Here it is from the Google, picture a few months old at least:
It would appear this long row of highly unique woodframe houses date from the '40s. Which begs the question...what was there before? Brownstone row houses? Chicken coops? Shotgun shacks? An apiary? A long, skinny revival tent? Bocci? Horseshoes? A Hooverville?
Just noticed the gap the other day while sitting on a bench in the playground. Hmm. Wonder what's going up? Probably just the first of many to go. And soon.
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The building dates from the turn of the century. It was sold in March, for $1.3m to be torn down and replaced by a 4 story, 8 unit building.
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=321114156&passdocnumber=01
Actually, after looking at NYPL's maps, I think this house was built before 1890.
Wow. So that whole row of houses dates to the 19th Century? I had no idea. When I did a little look-see on the block it looked like most of the houses were 1940's. But I think that was actually the row on the other side, next to the Parkside Playground. Then again, I'm no Montrose Morris! Where is she when we need her? Suzanne??
It still blows me away that these seriously old houses aren't considered more precious. Frequently they appear to be in great conditions. They fell prey to the winds of changing fashion, because brownstones that don't even have driveways or parking sell for much more. Don't get me wrong; I like brownstones a lot. But...
My house dates back 100 years. Most of the townhomes around here just ain't as old as the wood houses. Maybe it's a Big Bad Wolf thing? The straw houses disappeared long ago.
I don't think there are any houses in PLG or Flatbush from the 1940s. Almost all the frame houses are from 1890s-1910s. Many of them were built at the same time that the brownstones of Lefferts Manor were built. This one happens to be a bit older.
The houses are considered precious - look at Prospect Park South or Ditmas Park. Nobody had to convince the homeowners there not to get a brownstone.
The only reason they are coming down in large numbers is the buildable sq footage that comes with a larger lot from an unattached house. A brownstone might be on a narrow 2000 sq ft lot but the frame houses tend to be on lots that are 5000 or even bigger, especially in Flatbush. Bigger lot means bigger building, more units, etc.
Actually near me, on Rogers, a brick unattached house was torn down for a building site. The house had been recently renovated. The developer doesn't care whether its brick or frame.
Brownstones are brick. Despite their look of being made of stone, I can assure you the outside is just for show.
The houses on Winthrop would need to be landmarked or rezoned to save. Even brickstones could disappear if developers see the advantage.
Ditmas and PPS houses often have a lot more square footage, but many of those streets are lanmarked or zoned to dissuade taller structures.
And while this particular building, zoned R6, will not result in a super high building, an expert tells me these lots could go as high as a dozen stories if configured right. Put a few together and...it's all a numbers game. But we can rest assured no means-tested or rent stabilized units will be built.
158 Winthrop was built in 1948. That's the one I was referring to. Also, it would seem strange that no building would've happened in our neighborhood in the big housing boom of the late '40s and '50s. Some of the apartment buildings - the non-pre-wars obviously - look to date to the '50s and '60s to my eye.
Which one is 158 Winthrop? Did you mean 159? Does the city say 1948? Almost all the city's dates are wrong.
There are many apartment buildings in the area from the 40s, 50s and 60s, just no houses. Some of the buildings on Lenox are from the 60s. There were houses built in East Flatbush in the 30s and 40s (This is what Fred Trump was up to but I don't know if he did those actual houses) or in rows like Winthrop between New York and Brooklyn Aves. Could be wrong but I think some of the Maple st houses are some of the latest houses built in PLG and those are 30s. I think also Brooklyn didn't permit wood frame houses to be built after the mid 1930s or so.
Yup, i know what brownstones are. Just using the term as a generic for a masonry house, like many NYers do.
But yes, I agree, there is something lost when these come down, and we will see more and more. The area of East Flatbush previously known as Vanderveer Park has many large wood frame houses, is from the 1890s, predates Ditmas Park, is not landmarked at all, and is zoned for quite large apartment buildings. Almost all the houses are 2-3 family but can be torn down and replaced with 10+ units.
Just google 158 Winthrop and it pops right up. You know the houses I'm talking about, right?
I'm still confused. 150 Winthrop is a brick row house. East of that is Parkside Playground. East of that is 200 Winthrop.
I have no idea why it says that. I don't even know why that address comes up. But there it is, plain as day! Google it...
The brick townhouses go back to 1905. My sophistication when it comes to digging up property info is about as deep as Google. When the Google fails me...actually I think that was something called StreetEasy
Looks like it's a mistake in the Streeteasy database. A broker probably put in a Parkside ave rental listing with a typo, to an address that didn't exist. Street easy somehow connected it to the nearest numerical building, the school across the street, which has its rear at Winthrop. Maybe part of the school was built in 1948?
Most of the houses on Maple I were built in the 1920s (per the Historic District designation report), but numbers 84, 90, 96, and 110 were built in the 1950s.
The latest brick houses on Maple I were built in 1952, according to the LPC designation report. AFAIK the dates in that report are correct. However the dates listed on most DOB listings are estimates that are pretty far from reality.
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