House Tour Season Returns With Events in Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Park Slope
Ticket holders will have the chance to view some fabulous Brooklyn interiors on different weekends this spring.
Photo by Martin Friedman via Lefferts Manor Association
The arrival of spring usually means the opportunity to ogle some fabulous Brooklyn interiors, and this year both the Park Slope and Prospect Lefferts Gardens tours are returning. Thankfully, they are on different weekends this year, so architecture and interior design enthusiasts can take advantage of both tours.
The Park Slope Civic Council is continuing last year’s theme of sustainability for their 2025 tour on Sunday, May 18. The tour will feature a range of residences that have eco-friendly features like solar panels and green roofs. While not all the details have been announced, tickets are already available online. Last year’s tour sold out, so advance tickets are recommended.
The Lefferts Manor Association will celebrate the 51st Prospect Lefferts Gardens House and Garden Tour on Sunday, June 1 with a look at eight houses and gardens. The tour was launched in 1969 with the express purpose of integrating the neighborhood and countering the block busting that was going on at the time. Their effort was a success and the event is also now a fundraiser. The history of the house tour was documented in 2018 by longtime neighborhood resident Bob Marvin in the organization’s newsletter, “The Echo.” There was a hiatus during the pandemic, and the full-length tour resumed in 2024.
Some of the participating sites this year include an 1889 row house with a detail-filled dining room, a 1906 row house with a colorful reno, a garden apartment filled with antiques, and a 1920s house with a roof terrace. The houses represent a mix of designs by the many noted architects who worked in the neighborhood in the late 19th and early 20th century, including John J. Petit, Axel Hedman, Bejamin Driesler, and Peter J. Collins.
For those needing a break, the tour’s Lefferts Lounge offers a garden in which to relax, nibble and sip refreshments, and enjoy music coordinated by PLG Arts.
Tickets are $40 and are available online. The tour happens rain or shine from noon to 5 p.m. Check-in will be in front of IX Restaurant at 43 Lincoln Road, where ticket holders will receive a guide booklet with all the details on the participating sites.
While house tours once proliferated in Brooklyn as a way to lure potential homeowners to the borough, the number of tours has dropped in the last decade. In addition to the Park Slope and Prospect Lefferts Garden tours, the Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant continue their tour tradition in the fall.
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Susan,
IIRC residents of that block of 6th Street were upset because their less fancy houses weren’t included in the “official “ tour. The brazen Little Block tour continued for at plus couple of years.
I remember when there also were house tours in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Sunset Park, Prospect Heights, Greenpoint, Crown Heights, and probably some more neighborhoods. There was even an additional Park Slope tour labeled “That Brazen Little Block”(6th Street, I think). I’m glad that my neighborhood (PLG) tour, Park Slope, and Bedford Stuyvesant are still going strong.
Bob, I remember the “Brazen Little Block” reference from some Brooklyn house tour research. Yes, it was 6th Street between 5th and 6th avenues.
Susan,
IIRC residents of that block of 6th Street were upset because their less fancy houses weren’t included in the “official “ tour. The brazen Little Block tour continued for at plus couple of years.
Love that, Bob!