The annual Brooklyn Heights Association house tour is on May 9, and event organizers are ramping up the day’s activities. If anyone is interested in volunteering or baking items for the Plymouth Church tea during the tour, email BHA executive director Judy Stanton at 718-858-9193 or email at bkhtsassoc AT aol.com. Organizers vowed that this year’s tour will be particularly exciting, but couldn’t divulge any details.
“[We] can’t really reveal any secrets or any info about which houses are on the tour — but they are all going to be great!,” tour coordinator Lexi Russello said in an email to BHB.
For more information about the tour, here’s how the BHA explains it on their Web site (plus photos now!):
Landmarks House and Garden Tour
This go-at-your-own-pace, self-guided tour, for the benefit of the Brooklyn Heights Association, allows visitors a rare opportunity to experience the grandeur of private homes in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. Five townhouse interiors, exhibiting a variety of 19th century and contemporary architectural styles, will be open to the public for the afternoon.
The Brooklyn Landmarks House and Garden Tour takes place, rain or shine, from 1 PM to 5PM. Included in the ticket price is a delightful repast of pastries and tea served in the garden of the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims on Orange Street from 3-5 PM (or moved indoors in inclement weather). Docent-led tours of the historic church sanctuary are given at 3:30 and 4:30 PM.
Tickets are $30 per person and tax deductible. Reservations are preferred but not mandatory. You may reserve by phone with a credit card, call 718-858-9193 during business hours or complete the reservation form provided in this website and fax it to us at 718- 875-5607. Or mail the form with your check, payable to the BHA House and Garden Tour, 55 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Reservations must be received by May 6.
The tour begins when you pick up your ticket at the St.Ann’s School Lobby, 129 Pierrepont Street (on the corner of Clinton Street). Tickets are not mailed. All reservations will be held at the door of 129 Pierrepont Street on May 9th. We will also be selling tickets on tour day starting at 12:30 until 4 PM.
Here’s info from the BHA’s press release featuring information on the homes to be featured:
Tour Highlights:
• Greek Revival is the predominant row house style found in the Heights, and this year’s tour will show visitors several houses from that mid-19th century period. An award-winning example is in the row of houses, once known as “Mansion Row” developed between 1840-1842. Its history is as rich as the arts and crafts mahogany woodwork that the current owners have carefully preserved. This home features an extensive contemporary art collection by American and German artists.
• Another Greek Revival house in the South Heights was fashionably updated in the late 1860’s with brownstone and the addition of a fifth story. It was a multi-family residence in disrepair when the current owners bought it and embarked on an eight-year long renovation. The result is a spectacular combination of old and new, reflecting the owners’ resourceful use of salvage and vintage sources for flooring, mantles, doors, moldings and hardware.
• James Rutherford operated a distillery on Joralemon Street when he built this next house in 1843. As was the case throughout the Heights, the house became a rooming house and was divided into several apartments until the 1990’s. The previous and current owners have brought it back to the original condition. The elegant interior furnishings are a mix of contemporary, custom-designed pieces and Asian antiques. The luxurious master bath has special appeal.
• A charming corner house, dating from 1846, is set amid formal gardens with cast iron urns. It was altered in the late 19th century with the addition of a wider entrance vestibule and large bay window. Of interest is its Federal doorway, which was salvaged from a frame house torn down nearby. Visitors will enjoy the interior with its front and back staircases, clever carpentry and space-saving decorating techniques. Elegant English Victorian antiques are found throughout this home.
• Our oldest house on this year’s tour is circa 1839 and is located in the North Heights. Most of its original details have been carefully preserved and restored by the current owners who bought the house from the daughter of the first owner’s housekeeper. The high-ceilinged double parlor, marble mantels, pocket doors and wide floorboards are classic Greek Revival elements. Antique furniture buffs will admire the 18th and 19th century pieces found throughout the house.
At all of these houses, the rear yard gardens will be open for viewing.
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