Open House at Brown Memorial This Weekend

This weekend the Brown Memorial Church will take place in the Sacred Sites Open House weekend, sponsored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. It will be at the church, 484 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill, this Saturday from 11a.m. until 2:30pm. The church is also a nominee for the Partners in Preservation grants and the voting days are running low! They are seeking a grant for the complete restoration of the at-risk Tiffany stained glass. Voting ends this Monday. Below are some historical details on the church itself:

Brown Memorial was originally built as the Washington Baptist Church by architect Ebenezer L. Roberts in 1860, as commissioned by oil magnate Charles Pratt. The Brown Memorial Baptist congregation was founded in 1916 and purchased the building in 1958. This landmark church is one of New York City’s finest examples of Early Romanesque-Revival style. The church’s exterior is an imposing and majestic structure, dominating the landscape and skyline while the interior sanctuary has curving wooden pews, a three-sided balcony, ornate plaster work, a large beautiful mosaic just behind the pulpit, a pipe organ in the balcony and twelve museum-quality Tiffany stained glass windows – including two extraordinary representations: “The Pilgrims” and “The Resurrection.”