LEARNING TO BOOGIE IN WILLIAMSBURG (1857)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** People loved to dance back in the 1800s. Their dancing was mostly formal, almost mimicking a prepared act, but it took place in social settings allowing participants to display a good amount of that godly grace their lives often lacked. And people danced not just to exercise, but to socialize, to entertain themselves, and to hear about the latest news from their old and new friends. And everyone wanted to know the latest dances so that they were not embarrassed in such polite company, or so that they could – at the very least – discuss these dances intelligibly. THE 19TH CENTURY’S DISCO In 1857, the Lancers’ Quadrille was all the rage – and by “all the rage,” I mean “ALL THE RAGE.” It seemed that every dance school was teaching it, every tongue was wagging about it, and every newspaper dance academy ad offered its instruction. The Lancers’ Quadrille was a dance performed by four couples – it was a precursor of sorts to the square-dance, albeit a more refined square dance where everyone dressed supper classy and pretended to be nobility. SQUARE DANCIN’ IN BILLYBURG (W/PROF. TRENOR) In Williamsburgh, there existed Professor Trenor’s Private Dancing Academy, at No. 90 South Eighth Street near the East River. It was likely […]
THE SEVEN SISTERS OF LINCOLN PLACE (1906)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** If the Big Bad Wolf had had anything to do with it, he would have always voted for the predictability of a good detached wood-frame villa. It had gotten him far in his day and, what’s more, it had gotten him fed. But it wasn’t the Three Little Pigs’ hairy nemesis that was making housing decisions in Park Slope, Brooklyn around the turn of the last century. Rather, it was the Pigs, themselves, who wanted more modern, sturdier, up-to-date brick and masonry structures. THE DEATH OF VILLAS In early 20th century Brooklyn, a combination of home buyers’ indicators was guiding downward the valuation of older Victorian-era properties. First of all, impacting the long-term downward trajectory, there were the laws promoting fire zones that prevented structures built with wood frames from being constructed going forward. There was also their susceptibility to fire (which prompted these fire zones in the first place). And there was their age – a large number of free-standing villas still around in Brooklyn at the time were at least 25 years old – most others were many years older that that. Most visible, however, were the tastes of the early 20th century home buyers which leaned heavily in the direction of sturdy masonry buildings. The variable, however, which […]
THE HUNGRY BURGLARS OF HENRY ST. (1890)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Not all burglars are intent on “getting in and out quick.” And so it was when, in 1890, two Brooklyn thieves, during a burglary of a Brooklyn Heights home, actually interrupted their own burgling in order to sit down and enjoy a full meal – before carting off their substantial haul. It was in the wee hours of a February morning when the men were prowling about for a target of opportunity. Approaching Henry Street, they noticed the corner house at No. 303. The entire house was dark and so, hopping the fence, they approached the back of the residence to check the kitchen windows. Finding them closed and locked, they forced one of them open, then entered the house. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the burglars, at this point, began to help themselves to “everything they could find on the basement floor.” In the process they “broke open the cook’s trunk and stole $18 of her savings,” and “carried away silverware and a clock valued at $60.” Before going, however, finding themselves hungry and realizing they were in the house’s kitchen, they located the dishware and glasses, and fastidiously set the table. Soon, they were all seated and enjoying “a substantial meal of meat, bread, cake, and other articles […]
FROM A TUDOR TO A BOX (1926)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** It’s a given fact that we all age. It is not such a given that we all do it well. These impressive Tudor revival apartment houses were going up everywhere throughout the outer reaches of Brooklyn in the mid 1920s. The style was appealing to the Brooklynites of the Roaring ’20s, especially those who did not want the responsibility of the upkeep of a full house, had some money in their pocketbooks, and wanted a style of home that was not only visually appealing, but was also different from the stoic – and by then dated – townhouse. The “ultra modern elevator apartment house” at 1800 Ocean Parkway in Gravesend boasted an “ocean view” and apartments with cedar closets, a vapor heating system, tiled kitchens, spacious foyers, an incinerator, and selections of apartments with three, four, or five “huge” rooms each. They were renting for a princely $60 to $95 a month. No one, at the time, could have expected that these grand apartment houses would have aged so disgracefully. In this case, time has been particularly unkind. While this building may very well be structurally sound today, everything that had once made this building stand out from its neighbors – and contributed to its great “visual appeal” – has either […]
A “9-YEAR-OLD HABITUAL DRUNKARD” (1900)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** A few years ago today, the internet was abuzz with the story of a 9-year-old boy who drank, smoke pot, and was abusive to everyone. Maybe scandalous in today’s world, but back in the 19th century it was apparently a more common occurrence. In a world where 9-year-olds were habitually asked to run down to the corner bar and get their father’s (or mother’s) beer pail or growler filled, such boys were plentiful. BOARDING BOYS Children were also less protected, as we all know, back in the day. They were frequently even boarded with other families in the neighborhood, or shipped off to those who advertised their services in the newspapers. These latter were usually those who were house- or room-rich (had enough extra room for children wherever they lived), but didn’t necessarily have the income needed for getting by. Boarding children was just another way of making ends meet. “BOARD – TWO OR THREE CHILDREN wanted to board; will be instructed. Apply at 98 Troutman st.,” read one ad, for instance, appearing in the Daily Brooklyn Eagle in 1885. But it was not always those seeking boarders who had the bad children who drank, smoke, and cursed. At the very same address listed in the ad above, 98 Troutman Street, […]
WATCHING THE (HOUSE) DETECTIVES…
Have you ever wondered about the people who once lived in your house? Where did they sleep? How did they dress? Were they bankers, doctors, carpenters, engineers…? What were the hopes that encouraged them to go on and the secrets that kept them awake at night? Well, if you live at 738 Macon Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn – which is a decidedly very low probability – then you are privy to the answers to these questions. And more. Brownstone Detectives, an historical investigation team, published 738 Macon Street: The Story of a House, a 170-page full color coffee table book laying out the history of the brownstone house at that address. Published in 2014, it was their first book of many others to follow. Since then, they have gone on to publish more than 50 others for homeowners in Brooklyn and Manhattan. And they plan to expand soon to the remaining boroughs and eventually to the tri-state region. Their first book – like the many that have come after it – spanned the ownership of the house for many generations, including the ownership of the land that the house was built on back to the time of the original Dutch settlers. The story is revealed in a manner that seamlessly weaves the individual owners’ stories into one continuous and flowing narrative. Rich, colorful pictures, ancestral documents, newspaper clippings, and architectural records fill the almost 200-page hardbound document. FALLING INTO HISTORY… Brian Hartig, the chief Brownstone Detective, fell […]
