TAMING THE BROWNSTONE MONSTER (1921)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** By the 1920s, many New Yorkers had moved on from the brownstone. In fact, articles were being written on just how exactly to move on from what was seen as these “monstrosities.” Following the recommendations of self-appointed design entusiasts and contractors with an eye for the moderne, many brownstone townhouses were shaved of their detail and turned into drab brown boxes. The following story, dripping with sarcasm and barely veiled condescension, appeared in the New York Herald, showing just how the monstrosity at No. 17 East 75th Street was tamed.– Courtesy of The New York Herald, Sun., 23 January 1921 By HARRIET SISSON GILLESPIE. With each passing year one sees in New York city fewer and fewer of the relics of the horror period in American architecture the brownstone age. The grim old dwelling of the early 80’s with its sulky facade and its atmosphere of oppressive respectability is passing from our midst, but no one seems broken hearted over the fact. During the acute stage of the housing panic the hasty conversion of anything available into a hive of small suites rid the city of a few of the old time monstrosities, but by no means all of them have passed into the limbo of the kitchenette. Architectural beauty doctors […]
HOW YOUR BROWNSTONE LOST ITS SOUL (1915)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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 started just 20 years after construction began on “Brownstone Brooklyn” – our brownstones and townhouses began to lose their “souls.” Constructed in a time when owners needed three and four stories of room for large families, they had, in those times, existed as the epitome of style and class. Now that so much square footage so close to the city center was becoming too dear for so many residents (who did not have families or who needed much less room), builders were beginning to construct large apartment houses that provided all of the necessities of home within a smaller, but more stylish and efficiently laid out, space. Such competition from newer construction caused the formerly beloved brownstone to lose its lucrative “soul.” THE SOLUTION TO ANTIQUITY In 1915, real estate broker Frank Tyler struck upon an idea that turned out to be, in essence, a paradigm change: Take an old inefficient brownstone and turn it into a stylish and updated apartment house. Tyler noticed that “the average three-story and basement dwelling of old-fashioned style” had “become a drag on the real estate market.” Because of “great changes that have taken place in construction, and the popularity of apartment house living,” brownstone owners had been experiencing a decline in the rental […]
