M.H. Renken Dairy Company

Designated June 16, 2015

The M.H. Renken Dairy Company Office and Engine Room Buildings are two structures with a unified design located at the corner of Myrtle and Classon Avenues in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood. In the 1930s, Renken was at its peak, and in 1932, the company erected a new office building at 582-584 Myrtle Avenue designed by the prolific Brooklyn firm of Koch & Wagner. Four years later, Koch & Wagner renovated the circa-1860 building at 580 Myrtle Avenue to contain an engine room and storage space, with a new front facade that matched the design of the Office Building and gave both buildings the look of a single structure.

“Modernistic” in design and faced in tan enameled brick to convey a hygienic and efficient image, the Renken buildings are primarily Art Moderne in style, featuring patterned and dark-brick “speed lines” and bracketless, streamlined cornices, as well as Art Deco touches.

*Excerpt from the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report

STATUS Designated Individual Landmarks

Take Action

Add the next LPC meeting to your calendar.

Let your local representative know you care.
nyc.gov

Help preserve New York’s architectural history with a contribution to HDC

$10 $25 $50
Other >

The Neighborhood

Clinton Hill

Clinton Hill has a variety of building types including row houses, mansions, stables, apartment houses, and institutional buildings. They were constructed during the 1840s into the 1920s and display the many styles popular over the course of nearly a century.

Aaron Dexter, Aaron Douglas, Abolitionist, Academic Classic, Adamesque, Addisleigh Park, Admiral's Row, African American, Al Smith, American Aesthetic, American Art ... VIEW ALL

Explore the Neighborhood >

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