Front Lights and Landmarks
We’ve just moved into a landmarked Park Slope brownstone. Our stretch of the street is very poorly lit. We have a gas light in the front garden, but obviously that produces very little light and I’m concerned about safety. Neighbors about 4-5 houses down on either end have nice front lights (hanging in front of…
We’ve just moved into a landmarked Park Slope brownstone. Our stretch of the street is very poorly lit. We have a gas light in the front garden, but obviously that produces very little light and I’m concerned about safety.
Neighbors about 4-5 houses down on either end have nice front lights (hanging in front of the front door at the top of the stoop). I’d like to add one asap. If I go ahead and have my electrician and handman do this without going through the lengthy permit process, what are the possible repercussions?
I’m leaning towards just going ahead and doing it with a light the same or very similar to those neighbors have (most have the same type and I think it looks really nice and suited to the buildings) but I’d love to hear your opinions on this.
@masterbuilder, thanks for the Bowery rec. Went and had great success today getting some sconces and a bath light I needed. And some of the stores were happy to add switches (or pull chains) to the lights I bought which will mean less $$ spent on adding wall switches for the lights (the old ones had on fixture switches) as we were planning to do.
@BHS, great to know about the number.
@JB, care to elaborate on why you think the vestibule light is more useful?
There’s a public info line at LPC you can cell. You don’t have to tell them your address and could get an idea of what their parameters are (what features they care about) and how long approval would take. The number’s in the “working with LPC” section of their web site.
We went the landmarks route when installing a electric light over the front door, because we needed approval for the rest of our reno. It was a bit of a pain, took a couple of weeks, they were picky about which fixture they would approve. We actually didn’t like their antique-y one and picked out a different one. We plan to buy the one they approved and install it for the inspection – like anotherposter said the wiring is the pricey part, the extra fixture is $50 or so, I’ll be able to install myself.
However, we also put a light in the vestibule, and in retrospect, this one is much more useful than the one outside. We would get rid of it if it hadn’t been such a hassle to get approved! (My wife is a little stubborn).
On gas lamps, we just heard that these were installed in the 60’s / 70’s – anyone know the details? How did entire blocks get it together to do this?
On gas lamp repair, a gas lamp repair guy leafleted our house, we called him and it was under $100 to get ours working again.
I’ve been told my gas lamp costs about $70 a year – it’s a one-mantle closed flame.
I suspect that going ahead and doing it, as long as it’s not really outlandish and fugly, will not be a problem. However, you neighbor’s lights may have actually been grandfathered in would not be compliant as well.
You’re right, changing the fixture later would be no big deal. If it were me, i’d just go ahead and do it.
I had one installed about a year ago… getting approval from Landmarks was very easy. They approved the style and location but asked me to get a different size. I don’t think it took long at all, maybe a week or two at the most, I’d say.
My block is landmarked and I put in two lantern style light fixtures one on each side of the door entrance. To tell you the truth, it didn’t even occur to me to go to Landmarks. Good thing because nobody every bothered me, neighbors or landmarks. I think there is something very arbitrary about Landmarks. Or maybe they just don’t care that much about my block.
I suggest strolling the Bowery’s numerous light fixture stores, where the staff are dedicated to lighting and immediately available to answer questions.
We’ve only had it running a couple of weeks, but the gas bill for that time seemed pretty low (mostly just the meter fees, etc.). The valve to turn it on or off is in our basement, on the gas pipe leading out to the front of the house. I have to use pliers to turn it, but that works fine. It wasn’t on for a long time (we just moved in, house was vacant a long time) and we had to replace the mantles but now it works fine. Leopoldi’s has mantles we like.
Any of you have advice on stores other than Home Depot and Lowe’s for light fixtures of all kinds–outdoor, bathroom fans, etc.?