Pining for the Joseph Steele House
Maybe it’s near where you live and you pass by all the time or maybe it’s in a neighborhood you get to less frequently, but it’s a house that you have an emotional attachment to even though you’ve never set foot inside. For us, that house is the Joseph Steele House on the southeast corner…
Maybe it’s near where you live and you pass by all the time or maybe it’s in a neighborhood you get to less frequently, but it’s a house that you have an emotional attachment to even though you’ve never set foot inside. For us, that house is the Joseph Steele House on the southeast corner of Lafayette and Vanderbilt. Whenever we walk by (which is frequently) we’re always hoping we’ll get to see something we haven’t before: Maybe the garden door will be open a crack and we’ll catch a glimpse of what the back stair look like. Or maybe a light will be on in the dining room and we’ll get to see if there are moldings on the ceiling. And, of course, there are the fantasies of someday living there. We’re not the only one with a certain affection for this place. Here’s what the AIA Guide has to say about the 1850 charmer:
An extraordinary relic from the days when these precincts were farm country. Greek Revival, with elegant narrow clapboards, a bracketed cornice with eyebrow windows, and a widow’s walk with a view of the harbor in those open, early days. It wears its age well, with dignity.
Indeed. For those of you coming to the Clinton Hill House Tour this weekend, make sure to and gaze at this beauty for a few moments. Do any readers have particular houses that they’ve formed similar attachments to?
my vote would be for the stand-alone brownstone mansion between Dekalb and Willoughby. It’s on a huge lot. The lights are almost always off; seems deserted.
Wow. I so seriously dig this house. I love it. I walk past it and look at all the things to do – painting, repairs, etc. (I just can’t HELP MYSELF), the cracks and work and think about where I would start and what I would do first and would I keep the yellow. Yes! But a slightly less lemon color. That house is just wonderful. Somebody told me that it was a shipowners house and that the cuppola was a kind of tower to see north to the river. That didn’t seem quite right though. The other day I was wondering if you could use it as a greenhouse and grow roses up there. It looks like the little extension on the left is an add on. I love it.
I also covet the house on the southeast corner of Greene and Washington. And the old frame on the southeast corner of Lafayette and Adelphi. Gotta buy those Lotto tickets.
love the carriage houses all along Waverly. One of those would be my ideal crash pad. Hall St. between Dekalb and Willoughby also have some interesting carriage houses.
No, they definitely have an old orange one which was installed in 1967 and works just fine thank you very much. Another interesting house is around the corner on Clinton next to the yard for the congregational church. Very mysterious and dark. Okay I am waiting for the privacy mavens to point out we shouldn’t be peeking in our neighbors windows. But, didya ever notice that it is the newer, wealthier folk in the hood who leave their windows undraped and open to peering eyes while the longer term residents have shades, shutters and curtains to keep the outside out?
I wonder if the dishwasher is Miele.
Love this house too but my dream house is 106 Pierrepont, a flawless and wide 5-story brownstone with stained glass and gargoyles. I fantasize about winning the lottery and showing up on their doorstep with a cash offer; sigh.
I too love this house but I also have to point out the two limestone carriage houses at 237 and 239 Waverly Ave between Dekalb and Willoughby. I think they were built by the Pratt family. Love them!
an older couple live in the house
The cupola or lantern on top of the house illuminates the central stairhall and provides natural ventilation as hot air rises to it. A widow’s walk is usually an open platfrom surrounded by railings. There may be one behind the cupola.
I always heard that the house is owned by two spinster sisters.