George B. and Susan Elkins House

Designated November 24, 2006

The only-known freestanding, mid-nineteenth-century, wood country house remaining in northwestern Crown Heights, and the former home of a prominent figure in the neighborhood’s early history, the George B. and Susan Elkins House is a significant link to Crown Heights’ suburban past.

Constructed before 1869 on the former Lefferts farm, which had been subdivided into “1,600 desirable lots” in the 1850s, the Elkins House stands in striking contrast to surrounding brick and stone dwellings. It is a sparely ornamented country home displaying Greek Revival and Italianate influences and a strong kinship with cottage and villa designs published in the mid-nineteenth-century pattern books of Andrew Jackson Downing, Samuel Sloan, and Henry W. Cleaveland.

*Excerpt from the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report

STATUS Designated Individual Landmark

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The Neighborhood

Crown Heights

The name “Crown Heights” was used starting around 1910 to describe the area south of Eastern Parkway. The area north of the parkway was called “Bedford” well into the 20th century, since the area was considered part of Bedford-Stuyvesant.

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Local Voices

“I don’t know what the City would be without HDC. [They] testified before LPC time after time and helped us focus on the right issues. We would not be an historic district without HDC! ”

Doreen Gallo: DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance

Local Voices

“Use HDC as a resource because they know what they are doing and can offer advice on how to go about creating a district from every front: architectural, political, LPC, and the media. I had floundered prior to my involvement with this invaluable organization.”

Fern Luskin: Lamartine Place Historic District; Friends of Lamartine Place & Gibbons Underground Railroad Site

Local Voices

“HDC provided guidance and shared information during that process—we knew which Council members were going one way or another and we changed a few minds. I don’t think NoHo would have had as cohesive a district had it not been for HDC’s aid.”

Zella Jones: NoHo Historic District; NoHo East; and NoHo Extension

Local Voices

“I remember Richard saying at a meeting, we have someone here from HDC, Nadezhda Williams, Director of Preservation and Research, to help us. She said to us, ‘You are not the only ones going through this.’ HDC included us in an enormous community”

Erika Petersen: West End Preservation Society

Local Voices

"HDC has begun a series of projects to highlight the Bronx's architectural and cultural history. From booklet's and research highlighting specific sites and historic districts to the HDC's symposium in October 2018 to the latest community-based committee to look into further possible sites to qualify for landmarking, the HDC has established projects that will serve the Bronx community well."

Elena Martinez
City Lore, Folklorist
Bronx Music Heritage Center, Co-Artistic Director

Local Voices

"Welcome2TheBronx is grateful for the advocacy done by the Historic Districts Council on behalf of the people of The Bronx. Through their deep connections and understanding of the importance of preserving our local histories, The Bronx has been able to have several spotlights shown on endangered communities as gentrification creeps into the borough."

Ed García Conde,
founder and Executive Director,
Welcome2TheBronx