Style of house and recommendations on period appropriate doors and mantels

Hello, We are about to start renovating a townhouse we recently bought in Astoria and had a few questions for readers. I have attached a few pictures of the exterior of the house so it can help. Propertyshark says the house was built in 1901\. Questions: 1\. Given the date it was built and the attached pictures, can you help us tell what style of house it is (Italianate, revival of some sort)? 2\. What kind of double doors would you recommend as period appropriate or aesthetically pleasing? Any particular color that you think goes well with the brick? We want solid doors meaning no glass for the exterior double doors. Any suggestions on where to get old double doors as well as a good place to get them stripped and painted and keys refitted? 3\. The interior has no details. If our budget permits, we would like a period appropriate mantel for the first (parlor floor). Any suggestions on the type of mantel that would best fit the house? 4\. Do you think we need to consider power washing the exterior brick or is it fine as is? 5\. Keep the awning or get rid of it? 6\. We will be occupying the first floor and the basement. Most of the first floor has a ceiling height of 10 to 11 feet. There is some old plaster ceiling molding but I think all that will be gone during the renovation. Any thoughts on what kind of crown moldings we should consider for the first floor. As for the basement, the previous owners had dug down and it has great ceiling height for a basement (about 9.5 feet). I don’t know that we need crown molding here but suggestions one way or the other would be great. Thank you in advance. Sam

samtsegaye

in Renovation 10 years and 2 months ago

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samtsegaye | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Thanks so much Cate.

cate | 10 years and 2 months ago

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The front doors were probably double, with very long rectangular single panes of glass on each door. The wood part at the bottom of the door wouldn’t be too tall — maybe a foot or so. I’ve also (very occasionally) seen oval glass. Check to see if any of your neighbors in the row have their original doors. Yours were probably identical. You can also check your 1930s tax photo — they may have still been there. I’ve attached an example, from a similar row opposite Saratoga Park in Bed Stuy.

samtsegaye | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Everyone – Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. Much appreciated! Thank you again. Sam

chemosphere | 10 years and 2 months ago

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My house is similar. Cate’s description is spot on. Also tons of these in Kensington, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Sunset Park, even Ditmas Park has some. Any neighborhood developed between 1890s-1910s or so. This is an incredible resource for period interiors: https://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/sets/ I also was missing mantels, but decided not to get any (for now). Turns out my house never had them, but had mirrors, buffets and gas logs just as Cate describes. Also here are some houses that I bookmarked that had more intact interiors than mine. http://streeteasy.com/sale/698500-multi-820-42nd-street-sunset-park-brooklyn http://streeteasy.com/rental/1233974-rental-264-lefferts-avenue-prospect-lefferts-gardens-brooklyn http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/blog/2014/10/rental-of-the-day-318-maple-street-2/#comments http://streeteasy.com/sale/557176-townhouse-183-68th-street-bay-ridge-brooklyn http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/179-68th-St-Brooklyn-NY-11220/30691594_zpid/

daveinbedstuy | 10 years and 2 months ago

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1\. Never powerwash brick 2\. I’d get rid of the awning. 3\. Your entry my or may not have had double doors.Mine probably originally did but then they built a nice cased opening with fluted pilasters and installed a 3′ x 6’8″ door which I much more prefer. Double doors don’t grow on you if you are entering or leaving with kids, groceries etc. I got my door from these guys. I wanted one with glass windows and got the double paned circle top glass style. Shipping was probably about $400 or so. It came stripped. http://www.archantiquities.com/doors/index.php You can get really nice hardware from www.houseofantiquehardware.com

resident2 | 10 years and 2 months ago

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The best way to get some ideas as to what you would like; is to go to Open Houses of similar age, vintage style houses as yours but in neighborhoods that you were priced out of while looking to buy yours. They were as Cate pointed out, built all over Brooklyn and many neighborhoods in Urban America. There are lots in Bay Ridge that still have their well preserved front doors and front porches, as well as Windsor Terrace. Yes, please take that front awning off immediately. As for power washing, it does not look bad now. I am sure come Spring there will lots of other things you will find to do before power washing!

mario71 | 10 years and 2 months ago

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I have the impression late Victorian rowhouses that didn’t seek grandeur went quite unchanged for a few decades. Mine is located in Bay Ridge, built in 1920, and it looks exactly the same from the outside. I mean: exactly. You can Google map it. It’s in a row of identical houses on 71st between 3rd ave and Ridge Blvd., the south side of the street. So catboot is right: if you get inside your neighbor’s houses you’ll find a few that were never renovated, and you’ll see what kind of details they had.

catboot | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Might be worth getting to know your neighbors and see what detail their houses have.

cate | 10 years and 2 months ago

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You have a circa-1900 Renaissance Revival house. It was probably a two-family consisting of two floor-through units. These are all over eastern Crown Heights, Bushwick, and Ridgewood. You can see zillions of examples and learn a lot about them if you read the LPC historic designation reports for Ridgewood. (Though, sadly, it doesn’t cover interiors.) As for the inside, I am sure the houses vary, but in my experience, these had a fairly simple, late Victorian appearance. There would probably be no fireplace mantel, only a pier mirror in the front rooms. There would usually be a double parlor separated by a fretwork screen of some kind. There would usually be one dedicated bedroom in the center, with a shallow closet over built-in drawers and perhaps a stained glass window peeking through to the next room, which could be used as a dining room or the master bedroom. It might have a mantel (kind of high and made of wood — Gibson Girl era). The kitchen would be galley, on the side. It would have a built-in dish cupboard. Sometimes the range would stand on a hearth or a tile apron. There might also be a pantry and/or some kind of built-in in the hall as well. Bathrooms would have claw foot tubs and most likely porcelain hex tile with virtually no visible grout. There would certainly be moldings and plasterwork, but fairly simple.