The 1850s Anglo-Italianate brownstone at 21 Pierrepont is slightly over 17 feet wide yet contains high ceilings, lacy plaster effects, an impressive central stair, carved mantels, and other fine details across six floors. Three adjacent houses were unified with a cornice and pediment to present as one large dwelling, with low stoops and two floors below the parlor level. The central stair layout helps accommodate narrow lots. The row appears on a map from 1855, and an 1864 advertisement offered the houses for sale separately or together, noting uniform construction and suitability for conversion into a hotel or boarding house. No. 21 remained a single-family home for decades, with interior updates by multiple families, and last changed hands in the 1970s. It currently has kitchen and dining on the slightly raised first floor, parlors on the second floor, a full suite on the third floor, two bedrooms above, and a top floor with laundry, storage, and a front bedroom.
"At 21 Pierrepont, the slightly over 17-foot-wide house is one of three that have been unified with a cornice and a pediment to appear as one large dwelling. As is typical of the style, they have low stoops and two floors below the parlor level. To accommodate the narrow lots and make a more generous layout, the stairs are located at the center of the house. In a history of the style, Brownstoner columnist Suzanne Spellen described it as exuding "urban elegance" with a "formal European atmosphere.""
"The row appears already in place on a map of 1855. An advertisement in 1864 announced the whole row was for sale, separately or together, under their old addresses of 11, 13, and 15 Pierrepont Street. "Built in the very best manner" with "first class" "internal arrangements and finishings," according to the ad, the houses had five stories over a basement (the slightly sunken garden floor). Because the houses were "built uniformly," it would be possible to turn the whole row into a hotel or boarding house, the ad suggested."
"That doesn't appear to have happened at No. 21. Several families made No. 21 their home for decades and have made their own design updates to the interior. The house last changed hands in the 1970s. It is still set up as a single-family with kitchen and dining on the slightly raised first floor and front and rear parlors on the second floor. There's a full floor suite on the third floor and two more bedrooms above."
#brooklyn-heights #brownstone #anglo-italianate-architecture #pierrepont-street #19th-century-real-estate
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