1887 Oulton & Wirth Row in 7th Avenue

On the southwest corner of 7th Avenue and 14th Street stands a wonderful row of five mixed-use buildings ("flats over stores"), with apartments on the upper floors over ground-floor commercial space. The buildings are serving exactly the same function today as when they were first built:

424-430 7th Avenue
W. H. Wirth, architect - 1887
Sampson B. Oulton, owner/builder

Our research in the American Architect and Building News tells us that the row was apparently built in 1887 by Sampson B. Oulton to designs by architect W. H. Wirth:

"Building Intelligence; Tenement-Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 21, no. 600 (Jun. 25, 1887): p. xiii.

– "Seventh Ave., s w cor. Fourteenth St., four-st’y brick and terra-cotta stores and tenement, tin roof; cost, $12,000; owner, Sampson B. Oulton, 188 Eleventh St.; architect, W. H. Wirth."

– "Seventh Ave., w s, 20' s Fourteenth St., 4 four-st’y brick and terra-cotta stores and tenements, tin roofs; cost, each, $10,000; owner, Sampson B. Oulton, 188 Eleventh St.; architect, W. H. Wirth."

We can now confirm this citation, based on files that our intrepid researchers have uncovered at Brooklyn's Department of Buildings. Below is a photograph of the actual "Detailed Statement of Specifications" on file for the building at the southwest corner of 7th Avenue and 14th Street:


Material like this from the DOB has only just begun to come into our hands. We hope someday to organize it all and make it available on the web for other "armchair researchers" like ourselves.

In the meantime, it is gratifying to find that the DOB documents support the research we have compiled from the AABN, the online Brooklyn Eagle, and other sources.

This great block of intact 19th-c. mixed-use buildings boasts a wealth of interesting brickwork and terra-cotta details, including large decorative panels set between the windows at the 2nd and 4th floors:

424 7th Avenue - detail

Terra-cotta detail, 430 7th Avenue

The original cast-iron columns at the first floor, mostly covered by modern storefronts, are visible at #428:

Cast-iron columns, 428 7th Avenue

The corner building features an inset stone at the 2nd story, no doubt an early sign carrying the street names:

Street sign, 424 7th Avenue

A stylistically very similar building stands just behind this row in 14th Street, just off 7th Avenue. For example the terra-cotta detailing and arched windows are the same as on the 7th Avenue row:

370 14th Street
W. H. Wirth, architect - 1887
Sampson B. Oulton, owner/builder

Thus it is not surprising to find an AABN listing confirming that Wirth also designed the 14th Street building for Oulton, at the same time as the 7th Avenue row:

"Building Intelligence; Tenement-Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 21, no. 600 (Jun. 25, 1887): p. xiii.

"Fourteenth St., s s, 80' w Seventh Ave., four-st’y brick and terra-cotta tenement, tin roof; cost, $8,000; owner, Sampson B. Oulton, 188 Eleventh St.; architect, W. H. Wirth."

We have encountered both Oulton and Wirth before. Oulton built a row of small brownstones on 11th Street between 4th & 5th Avenues. Wirth designed another wonderful row of mixed-use buildings for Charles Nickenig, nearby on 7th Avenue between 8th & 9th Streets.