Melrose Parkside Historic District

Designated: December 13, 2022

The Melrose Parkside Historic District is a remarkably intact and cohesive group of 38 single- and two-family neo-Classical row houses. Built between 1909 – 1915 they reflect the early 20th Century residential development of Flatbush.

While most of the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s district designations in Flatbush recognize freestanding Victorian homes, or single family row houses, the Melrose Parkside Historic District offers recognition for a distinguished group of duplex two-family homes designed by Benjamin Driesler, a Flatbush resident, and one of the area’s most prolific and celebrated architects. The proposed district also includes eight single-family rowhouses by Driesler embellished with Jacobean style gables, and ten “American basement” rowhouses designed by Axel S. Hedman embellished with neo-Classical detail.

This block was an advocacy focus of HDC’s as part of our selection of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens as a 2017 Six to Celebrate area.

*image courtesy of the Landmarks Preservation Commission

STATUS Designated Historic District

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The Neighborhood

Prospect Lefferts Gardens

This neighborhood was once part of the Town of Flatbush, one of the original six towns established by Dutch and British Colonists in what is now Kings County. Up until consolidation in 1898, much of Flatbush was used for agricultural purposes. One of the largest...

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

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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