Real Estate Crown Heights

Come see a country villa in Crown Heights North

Eye on Real Estate: Renovated George B. and Susan Elkins House is looking good

December 19, 2018 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The 19th-century villa in the center of this picture is the George B. and Susan Elkins House in Crown Heights North. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan
Crown Heights. Eagle file photo by Lore Croghan
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Prettiest. Country. House. Ever.

The George B. and Susan Elkins House is clad in impeccable blue-painted clapboard. The porch looks inviting. It stands on a tiny hill with a fence and gated walkways.

This is the work of Amber Mazor, who renovated the former country villa and turned it into a four-family home with a city Landmarks Preservation Commission-approved design by architecture firm nC2.

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When it was built some time between 1855 and 1869, the house stood alone in the countryside.

That spot in the countryside is now in the middle of a busy, built-up part of Crown Heights North.

Eons ago, taller buildings were constructed on either side of the house, whose address is now 1375 Dean St.

Here's a closer look at the George B. and Susan Elkins House, which is on Dean Street in Crown Heights North.
Here’s a closer look at the George B. and Susan Elkins House, which is on Dean Street in Crown Heights North.

 

At this moment, it is the only free-standing mid-19th-century wood house in northwest Crown Heights.

The combination Greek Revival-Italianate-style house was almost torn down in 2006. The Landmarks Preservation Commission saved it by designating it as an individual landmark hours before demolition was set to start.

Mazor bought the house through an LLC for $950,000 in 2014, city Finance Department records show.

We took pictures of it in 2015 before renovations began. At that time, windows were boarded up. The place looked depressing. Now it’s fabulous.

P.S. Here’s a detail that fellow real estate nerds will find interesting. The clapboard cladding on the George B. and Susan Elkins House is actually Hardie board, which is a long-lasting clapboard look-alike made of fiber cement.


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1 Comment

  1. BrooklynPhotoGuy

    A) If you have before photos, why not include those? Love to see before and afters.
    B) What a gorgeous home! Super well done, wish we could get records of how much the renovation cost. They did something along those lines to 122 Pacific St around 2014, another breath taking clapboard style home from the mid 1800s.
    C) Even with a home that gorgeous I still wouldn’t want to live in Crown Heights. Glad someone is willing to put money into a beautiful project in that area, they’re a better (and more rich) person than I.

    December 21, 2018 at 11:45 am
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