March 9, 2010
LPC Docket Number: 087843
Brooklyn, Block: 211, Lot: 39
55 Middagh Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District
A Federal style frame house built c.1820. Application is to alter the front façade, rebuild a stoop, raise and alter the roofline, install dormers, and construct a rear yard addition.
HDC Testimony
Built circa 1820, this Federal style frame house is one of the earliest structures in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. With this in mind, HDC is concerned about how much historic fabric is being lost in this proposal and in what direction this building is headed.
There was some debate amongst members of the public review committee over whether the return of the stoop, which appears to be a Victorian-era alteration, is appropriate. Other proposed details such as moving the cornice up nine inches seems to be a lot of work for very little outcome.
The rear addition, full height and width of the building and with its fussy design, looks rather like Tara in Brooklyn Heights. With fixed insulated single panes of glass, this is more than just a porch. The proposed would obliterate the rear of the building, removing parts of the house’s character and historic fabric along with it. An addition that does not overwhelm the original in size or design should instead be designed.
A main point of concern to HDC is the roofline alterations and raising proposed. In the front, the application changes the original roofline’s massing and design on this 1820 house by raising the roof about two feet and adding dormers. On the rear and side elevations, the alterations would do the same and be just as visible due to the schoolyard next door. Commissioners require that additions be designed to be subordinate to the original structure. In this case, roof alterations would make the addition taller than the original house. It only appears lower, because the original roofline is proposed to be raised also. HDC believes the original silhouette of the roofline should be retained.
LPC Determination: Incomplete