Splatter House Row

"Splatter House" is what we've always called artist Mark Ravitz's residence on the west side of 7th Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets:

200 7th Avenue, circa 2003

The building is actually part of a row of 5. According to the American Architect and Building News, the mixed-use (flats over stores) row was built in 1890 by owner George H. McGill of Gravesend, and was designed by architect Henry Vollweiler:

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 28, no. 747 (Apr. 19, 1890): p. xv.

– "Seventh Ave., s w cor. Second St., four-st’y brick dwell., tin roof; cost, $10,000; owner, George H. McGill, Gravesend Neck Road; architect, Henry Vollweller, 14 Elm St."

– "Seventh Ave., w s, 20' s Second St., 4 four-st’y brick dwells., tin roofs; cost, $8,000 each; owner, George H. McGill, Gravesend Neck Road; architect, Henry Vollweller, 14 Elm St."

194-202 7th Avenue
George H. McGill, owner
Henry Vollweiler, architect - 1890

Not much is known about architect Henry Vollweiler. His name appears in one of Christopher Gray's "Streetscapes" columns, in connection with the Stewart Woodford house at 869 President Street in Park Slope; Vollweiler in 1929 redesigned the original Henry Ogden Avery interiors of the 1885 Woodford house.

Mr. Ravitz, the subject of a profile in the current issue of Borough President Markowitz's "Brooklyn Newspaper", maintains a website featuring photographs of his work, including the many "Drip" installations on his building's facade.

photo: markravitzartanddesign.com

We've always enjoyed the "Splatter House" installations. They make the world a bit more fun!

2010 House Tour: 614 2nd Street

This house will be featured on the 2010 Park Slope House Tour, which will be held Sunday, May 16. Tickets will be available at 7th Avenue merchants, and through the Park Slope Civic Council's website. All proceeds from the House Tour are returned to the community through the Council's Grants Program.

614 2nd Street, Park Slope Historic District
Benjamin Driesler, architect - 1903

Our next tour home, 614 2nd Street, is part of a longer row of 26 houses (#590-648) built as a single development. The row occupies most of the south side of the "park block" of 2nd Street. Regarding this row, the Park Slope Historic District's Designation Report tells us:

This long row of twenty-six houses was begun in 1903 for William H. Reynolds, representing the First Construction Company of Brooklyn, and was designed by Benjamin Driesler, a Brooklyn architect. It is an interesting example of the quest for variety, while at the same time utilizing certain standards of form, materials and architectural detail. Although at first the row has the appearance of a series of individually designed townhouses, a second glance reveals certain underlying similarities, with minor variations of detail intended to differentiate the houses. First, with regard to form, there is an alternating sequence of curved and three-sided bays; in addition, the end houses terminate the row with projecting square bays. Second, with regard to materials, there are three basic house types, all built upon brownstone basements: an all brownstone house, a brick above brownstone house, and an all limestone house. Third, there is the consideration of architectural style and details and how they are used relative to the houses of varying materials. The basic similarities of these houses are found in the uniform use of brownstone basements, Romanesque Revival L-shaped stoops, and neo-Classical sheetmetal cornices with small round bosses evenly spaced throughout. The houses are all slightly stepped down, as is noticeable at the cornices, to follow the slope of the street. ...The materials are used at random, and the limestone houses stand out quite boldly against their more sombre-hued neighbors. ...Architecturally, these houses all belong to the Eclectic period, when a wide range of styles was in use.

614 2nd Street, center

The architect, Benjamin Driesler, was born in Bavaria in 1869, and immigrated in 1881. He built a very successful architectural practice in Brooklyn, designing hundreds of houses in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Ditmas Park, Midwood, and Kensington:

From Flatbush of Today, by Herbert Foster Gunnison, 1908

The developer, William H. Reynolds, served briefly as a New York state senator. He was a shrewd businessman whose ability to profit from public investments sometimes raised eyebrows:

New York Times, July 20, 1916.

A Complete Blockfront: C. P. Skelton in Sixth Avenue

Another fine example of a complete Park Slope blockfront designed as a unified whole stands on the west side of 6th Avenue between 1st & 2nd Streets:

278-296 6th Avenue - unprotected

We searched the online Brooklyn Eagle in vain for any citation of these buildings. We tried countless permutations of search keys including "Sixth avenue", "First street", "Second street" etc., but no hits. Thus it was highly gratifying finally to find a reference in the American Architect and Building News of 1887:

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

– "Sixth Ave., s w cor. First St., three-st’y and basement brown-stone dwell., tin roof; cost, $5,000; owner, architect and builder, C. P. Skelton."

– "Sixth Ave., n w cor. Second St., three-st’y and basement brown-stone dwell., tin roof; cost, $5,000; owner, architect and builder, C. P. Skelton."

– "Sixth Ave., w s 20' s First St., 8 two-and-a-half-st’y and basement brown-stone dwells., tin roofs; cost, each, $5,000; owner, architect and builder, C. P. Skelton.

This is one of those cases, apparently not uncommon in 19th c. Brooklyn, in which a single individual, one C. P. Skelton in this case, alone assumed the role of owner, architect, and builder. Skelton seems to have carried off his responsibility quite nicely here. The end houses bracket the row with full-height, two-sided projecting window bays and a full three stories over basement, in contrast to the two-and-a-half story, flat facades of much of the rest of the row. The central pair of houses again rises to a full three stories. Altogether this row seems to us perhaps a slight echo of the wonderful townhouse blocks of Knightsbridge or Belgravia.

The entire Neo-grec block is in nearly original condition, excepting one of the central pair which has regrettably lost its stoop and cornice.

278-296 6th Avenue - unprotected

The 1897 Lain's Brooklyn Directory lists 296 6th Avenue, the choice corner lot with full southern exposure, as the residence of Christopher P. Skelton, "builder".

SKELTON Chris'r P. bldr. 296 6th av

296-294 6th Avenue - unprotected

Beyond the fact that he designed and built this fine row in 1887 and occupied the end house himself, we have found nothing else about Christopher P. Skelton.

A Complete Blockfront: John J. Deery, Architect

Park Slope boasts many complete blockfronts, designed as a whole for a single client by one architect. Such is the case for the block fronting 7th Avenue between 1st and 2nd Streets, across from P.S. 321:

173-187 7th Avenue - unprotected

According to the American Architect and Building News, with corroborating evidence from the Brooklyn Eagle, the row was built in 1891 for Joseph E. Rogers of Manhattan, and was designed by architect John J. Deery:

173-187 Seventh Avenue (SE corner 1st Street to NE corner 2nd Street)

"Building Intelligence; Stores; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 31, no. 792 (Feb. 28, 1891): p. xviii.

– "Seventh Ave., s e cor. First St., five-st’y brick store and dwell., tin and tile roof; cost, $18,000; owner, J. E. Rogers, 1650 Madison Ave., New York City; architect, John J. Deery, 280 Broadway, New York City."

– "Seventh Ave., n e cor. Second St., five-st’y brick store and dwell., tin and tile roof; cost, $18,000; owner, J. E. Rogers, 1650 Madison Ave., New York City; architect, John J. Deery, 280 Broadway, New York City."

– "Seventh Ave., e s, 25' s First St., 6 four-st’y brick stores and dwells., tin and tile roofs; cost, $12,000 each; owner, Joseph E. Rogers, 1650 Madison Ave., New York City; architect, John J. Deery, 280 Broadway, New York City."

At the southeast corner of Seventh avenue and First street and the northeast corner of Seventh avenue and Second street, two five story brick stores and dwellings, 25x90, nine families in each. Joseph E. Rogers, owner: cost $30,000. -Brooklyn Eagle, January 31, 1891, p. 2 ("New Buildings"). Together with:
On Seventh avenue, near First street, six four story brick store dwellings, 25x70, eight families in each. Joseph E. Rogers, owner: cost $72,000. -Brooklyn Eagle, January 31, 1891, p. 2 ("New Buildings").

The original row comprised eight buildings, in three designs, in an ABBCCBBA pattern. The corner ("A") buildings are five stories each, while the others are four stories; the center two ("C") buildings have double bay windows.

173 7th Avenue (style 'A') - unprotected

173 7th Avenue - detail - pressed tin decoration

177 7th Avenue - style 'B' - detail

181 7th Avenue - style 'C' - unprotected

Architect John Jerome Deery's practice seems to have been based in Philadelphia and to have involved the design of many Roman Catholic church buildings. His biography is posted on the Philadelphia Buildings website, where the Park Slope blockfront is listed amongst his known works.

The block is missing an original building at 185 7th Avenue. The New York Times of March 10, 1928 reports the sale of 185 Seventh Avenue, a six-family flat, in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, so the original building was apparently still standing at that time.

173-187 7th Avenue - unprotected

However, the building is missing in an aerial photograph of Park Slope from the 1950s; the view is to the west and the row is in the lower right-hand corner of the photograph. Sometime between 1928 and the 1950s, this otherwise intact block developed a "missing tooth".

7th Avenue - 3rd St. to 1st St. - view to west - 1950s

The view above also shows the buildings that were later replaced by P.S. 321.

In Memoriam: Louis Bonert

We conclude our review of the work of prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert with a glimpse into his personal life.

Bonert maintained a country residence in Sayville, Long Island. In 1908 his 25-year-old daughter Lucille was driving a car that was struck by a Long Island Rail Road train at an unguarded Sayville crossing, and was permanently injured. Lucille sued the LIRR and was awarded $10,000 in damages in 1910:

New York Times, April 13, 1910, p. 4 ("$10,000 For Her Injuries")

Louis Bonert, toward the end of his life, and having done so much to create the built environment of Park Slope, actually moved into one of his own buildings, a fine townhouse at 625 Second Street in the park block:

625-627 2nd Street, Park Slope Historic District

Bonert built this house, designed by architects Eisenla and Carlson, in 1908, as part of a longer row. This house was Bonert's residence at the time of his death, at 74, on May 15, 1916:

New York Times, May 17, 1916, p. 11 ("Died")

Bonert's funeral observances occurred at what was then the Emanuel Lutheran Church, in 7th Street just above 6th Avenue. The building still stands today:

Park Congregational Church

- unprotected

The building, whose history we hope to recount in a later post, dates to 1870 and is now hemmed in closely by buildings on both sides.

It was Louis Bonert, careful readers will recall, who sold the land on which another Lutheran church, St. Matthews English, now stands at 6th Avenue and 2nd Street in Park Slope:

St. Matthews English Lutheran Church - unprotected

Louis Bonert died intestate, a situation that unfortunately precipitated a legal battle between his widow, Louisa, and his daughter Lucille, who was appointed "administratrix" of the estate. Although Bonert was deemed a wealthy man in life, apparently his estate was reduced to virtually nothing by the claims of creditors, taxes, and administrative fees, prompting Bonert's widow Louisa to mount a lawsuit against her own daughter Lucille:

The New York Supplement

, 1921

But let us draw the curtain on this unfortunate family squabble. We prefer to remember Bonert as the man who build so many fine buildings in Park Slope.

We recall our Greek philosophy professor, quoting Alfred North Whitehead, saying that all Western philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. In the same way, It can almost be said that the development of Park Slope, at least along 6th Avenue and side streets in the central Slope, is a series of "footnotes to Louis Bonert".

Louis Bonert: 6th Avenue & 2nd Street, 1896

In 1896, Park Slope builder Louis Bonert is issued a building permit for a row of four four-story, four-family buildings on the southeast corner of 6th Avenue and 2nd Street:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 1, 1896, p. 13 ("Real Estate Market")

After building, as we have seen, a great many brick-faced apartment houses in previous years, Bonert here develops a handsome group of limestone-faced, bow-front apartment houses, in a new building style pioneered the previous year at the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and 3rd Street. But whereas previously he tested the market with only a single new building in this style, he here employs the new style to create an entire block of apartments:

6th Avenue & 2nd Street, southeast corner - unprotected

Note how his older style persists on the side elevation: as we have seen so many times previously, it is characterized by "fancy brick" with brownstone trim, arched windows at the top floor, and terra cotta spandrel panels beneath the windows.

The front facade, fully clad in stone with almost no ornament, is more austere, and more formal at the same time. Bonert here introduces the unusual window hoods that will become almost a kind of "signature" in his later buildings:

307-309 6th Avenue - detail

The row continues in the next two buildings:

611-613 6th Avenue - unprotected

The original permit was for the four buildings shown above. However, continuing down the block, it is clear that the entire block all the way to 3rd Street was developed by Bonert in the same style. The building facades are nearly identical with those above, with slight differences in the detailing of the windows and doorways:

615-617 6th Avenue - unprotected

319 6th Avenue - unprotected

With this new style of apartment house, Bonert dispenses with the inset Romanesque clustered columns employed beside the doorway in his earlier apartments, striking instead a more purely classical note:

317 6th Avenue - detail

The Brooklyn Eagle records that Bonert sold one of these apartment houses in 1899:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 27, 1899, p. 14 ("Real Estate Market")

This more formal, stone-faced "flat house" will become Bonert's new standard housing style in the next few years in Park Slope.

Louis Bonert, 6th Avenue & 2nd Street, 1894

Our next group of documented buildings by prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert is found at the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and 2nd Street. The group of buildings is nearly identical to other similar rows constructed by Bonert around the same time:

6th Avenue & 2nd Street, northeast corner - unprotected

299 6th Avenue - unprotected

The documentation for the row of four apartment houses just off the corner appears in the New York Times of September, 1894:

New York Times, September 4, 1894, p. 12 ("Brooklyn Realty Matters")

The building permit does not include the corner building itself. But the details of the corner building leave little doubt that it too was constructed by Bonert:

303-305 6th Avenue - detail

Interestingly, the row departs in several ways from Bonert's previous rows that extended to a corner lot. Bonert previously often offset a brownstone-faced, mixed use (residential over commercial first floor) corner building with adjacent all-residential, brick-over-brownstone buildings. Here the corner building boasts a wonderful rounded window bay, but is otherwise very similar to the adjacent buildings, and shows no sign of ever having incorporated a commercial component on the first floor:

On the side elevation of the corner building, Bonert introduces an unusual spandrel panel featuring a Native American in feathered headdress:

305 6th Avenue - spandrel panel detail

Louis Bonert: 2nd Street, 1894

Next up in our seemingly endless series about Park Slope builder Louis Bonert is this series of five "single flats", from the south side of 2nd Street, just below 6th Avenue:

426-418 2nd Street - unprotected

Our attribution for these buildings comes from the August, 1894 New York Times:

New York Times, August 1, 1894, p. 12 ("Brooklyn Realty Matters")

This row of course exhibits all the classic characteristics of Bonert's flat houses, including the brick-arched top-floor windows, the "Green Man" terra cotta facade panels placed beneath the windows, and the brownstone-faced first floor with inset clustered columns flanking the doorway:

Bonert once controlled property on this side of the street extending all the way to 6th Avenue. A New York Times article in early 1895 notes that Bonert sold property at the southwest corner of 6th Avenue and 2nd Street to the Trustees of St. Matthews English Lutheran Church, which was relocating from Clinton and Amity Streets in what's now known as Cobble Hill:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 14, 1895, p. 9 ("Real Estate Market")

One suspects that Louis Bonert was a member of the congregation, since the article notes his sizeable subscription of $1,000 toward the $13,000 purchase price.

St. Matthew's Church, previously noted on this blog, was soon erected on the site. The Times article notes that Charles A. Schieren, Mayor of the independent City of Brooklyn in 1894-95, was a Trustee of St. Matthew's Church. Schieren had lost a daughter in childhood and donated a stained-glass window in her memory which was installed in the church building.

Our Bonerts are peeking out from behind the right-hand side of the church in the photograph below:

St. Matthew's English Lutheran Church - unprotected

Finally, the Times article notes that Bonert's broker, John Pullman, maintained his office at 741 Union Street. The address is approximately where "Uncle Louis G's" ice cream emporium appears in the photograph below (blue and white stripes):

5th Avenue & Union Street, northeast corner - unprotected

St. Matthew's English Lutheran Church

A slight air of neglect surrounds the church at 6th Avenue and 2nd Street in Park Slope. The cornerstone has crumbled away and is no longer readable. However, it is possible to make out the words "Matthew's" and "Lutheran Church", carved on stone plaques mounted onto the tower.

From these clues, via a search in the online Brooklyn Eagle, we were able to determine that the original name for this church was St. Matthew's English Lutheran Church. Apparently there was also a German Lutheran Church elsewhere in Brooklyn.

St. Matthew's English Lutheran Church, 6th Ave. & 2nd Street - unprotected

A Brooklyn Eagle article from May 22, 1896, notes that the Church was nearing completion and would be dedicated in June of that year:

Brooklyn Eagle, May 22, 1896

Several churches already stand within the boundaries of the current Park Slope Historic District. Below is the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, erected 1880. Its steeple was knocked down by the Hurricane of 1938:

Sixth Avenue Baptist Church - Park Slope Historic District