Brownstone Restoration in Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Brownstone Restoration in Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Fort Greene has more architectural variety than most Brooklyn brownstone neighborhoods — Italianate, Eastlake, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and a fair number of detached and semi-detached houses mixed in with the traditional row houses. The Fort Greene Historic District (designated 1978) is one of the largest in Brooklyn. Innovation Construction NY has worked Fort Greene streets for nearly three decades.

Fort Greene's Architectural Diversity

Most Fort Greene row houses date from 1855 to 1900. What makes it different from Park Slope or Bed-Stuy is the mix:

• Italianate (1850s–1870s) — smooth brownstone, bracketed cornices, classic row house
• Second Empire (1860s–1870s) — mansard roofs, more elaborate ornament
• Eastlake/Queen Anne (1880s) — mixed materials, decorative shingle work, asymmetric facades
• Romanesque Revival (1880s–1890s) — rough-faced brownstone, heavy arches, terracotta ornament
• Renaissance Revival (1890s–1900s) — limestone trim, often combined with brick or brownstone

This variety means our work in Fort Greene is more variable than in single-style neighborhoods. We might restore an Italianate stoop one week and reproduce Queen Anne decorative shingles the next.

The Fort Greene Historic District

The historic district covers a large area centered on Fort Greene Park — from Vanderbilt Avenue west to Flatbush, DeKalb Avenue north to Atlantic. Within the district, all visible exterior work requires LPC approval. The district designation also protects ironwork, original windows where surviving, and the relationships between buildings and streetscape elements.

Common Fort Greene Restoration Work

Mixed-Style Row House Restoration

Many Fort Greene blocks have buildings in 2–4 different styles standing side by side. Restoration on one house has to look correct in the context of its neighbors — we don't treat each house in isolation.

Romanesque Rough-Face Brownstone

The deeply textured brownstone on many 1890s Fort Greene facades is harder to match than smooth Italianate stone. We use stamping and hand-tooling to replicate the original rough finish.

Terracotta Ornament

Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival houses often have elaborate terracotta details — keystones, panels, capitals. We restore or reproduce these in cast stone matched to the original.

Mansard Roof and Slate Work

Second Empire houses have mansard roofs (often slate) that are part of the facade. We coordinate with slaters for roof slate work while we handle the masonry below and the dormer surrounds.

Wood Ornament on Eastlake/Queen Anne

Decorative shingles, bargeboards, and porch ornament on Queen Anne houses needs woodwork as well as masonry. We can coordinate with specialty wood restoration for these elements.

Service Area

We work all of Fort Greene — Adelphi Street, Carlton Avenue, Cumberland Street, Clermont Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue, South Portland Avenue, South Oxford Street, South Elliott Place, Fort Greene Place, and the cross streets from Atlantic Avenue to Park Avenue. Active in adjacent Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and Downtown Brooklyn.

Cost

• Stoop restoration: $12,000–$30,000
• Full facade restoration: $100,000–$300,000
• Romanesque rough-face brownstone resurfacing: +10–15% over smooth Italianate work

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