Thomas Bennett for Louis Bonert in 3rd Street

Long ago we identified prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert as the developer of much of 3rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

More recently we identified Pohlman and Patrick as the architects for 8 westermost of these apartment houses, 4 on each side of the street, toward 6th Avenue. Pohlman and Patrick's buildings were erected in 1903, and can be identified by the flat, foliate entablature surmounting the entrance:

458 3rd Street
Pohlman and Patrick, architects - 1903
Louis Bonert, builder

458 3rd Street - entrance detail

Bonert apparently felt he had found a winning formula with these spacious, 8-family, 38'-wide apartment houses, because he built seven more of them one year later, in 1904, just uphill from the first group. For reasons unknown, however, he chose to employ for the later group another prolific Brooklyn architect, Thomas Bennett, with whom he had collaborated on some other apartments in 3rd Street a few years earlier:

"Projected Buildings," RERBG v. 73, no. 1882 (April 9, 1904): p. 847.
-639- 3rd st, n s, 293 e 6th av, three 4-sty brk tenements, 38.3x68, 8 families, steam heat; total cost, $45,000; L Bonert, 6th av and 3rd st; ar't, T Bennett, 3rd av and 52d st.

The 1904 buildings are nearly identical to the earlier group, and are distinguished mainly by a peaked entablature surmounting the doorway. The 1904 group also has one less window illuminating the central staircase:

461 3rd Street
Thomas Bennett, architect - 1904
Louis Bonert, builder

461 3rd Street - entrance detail

The similarity between the buildings from two different architects is remarkable. Bonert certainly seems to have maintained no loyalty to a particular architect from one development to the next.

L Bonert & T Bennett in 3rd Street

Here's another new finding gleaned from the Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. The RERBG issue of April 6, 1901 carries news of plans filed by prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert for four 4-story, 8-family "tenements" (i.e. multi-family housing), on the south side of 3rd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues. Bonert's architect here is Thomas Bennett, who designed a great many Park Slope apartment houses from around this same time:

"Projected Buildings," RERBG v. 67, no. 1725 (April 6, 1901): p. 634. -468- 3rd st, s s, 247.8 e 5th av, four 4-sty brk tenements, 32.2x90, 8 families; cost, $72,000; L Bonert, 6th av and 3rd st; ar't, T Bennett, 198 53rd st.

The first of the row, all of which still stand in virtually unchanged condition, is shown below:

392 3rd Street - erected 1901
Louis Bonert, builder
Thomas Bennett, architect

Louis Bonert is of course well-known to long-time readers of this blog; we suspect he built more housing in Park Slope than any other developer. We had a hunch these buildings were erected by Bonert, although we never had any concrete evidence before now. In part our suspicion was based on the unusual tripartite windows on the first floor; other examples from Bonert's buildings are found directly across the street.

392 3rd Street - window detail

392 3rd Street - cornice detail

Does Preservation = Affordable Housing?

People occasionally blame Historic Preservation for accelerating gentrification and the loss of affordable housing. It is sometimes charged that historic preservation "pushes people out" by making neighborhoods unaffordable for long-time residents, resulting in less economic diversity etc.

We're not sure we buy this critique. It seems to us that in Park Slope, at any rate, historic preservation can help preserve affordable housing (relative to Park Slope at any rate).

Consider the two buildings in the photograph below:


The building on the left is one of a row of 12 8-family flats built in 1893 by Charles Hagedorn on the north side of 3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues. The lot size is 27', which makes for two 13'-wide apartments per floor. It lacks an elevator, and the apartment layouts are probably somewhat quirky. Perhaps most shocking (at least to cranky Brownstoner commenters), the residents must keep their rubbish in exposed bins in the front areaway.

The new building on the right, by contrast, yields two spacious 20'-wide apartments per floor. The apartments feature large windows admitting lots of light, elevator access to all floors, a discreet place to hide the rubbish bins.

But all these amenities offered by the new, "luxury" building come at a price. In which building do you think it costs more to rent or buy an apartment? In which building would you expect to find more economically diverse residents?

We suspect there's a lot more folks who could afford to live in the old building on the left, than in the new building on the right.

We're not saying that a 4th-floor walkup is the right housing for everyone. But for many people, at some point in their lives, a 4th floor walkup may be their only affordable choice in Park Slope, that will allow them to live here rather than elsewhere.

Annandale

One of our favorite 7th Avenue buildings is the "Annandale", on the northeast corner of 7th Avenue and 3rd Street, built of light-colored brick with handsome brownstone trim and corner quoins. The building's warm yellow brick seems to glow in the late afternoon sun:

Annandale Apartments, 7th Avenue & 3rd Street, Park Slope
L. Anderson, architect - 1892

To reach the upper-floor flats, one enters a door behind a Romanesque archway off 7th Avenue. The entrance behind the arch is lined with what appear to be original half-height wooden panels, which make for an altogether extremely handsome doorway:

Annandale Apartments - detail

According to the American Architect and Building News, the apartment house was constructed in 1892-93 to plans by architect L. Anderson; the owners are listed as "Gold, Nicoll, & Anderson":

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brookly n, N. Y.," AABN vol. 38, no. 884 (Dec. 3, 1892): p. 7.

– "Third St., n e cor. Seventh Ave., five-st’y brick store and dwell., tin roof; cost, $16,000; owners, Gold, Nicoll & Anderson, Third St. and Third Ave.; architect, L. Anderson, 33 Cornelia St."

Andersons (as both developer, and architect) are also associated with the adjacent row of four brownstones in 3rd Street, also built in 1892.

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 36, no. 858 (Jun. 4, 1892): p. 3.

– "Third St., n s, 29' e Seventh Ave., 4 three-st’y brick dwells., tin roofs; cost, $6,000 each; owner and builder, Julius Anderson; architect, Lewis Anderson."

One wonders: could "Lewis Anderson," architect of the adjacent row of 4 townhouses in 3rd Street, be the same architect ("L. Anderson") who designed the corner apartment house at 7th Avenue, which was constructed around the same time? It seems highly likely to us.

Historic District Splits 3rd Street Row

Apologies for the poor quality of the photograph, but it illustrates yet another example of the schizophrenic boundaries of the current Park Slope Historic District. The photo shows the four houses on the north side of 3rd Street, just above 7th Avenue (an apartment building occupies the corner):

503-507 3rd Street - unprotected
509 3rd Street - Park Slope Historic District

According to a listing we found in the American Architect and Building News, the row was built in 1892 by owner/builder Julius Anderson, and architect Lewis Anderson:

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," AABN vol. 36, no. 858 (Jun. 4, 1892): p. 3.

– "Third St., n s, 29' e Seventh Ave., 4 three-st’y brick dwells., tin roofs; cost, $6,000 each; owner and builder, Julius Anderson; architect, Lewis Anderson."

This listing conforms to the historic district's Designation Report, which also credits this row to Anderson & Anderson:

Park Slope Historic District Designation Report, p. 109

As noted in the Designation Report, however, only #509 is within the current Historic District. The other three houses, closest to 7th Avenue, are not. Can you guess why? Careful readers of this blog will recall how, south of Union Street, the historic district never approaches closer than 100' to 7th Avenue, even if that boundary splits rows of identical houses, as here.

100' is of course the depth of a standard NYC building lot. The boundary of the 1973 Park Slope Historic District seems to anticipate that everything standing in 7th Avenue were ultimately to be bulldozed. In other words, buildings seem not to have been included in the original historic district based solely on merit, but rather on arbitrary extraneous factors including development potential... a highly questionable approach to landmarking, it seems to us.

3rd Street - Back from the Brink

This week the Brooklyn Paper celebrates its 30th anniversary with short portraits of Brooklyn's neighborhoods describing how they've changed over the past 30 years. The Park Slope feature is accompanied by a photograph from the north side of 3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues, showing buildings in a frightful state of abandonment:

3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues (Brooklyn Paper photograph)

The article notes that the block, which looks out upon Washington Park and the Old Stone House, "is now one of the most delightful blocks in Park Slope." We certainly agree with that assessment.

The buildings that were in such terrible shape 30 years ago are four story "double flats", i.e. two apartments per floor, perhaps built to house the families of workers employed in the industries ranged along the nearby Gowanus Canal. The buildings are apparently part of a row constructed in 1893 by local builder Charles Hagedorn (whose last name sometimes appears in variants including Hagedon, Hagadon, and Hagadorn).

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N.Y., AABN vol. 40, no. 905 (April 29, 1893): p. xvii.

- Third St., n s, 175' w Fifth Ave., 12 four st'y brick dwells., tin roofs; cost, $7,500 each; owner, Chas. Hagadorn, 227 Thirteenth St.

American Architect and Building News, April 29, 1893, p. xvii.

The 1897 Lain's Brooklyn Directory lists Charles Hagedorn, lawyer, in residence at 227 13th Street, the same address as in the above AABN listing:

HAGEDORN Chas. lawyer h 227 13th

According to Brooklyn Eagle accounts, Charles Hagedorn was a substantial property owner along the 5th Avenue corridor, and was also president of the Fifth Avenue Property Holders' Rapid Transit Association, which was "anxious to see rapid transit along Fifth Avenue":

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 21, 1888, p. 1 ("Fifth Avenue Property Holders")

The campaign was successful and service along the new 5th Avenue line of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad commenced in 1889.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1903 carried a photograph of one of the 3rd Street buildings when it was resold to a new investor. Note the awnings on the building to the left:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 13, 1903, p. 11

The entire row comprises twelve identical double flats, all now restored to near original condition.

315-345 3rd Street - unprotected

341 3rd Street - unprotected

341 3rd Street - detail

341 3rd Street - detail

Perhaps even more remarkable than the individual buildings themselves is the fact that all twelve still survive. It remains to be seen whether the buildings will still be standing when our multi-phase, multi-year project to expand the Park Slope Historic District progresses this far downhill.

Mystery at 7th Avenue & Union Street

The northeast corner of 7th Avenue and Union Street is occupied by a handsome block of four mixed-use buildings (flats over stores) in a vaguely Neoclassical style:

83-87 7th Avenue (Park Slope Historic District); 89 7th Avenue (unprotected)

The row exemplifies the schizoid boundaries of the original Park Slope Historic District, designated July 17, 1973: the three buildings on the left (83-87 7th Ave.) are in the current historic district, while the building on the right, at the Union Street corner, was left out, even though all four buildings were clearly designed as a unit.

We know from our Documentary History of the Park Slope Historic District Expansion that the parcel of four building lots came into the hands of prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert in 1896. Bonert purchased the lots from the executor of the "Morrison estate" and immediately filed plans, prepared by architect Robert Dixon, for four mixed-use buildings, the interiors of which were to be "fitted up in the finest manner and have every modern improvement".

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 22, 1896, p.12 ("Real Estate Market")

New York Times, January 23, 1896, ("Brooklyn Realty Matters")

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 24, 1896, p. 13 ("New Buildings")

Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.,

– "Seventh Ave., n e cor. Union St., 4 four-st’y brick dwells., one 27' 6" x 90', one 21' 8" x 62', two 20' 6" x 62', tin roofs; $42,000; own., Louis Bonert, 321 Tenth St.; arch., Robert Dixon, 213 Montague St."

American Architect & Building News, vol. 52, no. 1062 (May 2, 1896): p. 2

The buildings exhibit a number of characteristics similar to other buildings erected by Bonert, including the arched windows at the 4th floor and the decorative panels below some of the windows:

One of the most distinctive characteristics is the unusual tripartite windows at 85 7th Avenue. These windows are found on only a very few other buildings in Park Slope, all associated with Louis Bonert, standing in 3rd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues.

85 7th Avenue - detail

408 3rd Street - detail

Alas, the Bonert attribution appears to be incorrect. Since three of these buildings are within the current Historic District, we can consult the existing Designation Report, which maintains that the buildings were erected in 1901 by builder Leo W. Winkelman to plans by architect M. J. Morrill:

Park Slope Historic District Designation Report, p. 12: "83-87 7th Avenue"

We have been trained to consider the current Designation Report to be infallible (although we have identified at least one omission in it), so we can only assume that Bonert's plans for this parcel were quickly aborted for some reason; that the property was transferred from Bonert to Winkelman some time between 1896 and 1901; and that the similarities of the existing buildings to Bonert's other buildings are merely coincidental. We have found no information documenting the property transfer from Bonert to Winkelman, and no building permits issued to Winkelman for these lots.

The narrow entrances to the flats above, up three steps from the sidewalks, flank the original commercial spaces on the ground floor.

The corner building at Union Street is within the first phase of the proposed extension to the Park Slope Historic District, so one hopes that it will soon obtain the historic district protections enjoyed by its immediate neighbors to the north.

83-87 7th Avenue (Park Slope Historic District); 89 7th Avenue (unprotected)

Louis Bonert's $750,000 deal in Park Slope

In 1905 Louis Bonert put together a deal to sell a great many of the apartment houses he had recently built in Park Slope. The deal's value was estimated to be $750,000, a tremendous amount in those days. The deal was reported in both the New York Times and the Brooklyn Eagle:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 18, 1905, p.1 ("$750,000 deal in flats")

New York Times, November 19, 1905, p. 18 ("In the Real Estate Field")

It is worth working through the list of addresses in the articles, both to confirm attributions we have already made, and to look for new buildings that we have not yet confirmed to be from Bonert.

The first set of addresses includes several of the buildings in the row extending from the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and 3rd Street. We discussed these buildings earlier on the blog and attributed them to Bonert, circa 1895:

407-415 3rd Street - unprotected

417-421 3rd Street - unprotected

423-427 3rd Street - unprotected

The articles indicate that several of the eight-family apartments on the north side of 3rd Street between 6th & 7th Avenues were included in the deal. Bonert built eight of these "double flat" apartments on the north side of the street, devoting a very generous 46' in lot frontage to each building. We now immediately recognize Bonert's signature enframements over the central (stair hall) windows. The buildings closer to 7th Avenue boast a doorway with full pediment and flanking columns. These buildings were constructed circa 1902-1903:

3rd Street between 6th & 7th Avenues, north side - unprotected

461 3rd Street - unprotected

461 3rd Street - detail

The deal also included some 4-story, 4-family flat houses in the south side of 3rd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues. These buildings are similar to others across the street, constructed by Louis Bonert circa 1895:

414-408 3rd Street - unprotected

The deal also included a few buildings from the 1894 row Bonert constructed at the southwest corner of 6th Avenue and 3rd Street:

6th Avenue & 3rd Street, southwest corner - unprotected

The deal also included the row of eight-family apartment houses on the south side of 3rd Street between 6th & 7th Avenues, matching the row across the street, and constructed by Louis Bonert circa 1902-1903:

466-450 3rd Street - unprotected

The apartments further from 7th Avenue lack the pedimented entablature, boasting instead Bonert's characteristic "florid classical" detailing around the doorway. Again we see his distinctive hoods over the central stairway windows:

458 3rd Street - unprotected

458 3rd Street - detail

458 3rd Street - detail

The huge deal also included a row of Bonert's earlier (circa 1894) "Green Man"-style, Romanesque-infected 4-family flat houses in 4th Street between 5th & 6th Avenues:

357-363 4th Street - unprotected

There's our friend, the Green Man himself, symbolizing our unity with Nature, peeking out from the spandrel panels:

359 4th Street - detail

The deal also included Bonert's row from the north side of 4th Street east of 6th Avenue:

389-393 4th Street - unprotected

Finally, Bonert threw into the deal the apartment building at the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and 3rd Street:

319 6th Avenue - unprotected

It was a huge deal for Louis Bonert, most likely one of the largest in his career, and one of the largest in Park Slope up to that time. Interestingly, the buyers were a couple of local guys, David Marks of 107 6th Avenue and A. E. Goldstein of 121 St. Johns Place.

Bonert went on to construct luxurious single-family limestone row houses on the entire south side of 1st Street and the north side of 2nd Street, in the park blocks, within the current Park Slope Historic District, financed perhaps by the proceeds from this colossal sale of his earlier apartment houses.

Louis Bonert: 6th Avenue & 3rd Street, southeast corner, 1898

For the next chapter in our ever-unfolding tale of prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert, we return once more to the corner of 6th Avenue and 3rd Street. Two Brooklyn Eagle notices, published one day apart in 1898, announced Bonert's plans for a row of five four-story, four-family flats extending up 3rd Street from the southeast corner of 6th Avenue:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 14, 1898, p. 14 ("Real Estate Market")

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 15, 1898, p. 14 ("Real Estate Market")

The reference to the corner building as a "frame" structure is clearly erroneous. By 1898, this corner was well within the "fire limits", the boundaries within which wood-frame construction was forbidden; only a stone structure could have been built here in 1898.

These are some of the more austere, yet elegant, apartment buildings constructed by Louis Bonert. He once again sets aside "fancy brick" in favor of smooth stone for the facade. He retains a protruding rounded window bay, but the bay is now extremely shallow and understated. The upper-story windows lack any kind of framing:

446-444-442-440 3rd Street - unprotected

What little ornamental flourish Bonert allows himself is confined to the first floor. His doorways are surrounded by a minimally decorative framing, with dentils above. Smooth-faced voussoirs contrast with rusticated stone at the basements.

But the framing around the first-floor bay windows is truly distinctive. We're not even sure how to describe the look... it appears somewhat as if every other stone has been removed from around the window!

446 3rd Street - detail

The corner building is much the same in the upper stories, although Bonert reverts here to a somewhat retrograde brownstone facing. The basement is consistent with the adjacent row, but the classical doorway with columns and entablature hearken back to Bonert's earlier work.

442-440-438 3rd Street - unprotected

With the completion of this row, Bonert could view his own buildings on all four corners of this intersection. He started building on the southwest corner in 1894; continued construction on the northwest corner in 1895 and on the northeast corner in 1896; and concluded here on the southeast corner in 1898. Truly the intersection of 6th Avenue and 3rd Street must be considered the "Louis Bonert epicenter" of Park Slope!