259 Jefferson Avenue

259 Jefferson Avenue

In 1886 architect John G. Prague designed a beautiful Queen Anne/ Romanesque Revival home at 259 Jefferson Avenue in the then Bedford Section of Brooklyn. I will be talking about the great architectural contribution of J. G. Prague in future post but I want to focus on the first owners of 259 Jefferson. This block of Jefferson Avenue is known for Mr. Frank Woolworth but there was another big resident living a few houses down.

William Joseph Howard
1857 – 1919

Many people today do not know who William Joseph and Bridget Theresa McGrover Howard are but this couple moved into there beautiful Jefferson home in 1886 along with young daughters Loretta and Gertrude. The Howard's would go on to have three more children while living at 259 Jefferson, Elizabeth, William and Genevieve. William Howard is the founder and builder of Howard Beach in Queens, NY.

Bridget Theresa McGrover
1853 - 1937
William J. Howard, a Brooklyn glove manufacturer who operated a 150 acre goat farm on meadow land near Aqueduct Racetrack as a source of skin for kids' gloves. In 1897, he bought more land and filled it in and the following year, built 18 cottages and opened a hotel near the water, which he operated until it was destroyed by fire in October 1907. He gradually bought more land and formed the Howard Estates Development Company in 1909. He dredged and filled the land until he was able to accumulate 500 acres by 1914. He laid out several streets, water mains and gas mains, and built 35 houses. William Howard died in 1919 at his Jefferson Ave home.

Free Walking Tour of Bedford Corners

Residents of Bedford Stuyvesant please come out to the Morris, Hill and Sparrow first walking tour of 2011.

The Alhambra

The Alhambra in 2010 photo by Jim.henderson



The Alhambra in 1890 Architect Montrose W. Morris

One of the most magnificent apartment houses in New York City is The Alhambra. The name Alhambra means literally "the red one" which comes from Morrish Spain. In Spain Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, occupying the top of the hill of the Assabica on the southeastern border of the city of Granada in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. In the old Bedford section of Brooklyn The Alhambra is a grand apartment erected in 1889 by Louis F. Seitz. It faces Nostrand avenue, and has a frontage of two hundred feet and a depth of seventy feet which is on Macon and Halsey Street. Six large octagon towers ornament the edifice; two of them being in the center and one at each of the four corners. According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle the originally ground floor center of the building had a lofty stone arch that welcomed you as you entered a vista of an open court with fountains, gardens, croquet and tennis grounds. Similar arches on Macon and Halsey Street remain today. One of the most noticeable features of the front is a center pavilion of arcade balconies which use to give views of the long gone gardens.

The architect and Bedford resident was twenty-eight year old Montrose Morris who was a big fan of the Romanesque style at the time. Morris brought this style to Bedford Stuyvesant in 1885 with his own house on Hancock Street. Morris use elaborately delicate red Terra-cotta carvings, rock-face Stone and light-colored brick, and is beautified by chimneys, lofty gables, recessed balconies, arched windows and tiled covered roofs. The original building housed 30 families of upper and upper middle class status.

1890's Montrose W. Morris apartment interior

Individually Landmarked in 1986 the once vacant building of the 1980's has come almost full circle. The beautiful jewel fell into complete disrepair including a great fire in 1994. Thanks to developer and preservationist Tom Anderson of Anderson Associates the building was repaired and restored in the late 1990's/2000.

Bedford Stuyvesant Historic Districts Map

Stuyvesant Heights Houses done by architect Axel Hedman (1861-1943) Born in Sweden, emigrated to USA in 1880, lived and worked in Brooklyn rest of his life.

Click on this here to see the map

Summer walking tour 2010

Morris Hill and Sparrow walking tour of Bedford Stuyvesant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHHFJn79sTs

Victorian Bedford Corners, The Kelly Mansion early 1890s

Montrose W. Morris designed John C. Kelly House on Hancock Street. Homes like this is why the Brooklyn Daily Eagle called this the choice Bedford Section of Brooklyn.

595-605 Jefferson Avenue Stuyvesant North

In 1904 Willfur Burr had architect Benjamin Driesler design these handsome six two story and basement limestone on Jefferson Ave between Lewis and Stuyvesant. Benjamin Driesler was a Bavarian, German born architect that came to the US in 1881. According to the Prospect Heights designation report his office was located at Avenue C and Flatbush Avenue later moving to Avenue F. Driesler was marketing his designs for "modest, modern, model homes" to individuals and professional builders. Driesler designed 400 homes in New York in fifteen months. Many of homes are found in Kensington, Ditmas Park and Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park to name a few. These homes in what we are calling the Stuyvesant Heights North section which is not landmarked and protected.