Cheek By Jowl On Quincy Street
While most blocks in Bed-Stuy contain rows of brownstones, occasionally interrupted by new construction or vacant lots, Quincy Street between Bedford and Nostrand is different. The housing stock on this stretch of Quincy features several examples of detached and semi-detached Victorian houses that look like they migrated north from Kensington or Ditmas Park.
Unfortunately, few of these homes have survived intact into the 21st century. But with a little imagination, you can look beneath the siding and additions to see what used to be.
Brownstones near Bedford Ave. are more typical of the neighborhood.
Victorian brick with Mansard roof, quoining and dentils. The porch rails and square brick columns are not original, and the garage was added later.
Detached Victorian homes victimized by aluminum siding.
New construction that looks like it landed from Mars, or possibly Atlanta.
Wood-frame Victorian obscured by single-story brick front (a later addition, probably from the 1930s).
Underneath that siding there is probably a fine (if decayed) Victorian mansion. I love the symmetrical side bays. That's a Mansard roof up there.
Fire-engine red painted lady! You can see that the porch and ground floor have been "restored."
A Victorian lady still sports its side turret, although the modern brick addition in front does its best to conceal the house's origins.
07 April 2009, 12:53 pm
That block has always been a bit of a strange mix of architecture. Other than the new crap I kinda like it. I do wish I could see whats under that aluminum.
07 April 2009, 5:44 pm
This is amazing. I never “saw” these because I never knew what was beneath all of the siding and ugly additions. I like the brick Victorian with the porch and garage additions because it looks like it could be returned to it’s former glory rather easily.
07 April 2009, 6:52 pm
great pictures
07 April 2009, 7:14 pm
House # 5 has some kind of mural or street art on the second story (above the brick addition). I don’t know if you can see it from the street though, you might need to be in a car (I just noticed it recently while taking a cab home and even then I could just barely glimpse it).
I wonder why the lots on that block of Quincy are zoned differently from others? I think that Bed-Stuy has more architectural variety that any other neighborhood. It’s like an urban building lab!
08 April 2009, 7:28 pm
We’ve been doing a whole lot of walking around Brooklyn, looking at houses lately. And I’ve started to notice the same thing- that while nyc loves its brownstones, it hates it Victorians. I too glazed over the many Victorian homes in Brooklyn for years because I didn’t realize what I was looking at.
There is a fantastic renovation going on in Williamsburg- n. 10th? somewhere around there. Maybe it will inspire others to tear off the aluminum siding and see what’s underneath.
08 April 2009, 8:38 pm
In picture 4 (the construction from Mars): The house to the left of the tree is one of a group of three that more or less look as they did in a picture my mother had that was taken about 1885, barring different paint jobs and siding. “Our” house (number 187) is where my grandfather and mother grew up, and I lived to the age of 2. We moved to Long Island in 1930.
The “Martian” house replaces number 189, which burned down in 1950. The lot stood vacant for 50 years, and then this house was built. While its architecture doesn’t exactly blend in, its consruction does represent a degree of revival in the neighborhood.
In my grandfather’s youth (c. 1880) there was a house on the south side of the block, possibly the one in picture 2, whose yard went to Bedford Avenue and had a fountain in it. In my mother’s youth (c. 1910), house 2 was occupied by a Civil War general named Grant (not Ulysses!), and later there was a tea room in it.
She remarked on the variety of architecture on the block, and thought it meant that this was the original center of the village of Bedford. Actually, I don’t think this is exactly true, but it is a unique one among the many stretches of row houses in the neighborhood.