Architecture

Formerly Crumbling Frame Houses Are New Again on Carlton Avenue in Prospect Heights

A pair of crumbling 1850s wood-frame houses has come back from the brink and been beautifully restored.

by Susan De Vries

04/05/2017 0

A pair of crumbling wood-frame houses has come back from the brink and been beautifully restored. The landmarked houses at 578 and 580 Carlton Avenue in Prospect Heights date from the mid-19th century, but crisp details and clean clapboards tell the onlooker that some new material is in use.

The circa early 1850s wood frame buildings, located in the Prospect Heights Historic District, are some of the earliest in the neighborhood. Their cornices, bracketed hoods and silhouettes speak the architectural language of the mid 19th century.

brooklyn architecture prospect heights 580 carlton avenue — The houses in 2013. Photo by Mike Hernandez for PropertyShark

The past decade has been tough on the historic structures. The house on the right, 578, suffered a partial collapse in 2012 while work was going on at 580. The work was part of a “historical reconstruction” being undertaken while the house was on the market for $1,999,999.

brooklyn architecture prospect heights restoration 580 carlton avenue — Interior of 580 Carlton Avenue in 2011. Photo by Cara Greenberg

Cara Greenberg of CasaCARA and Brownstoner’s Insider column toured 580 Carlton Avenue in 2011, before the collapse, when original interior detail still survived. Soon, nothing was left of the buildings but the braced front facades.

Work on the houses resumed in 2014 when Landmarks approval was granted. Architect Rachel Frankel, known for designing new buildings that look historically correct, was behind the project to construct new houses behind the surviving facades.

The project included re-cladding the surviving facades with wood clapboards and installing multi-paned windows. At 578, a non-historic door hood was removed and a bracketed reproduction was installed.