Dixon Restores Landmarked Wood Frame House on Clermont in Fort Greene

Dixon is renovating a landmarked mid-19th-century wood frame house at 266 Clermont Avenue in Fort Greene and is restoring the outside per the LPC requirements, as we saw when we happened by recently. When it is done, it will look similar to the twin house next door.

Dixon is restoring the two full-length windows on the parlor floor and putting in a new front door. It will also add back a missing cornice, according to the rendering posted on the construction fence, and install new two-over-two windows.

The house already has a mansard roof, dormer windows and three types of shingles, including horizontal bands of fish-scale shingles, as an older “before” photo, below, shows.

The existing window caps on the dormers are wave shaped with a gentle curve — a very typical mid-19th-century Italianate ornament. The house next door has triangular pediments on its dormer windows.

The circa-1980s tax photo shows Permastone on the facade, so the shingles are a relatively recent addition, although they may be a restoration of what was there around 1900 or so.

As longtime readers here will recall, the publicly traded Australian real estate investment trust, or REIT, buys, renovates, holds and rents out townhouses in Brooklyn, New Jersey and Manhattan. It owns a few commercial buildings also.

Dixon is one of the bigger holders of townhouse properties in Brooklyn, and we have covered them extensively.

It paid $1,645,000 for the house in 2013, public records show. The renovation permit says the house is landmarked, and the front facade will be restored per LPC requirements. It also says Dixon will renovate the interior, redo the mechanicals, and remove a rear extension.

Initially we were confused about whether or not the house is landmarked. The LPC designation report says the house is just outside the historic district, but another official LPC map shows it is in fact landmarked.

The house is draped in scaffolding, so the facade is not visible from the street. The project was slated to wrap in spring of this year, according to the sign posted on the fence, so it may be finishing up soon.

We’ll keep an eye on it and bring you the big reveal when the scaffolding comes down. See more photos, including a “before” shot, below.

Dixon Coverage [Brownstoner]
Before photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark