Why this Blog Exists

To make the case for expanding the Park Slope Historic District

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Brownstone-faced Neo-Grec

Row houses in the Neo-Grec style are extremely common in Park Slope. Frequently they feature a full-height, two-sided bay, and are faced in brownstone. Often one finds incised parallel lines flanking the doorways or windows, and the brackets supporting the rectangular door hood feature geometric carving/incising, in contrast to the more naturalistic carving on the brackets supporting the rounded door hoods in the earlier Italianate style.

The houses below, in Berkeley Place between 7th and 8th Avenues, were erected between 1883-84 and are within the boundaries of the current Park Slope Historic District:

Berkeley Place, Park Slope Historic District

One finds brownstone-faced, two-sided bay Neo-Grec houses all over Park Slope. The houses below are in Garfield Place, between 6th and 7th Avenues, outside the current Park Slope Historic District, but are nearly identical to the ones above:

175-177-179-181-183 Garfield Place - unprotected


Below is another very similar group, from 3rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, outside the current historic district. These houses feature another very common characteristic of the Neo-Grec style: pointed "ears" on each end of the door hood. Several of the houses below retain the original, heavy, Neo-Grec cast-ironwork on the stoop:

426-424-422-420-418-416 3rd St. - unprotected


Yet another very similar group, from Berkeley Place between 5th and 6th Avenues, outside the current historic district. The houses below appear to be just two floors over a basement floor, but actually have a full 3rd floor on top, with small windows set into the cornice. Although generally Neo-Grec, the slightly rounded arch above the doorway betrays a slight influence of the lingering Italianate style:


62-60 Berkeley Place - unprotected