Past and Present: 146-140 Cambridge Place

A Look at Brooklyn, then and now.

Many of our older neighborhoods still have a timeline of development on each block, as wood frame houses give way to brownstones, which give way to flats buildings, which can sometimes themselves be replaced by more modern buildings. Cambridge Place is one of those blocks. On this particular block, between Fulton Street and Gates Avenue, this progression of time is very evident, with an assortment of building types and styles, from the great to the functional.

The photo on the left dates from 1922, and shows the western side of Cambridge, just north of Fulton Street. Although much of Cambridge is now landmarked, this delightful little slice is not. There’s so much going on in this photo: the trees, which in 2011 have certainly grown, were just planted. The block is so neat, the stairs and porches just so, and the profusion of potted plants in barrels on the roof of the one story buildings to the left shows a pride of place, in this working class side of Clinton Hill. I also like the neat clapboard cottages, the shutters, and further into the block, the awnings on the flats building. Old and nostalgic, and perhaps old fashioned, to be sure, but wonderfully homey and attractive, nonetheless.

Amazingly, three of the cottages are still standing; the twins and the one adjoining house. The facades are all quite altered, and perhaps that is why landmarks didn’t designate them. 146, on the left, is now covered in stucco, 144 in aluminum siding. All of them have had their facades and porches altered. 142 was purchased in 2006, and the new owners replaced the old asbestos siding with fish scale shingles, bringing back a period look. Number 140, as late as the 1980’s, when a tax photo was taken, was also covered in aluminum siding, but it still had its original porch. That building was torn down, and the present building built in 2002. The flats building is much the same as before, but I miss those awnings. GMAP