TURNING No. 51 HICKS INTO A HOME (1948)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** (From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mon., 22 November 1948.) Ed.’s Note – The residents of Brooklyn Heights were the first in the borough to see old brownstones as treasures to be valued. In the 1930s and 1940s, as some were reparting to the suburbs, others were taking advantage of the availability of old brownstones at bargain basements prices. One such homebuyer was a dress designer and her husband who moved into No. 51 Hicks Street and modernized it. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Certainly in passing 51 Hicks St., the second and third floors of which are tenanted by Mr. and Mrs. William Brackett, no one would suspect the changes which this typical old-fashioned Heights brownstone has undergone to effect a modern interior. Confronted with the usual problems of that type house, the Bracketts had to decide what to do about the exceptionally tall ceilings, the extra large rooms, the narrow hallways and the lack of a modern kitchen (it having been a three-floor private home with the kitchen located on the street level). First credit goes to the landlord who in eliminating the typical high stoop stone entrance, recognized the simple and beautiful lines of the doorway and iron railing and saved it to be installed as the new entrance on the ground floor, […]
