THE RENTERS OF CARROLL GARDENS (2017)
“A British cheese dealer, a newsman who predicted his own death, a leather merchant with a penchant for chorus girls, an alleged wife murderer, a German dentist with political aspirations, a Norwegian hero tugboat captain, and an Italian bomb builder…”
These are many of the characters who were discovered during the recent investigation into the history of a Carroll Gardens brownstone. The historic property, No. 280 President Street, is an 1880 brownstone that was, additionally, built by a man who turned out to be the product of a clandestine relationship that rocked Brooklyn in the 1870s with stories of challenged wills, mental illness, and “other” women, presented under such headlines as “BEDEVILED” and “DRAKE’S WILL: His Illegitimate Children Most Carefully Provided for.”
After navigating redlining, remediating a rat and termite infestation, and entering into a year-long renovation, the Auers settled into enjoying their 2-story and basement home directly across the street from Carroll Park.
While the Auers had always been interested in the history of their house (indeed, it was one of the reasons that they bought the house), and after doing some amount of research themselves, they decided to find someone who could more fully track down the history of their home. They turned to a detective – a Brownstone Detective.
After a year of in-depth research, interviews, and sleuthing, the Brownstone Detectives have successfully closed this case, issuing their report: No. 280 President Street: The Story of a House.
Nos. 279 & 280 turned out to be the last houses on the block to be built.
Immediately after construction had ended, the house was pressed into service for its rent roll. Its first renters were a British cheese dealer and his Canadian wife. These were followed by a succession of colorful renters whose lives told the tale of the first three-fourths of the house’s history.
The new Brownstone Detectives book, 90 pages in length, joins 20+ books already written on the histories of historic Brooklyn houses, two of which are No. 738 Macon Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant and No. 231 Cumberland Street in Fort Greene.
Hartig’s historical research company is currently engaged in investigating the histories for owners in Clinton Hill, Kensington, Crown Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and several other areas.
“We’ve recently been getting requests to research historic homes in Manhattan,” Hartig noted. “That’ll be the next borough we branch out into.”
Every Brownstone Detectives book showcases the lives of the latest owners of a house, enshrining them into the history and the lineage of their home.[/caption]The company, which initially focused on homeowners of historic houses, has recently been inundated with requests from realtors.
“It was something we didn’t expect, but we should have,” Hartig said, “Realtors use our books primarily to help market their houses, but also as gifts for their clients.
“We see our books as a marketing tool that has the power to differentiate one house from the rest on the market. We wrote a book recently for a seller in Cobble Hill. They just sold their house for almost $4 million.”
Brownstone Detectives employs award-winning graphics designer (and talented jazz musician), Tom Beckham, who’s received countless plaudits for his layout of the books, as well as illustrator Christopher Bonnell, who adorns the books’ covers with whimsical renditions of their clients’ houses.
For information on having the Brownstone Detectives investigate the history of your house, visit the Brownstone Detectives website or reach out to them on their Contact page.
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The story you have just read was composed from extensive historical research conducted by The Brownstone Detectives. We perform in-depth investigations on the historic homes of our clients, and produce for them their very own House History Books. Our hardbound books include an illustrated and colorful narrative timeline that will bring the history of any house to life. Contact us today to begin discovering the history of your home.
