Built by a socially prominent couple connected to Brower Park, the standalone boasts striking woodwork, parking, and air conditioning.
Photo via Compass
Driving up to this Queen Anne manse and pulling into the porte cochere would make one feel rather grand, and the Crown Heights rental has some impressive details surviving on the interior as well. The rental of 1094 Park Place is pricey, but the details, including lush woodwork and stained glass, are certainly eye-catching.
Plans for the Queen Anne house, which is in the Crown Heights North III Historic District, were filed in the fall of 1901 by Clarence. M Phipps. Clarence married Genevieve Brower, a daughter of former Brooklyn Parks Commissioner George V. Brower, in 1897. While papers announced the young couple were to live in Manhattan, by 1901 Clarence was filing those plans for a new house right next door to the manse of in-laws George and Mary Brower. That house was demolished in the 1920s, but the Phipps house still stands. The brick dwelling was designed by Brooklyn architect Henry B. Moore with a wide porch, which extends into that porte cochere, and a round tower topped with a conical roof of tile.
The two houses made the news in 1910 when they hosted what became dubbed the “subway reception.” A Brower son got married and the neighboring houses were joined by a covered bridge for the occasion. Guests could glide easily across the lit and heated bridge to move from mingling in the Brower house to supper in the Phipps residence. For the supper, the dining room and hall of the Phipps place were arranged with numerous small tables that allowed serving “one hundred guests at a time,” according to an account in the Brooklyn Citizen.
The house certainly appears to be able to hold a crowd. According to the listing, which doesn’t include a floor plan, there are five bedrooms and three full baths. The manse was a House of the Day in 2008 and sold in 2009 for $960,000 in an all cash deal.
An old listing shows the floor plan at the time with the expected spacious reception rooms on the main floor along with a kitchen at the rear. Upstairs are two floors of bedroom space. The current bedroom count likely includes the sleeping porch, which is shown in the listing photos. There is also a finished basement.
The main level is meant to impress with an entry hall dominated by a sweeping staircase with wainscoting and stained glass windows. Tucked behind the staircase is a columned mantel with another expanse of stained glass, cleverly lit from behind by a small window. According to Brownstoner’s Suzanne Spellen, former owners shared the tale that the stained glass was a gift to a later owner of the house, Dr. Melvin W. Mason. Born in Monserrat, he had a successful practice in Harlem and he and wife Sarah used the spacious Crown Heights house to host prominent guests from the Black community.
The entry hall opens into the front parlor, which has a generous sweep of windows in the bay that provide a view out to the porch. Woodwork here is painted white, including a doorway framed with pilasters and ornamented with a figurative frieze. Through that doorway is the dining room with an expansive window seat tucked into the bay for post dinner lounging. The room also has wainscoting and a beamed ceiling.
At the rear of the main level the eat-in kitchen has been modernized with white subway tile on the walls, wood cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. A mini split unit is visible in the dining area and there is a glass door providing access to the rear yard.
Upstairs, the listing photos show bedrooms with wood floors and white walls and trim. One room shown is the top floor turret room with its eyebrow dormer with stained glass. The two full bathrooms shown have neutral finishes. One has a claw foot tub while the other has a soaking tub.
In addition to the gated front yard with a landscaped bed and the driveway, there is a rear deck and yard. The tree-shaded yard has a pergola, plantings, and room for play equipment or dining. The house also sits near the green space of Brower Park, named for George V. Brower.
Listed with Compass’ Mordy Werde Team, the rental is priced at $13,950 a month. Worth the ask?
[Listing: 1094 Park Place | Broker: Compass] GMAP
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