Merz’ themselves if the latter were to be the architects. All three houses, whose facades are built of the same materials (cement mixed in Vermont, a shade that matches limestone) and redwood , were designed for their owners, working closely with Landmarks, to blend with the other houses on the street; all three are totally different, one from another, on the inside. Check the A.I.A. guide for a reference to #40 Willow.
All three houses–now called “national treasures” by Lankmarks, have been featured extensively in architectural magazines, and, over the years, been on many house tours. Recently, for a group of realtors assembled at 40 Willow Place, Charles Lockwood, gave a lecture on the street.
Residents of Willow Place would all probably be as amused as I was to hear it described as “nasty.” We, of course, consider that it is the most charming–and certainly the quietest–one block street in Brooklyn Heights. So charming that very few people ever move: the Italian family that owns three houses son the block have been here for over 50 years. The CEO and chairman of the board of three of Brooklyn’s best known cultural institutions has lived, with his wife and children, for over 40 years on Willow Place. Some Wall St. heavy hitters, a judge, a newspaper publisher…the list goes on. The Alfred T. White community center, in the middle of the block, now the home of the Heights Players and St. Ann’s nursery school, is a neighborhood treasure. The garage at the end of the block–the one with the great 1920’s facade and the uniformed attendants–is like a watchdog station: those guys, most of whom have worked there for years, know and see everything that happens on the street. The new playground around the corner, and the highly social dog run and community garden, are magnets for the entire neighborhood. As for the “drunks who hang out on the street”–???. Possibly the commentator was referring to Butch, who was born and grew up on State St. with his Irish family, now lives elsewhere in the neighborhood, but spends most of his time hanging out at the end of Willow, at the corner of State. Butch, on the smartest people I’ve ever met, has indeed had a drinking problem in his life–as well as a dubious professional life–but now, along with his extraodinary knowledge of the history of Willowtown, acts as unofficial custodian of the block. (Want to know anything about the street? Ask Butch)
The widely-admired “colonnade” houses at the end of the block now selling, when they come on the market, for 2 mil and up, were built in the 19th century for dock workers. They are extremely small inside (with, in the orignial houses, second floor ceilings too low for a tall adult). To compensate, several have been “blown out” through the basement and into the back yards via hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Columbia Place–the street below Willow Place, truly an operatic stage set, is another story all together. This , by the way, is where Lubin owns property (he has no property on Willow Place which is primarily one family houses). Several of Lubin’s 19th century buildings have gone co-op; one on the same row, which really needs work, is owned by Long Island College hospital, who rents it out to med students.
Obviously we on Willow Place feel incredibly lucky to live here:
Come Visit!

These houses are all on Willow Pl @ state.
There are three modern houses, all built in 1969. One is for sale; the original architect lives in one of the other ones (the one on the corner). The rest of the block is pretty nasty — you’ve got the BQE 2 blocks away, as well as a park where drunks hang out right next to the house.

They have garages, but they aren’t warm, and are pretty far from the subway.
The Lubins own most of the houses on the other side of the street, and they are all rent-stabilized, which means that there has been zero investment in them for a long time.

I walked past there last winter while exploring Brooklyn Heights. It reminded of a movie set! The juxposition is beautiful and thought-provoking.