“CINDERELLA OF BERKELEY PLACE” (1971)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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 showed how a brownstone, nicknamed “Cinderella,” in the slums of Park Slope, was about to go through a full-scale renovation. To be sure, the brownstone, No. 211 Berkeley Place, was in truly rough shape – but it had “good bones;” clearly, however, it was the worst house in the best bad neighborhood – and it needed a LOT of work. The brownstone was not being renovated by a couple of young brownstoners, however; it was purchased for renovation by the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, at the behest of local activists. The plan was to show the ease with which brownstones could be renovated with few resources and not a lot of money, allowing owners to live in their own grand brownstones in America’s first suburb. THE ACTIVISTS Everett H. and Evelyn G. Ortner galvanized the historic preservation movement in Brooklyn. In 1963, after living in Brooklyn Heights for the first decade of their marriage, the couple purchased an 1882 four-story brownstone at No. 272 Berkeley Place in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. This would be the catalyst for their involvement in the “Brownstone Revival” movement. The Ortners soon became active in a variety of community organizations. They lobbied local banks to provide mortgages to prospective Park Slope home-buyers at […]
DO YOU KNOW WHO LIVED IN YOUR OLD HOUSE?
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Most people don’t know that the entire history of their homes can be dug up with a little bit of elbow grease. While Brownstone Detectives provides this service to clients, we are always more than happy to help homeowners to do the digging themselves. One of the first steps – of many – that we take when researching the history of your old house, is uncovering the chain of title – that list of individuals who bought and sold your property throughout its lifetime. To discover this list, a trip to the Department of Finance leads us to the old dusty tomes that contain this information, recorded in the old stylistic cursive freehand of the time. The listings of the home sales of a certain house/address were not simply recorded in order within the book. Each sale that took place in relation to that property was recorded as it occurred. So, for instance, if there were 20 years between sales of your home, those sales would usually be located several pages from each other. So, finding the chain of title usually takes a bit of digging. Once you have determined the property conveyances that have taken place, you record the information for each sale and then you head to the microfilm […]
REMODELING IN THE VICTORIAN AGE (1894)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In the early 1890s, Good Housekeeping magazine published a series of articles by Mrs. Oliver Bell Bunce – the wife of the author – on the proper maintaining of a household. The following piece expounded upon the decoration of homes in the late 19th century – what was “in” and what was not. It may not serve as a guide to how every home was kept, but it does give a peek into how some interior decorators were thinking on the subject. Also, as the Bunces lived in New York City, the article can be seen through the lens, more specifically, of laying out the preferred interior use and decoration of a brownstone or townhouse. WHAT TO DO WITH MY LADY’S HOUSE n this age, when home decoration has been reduced to a science, when artistic treatment is looked upon with so much favor, when every part of a room which is unsightly can. if the good caretaker knows the value of art and its properties, be made attractive, a homely object will, under her hands, become a thing of beauty, and many an eyesore develop into an enduring charm. For the treatment of doors, there are various ways and methods by which they can be adapted to circumstances. We will […]
