Monday, March 2, 2020

Architect Spotlight: Axel Hedman

Some of you might think you've heard that name somewhere before... and you would be right.

According to the 1979 landmarks designation report for the original Prospect Lefferts Gardens Historic District, he is one of three Brooklyn architects, along with Benjamin Driesler and the firm of  Slee and Bryson, who give the area its character. According to the report, "Hedman's neo-Renaissance designs are among the finest in New York City. Within the limited stylistic vocabulary of the neo-Renaissance, he consistently designed interesting and frequently original buildings with finely crafted details."

According to Brownstoner he was born in Sweden in 1861 and immigrated to America in the 1880's, dying in Brooklyn in 1941.

Hedman of course designed all of the limestone rowhouses on Maple Street between Bedford and Rogers, and several on the north side of Rutland Road between Bedford and Rogers, within the Lefferts Manor neighborhood. But like many prolific Brooklyn architects, he left his progeny on many a pretty block throughout the area.  Here are five more examples.
                                                                                                                                                                    74 - 102 Fenimore street and 66 Fenimore/631 Flatbush


and 21-43 Hawthorne street, all built between 1905 and 1908 by Charles G Reynolds


And around the corner ,  631- 647 Flatbush Avenue,
five four story apartment buildings , also built in 1905 by Charles G Reynolds.












185 - 211 Ocean Avenue, designated as a historic district in  2009



224-228 Winthrop Street  (built 1905 by J H Doherty & Co.)


And around the corner, 605 - 615 Rogers Avenue, four 3 story store plus residences built by W R Doherty




Monday, January 20, 2020

Terra Cotta on Lefferts Avenue Townhouses

Thanks to Bob Marvin for pointing these out. The terra cotta tile adorns all of the rowhouses on both sides of Lefferts between Bedford and Nostrand, with just a few exceptions.


Look Up! Look Close!

We're back from the holidays and there's lots of work to do to preserve PLG.

Today, on Martin Luther King's birthday, we bring you the work of prominent African American preservation writer Suzanne Spellen, aka Montrose Morris on the Brownstoner.com website.

Her latest posts on the site are about terracotta tile, and bank buildings, two endangered forms of historic commercial buildings in and around Prospect Lefferts Gardens. 


Here are some examples of terra cotta tile buildings in PLG

660 Flatbush Avenue. Stop in and say hi at your friendly neighborhood hardware store! 



210 Clarkson Avenue, built as a garage in 1927, recently occupied by a daycare and supermarket, now on the chopping block for an eight story residential building.  


103 Empire Boulevard. Admittedly this place could use some work, but we've seen the crowds lining up at the velvet rope for some unofficial nightclub action anyway. Maybe for the younger crowd, the the post industrial abandoned building vibe adds to the cool factor.  



And here's the former Flatbush Savings bank, formerly an HSBC bank, and also currently set to be demolished and replaced by an eight story residential building.  I hear the ornate original bank interior persisted even after it converted to a Dollar Junction. Mysteriously fabulous dollar stores - so New York.  

815 Flatbush

Friday, November 1, 2019

Nov 1 Building of the Week - Unicorns and Rainbows

All over Flatbush, wooden houses are being demolished at an unprecedented pace. The few remaining houses are like "unicorns".  But we like to leave you with a rainbow shining through the clouds, so we're also presenting a beautifully restored (even though not landmarked) frame house.

1935 Bedford Avenue 
Currently the lone survivor of four freestanding wooden houses on Bedford Avenue between Fenimore and Hawthorne streets, this 1904 one family house was designed by Benjamin Driesler for local developer Thomas Radcliffe. The pair also built  the two houses (now demolished) across the street. As our earlier posts detailed, a great deal of the neighborhood both in and to the south of Lefferts Manor was built by Driesler, who might be called the godfather of PLG. A large stable was built behind the house by architect JC Walsh, who designed other free standing houses near this one.

We are not certain who built the fourth house, at 1931 Bedford Avenue, but it was most likely the same developer and architect, who were responsible for several similar houses in the vicinity.

At this point, this house may actually be THE last wooden house on Bedford Avenue throughout Flatbush, as two large houses on the corner of Lenox were also demolished.
Photo: Lory Henning, 2017

139 Winthrop Street
Renovated about a year or so ago by the family who lived there,  the 1970's vinyl siding and faux stone were removed and replaced with more historically appropriate painted shingles. Great curb appeal! 

Before (Photo: Lory Henning)                   After
The house is one of six similar frame houses on the block built between 1905-6.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

June 26 Community Board presentation - The Good Life in Flatbush

By the late 1920's, Flatbush was a lively residential community with a wide variety of housing types including new six story elevator apartment buildings and semi-detached brick houses with garages, older four and five story walk up tenements, limestone and brownstone rowhouses from the early 1900's, and freestanding frame houses from the turn of the century. It was already reaching that elusive and desirable balance that my neighbors call "halfway between the suburbs and the city".

As I researched the development of our neighborhood (still known simply as "Flatbush") in local newspapers, I was struck not only by long forgotten or buried architectural details and building amenities, but the wonderful variety of shops, restaurants, athletic recreation and family oriented entertainment depicted in newspaper ads (THANK YOU BROOKLYN EAGLE for preserving all this history!)  In particular, Flatbush was known for theaters. There were seven movie theaters - often ornate buildings - in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens area, and thirteen in greater Flatbush. The circus came to town. Oh and the garages. There was ABUNDANT parking and service stations all along Parkside/Clarkson and Empire Boulevard for all those new Ford Model T's, Chevrolets and Buicks. And of course there was Prospect Park, the Botanic Gardens, and the new Brighton line subway to Manhattan.

It must have been a good life, and a wonderful place to raise a family.





April 26 Building of the Week - Roof Gardens

With warm weather approaching, this issue will focus on roof gardens in PLG. (Bet you didn't know they existed!) Beginning in the early 1900's, roof gardens were promoted by social reformers and builders in New York City as way to use otherwise "wasted" space on top of apartment buildings to provide a place for children to play that was close to their parents and away from the dust and dangers of the street, as well as an amenity for residents who could enjoy cool air and views in the summertime. Some roof gardens were equipped with playground equipment and deck chairs, others might have had just an awning covered walkway or deck.  Ellis Island got a children's roof garden in 1908, as part of a complete renovation of facilities to improve the experience of immigrants who were detained there for long periods of time.  

265 and 273 Ocean Avenue -  Designed by Slee and Bryson for Charles Chase in 1913, this pair of brick and limestone buildings featured "All Modern Improvements" including electric lights and steam heat, plus amenities like a roof garden and 24 hour "hall service" (this meant a porter or doorman). The building was dubbed the "Saint Charles" (perhaps the builder had a high opinion of himself!) Slee and Bryson were also active in the PLG historic district, designing brick houses on Fenimore, Rutland, and Midwood, most of the free standing houses on Lincoln 1, and the Grace Reformed Church on Lincoln and Bedford. 
  (sadly both buildings seem to have lost their cornices on top and one got hit with the ugly stucco stick on the entryway)

145 Lincoln Road - This 6 story elevator building with a fanciful, turreted facade was built in 1929 by Gustav Kellner, who also built dozens of other apartment buildings in PLG and Flatbush, as well as his personal home on Maple 1. The architect was Boris W. Dorfman, a Russian Jewish immigrant who also designed several other apartment buildings in PLG and Flatbush (including 99 Ocean Avenue which also had a roof garden). In addition to the roof garden, the building featured cedar closets and Murphy beds. 


232-234 Midwood Street - Of course the flat roof of a townhouse is also a great place to build a roof garden. Roof gardens are back in vogue today, in the form of "green roofs". Green roofs involve covering portions of the roof with soil and plants, usually sedums or grasses, that help to insulate the roof and absorb excess storm water. They are being used to grow vegetables, raise chickens and even bees in Brooklyn today.  "PLG Rooftop Honey" was a hot selling holiday gift item at local stores a couple of years ago. Does anyone know where exactly it was made? 

These two brick townhouses were likely designed by architect William Fernbach in 1907-1908. Apart from the color of the brick, which is tan rather than white, and a different decorative design on the roof cornices, their form and ornamentation is exactly the same as the rest of the townhouses on this block. 
    (Note the safety railing on top of the roof at 232 Midwood!) 


April 11 Building of the Week - Architect Benjamin Driesler

This issue is really going to be an "architect of the week", focused on the work of 
Benjamin Driesler, a German born architect who was extremely active throughout
 Brooklyn in the early 20th century. 

Driesler designed a wide variety of buildings including in greater Prospect Lefferts 
Gardens. His work is also common in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens Historic District
 on Fenimore Street, Sterling street, and Midwood street where he designed both
 rowhouses and detached frame houses. He often worked for W.A.A. Brown, a 
prominent businessman and developer throughout the southern half of Prospect 
Lefferts Gardens. He is mentioned in the original historic district designation report as being one of three architects whose work give the PLG historic district its distinct character. 

Here are a selection of his buildings just outside the original historic district
253-267 Clarkson Ave, builder W.A.A. Brown 1905



352-386 Parkside Avenue, W.A.A. Brown 1909













2007 -  2031 Bedford Avenue,  builder W.A.A. Brown 1911

























116 Winthrop Street, W.A.A. Brown builder 1910-1911

























Thank you to all of your who responded and offered to help with photography. 
As always, we look forward to hearing your stories about any of these buildings!
Next week, by request, we will focus on Rogers Avenue.