11 March 2008

Nice Work on Henry and Degraw


I don't know who's behind the work on the building at the Cobble Hill corner of Degraw and Henry Streets (northeast corner), but I'd like to say I'm generally impressed so far at the imagination and thoughtfulness as work.

The structure, as I've pointing out before, was previously a boxy, white-brick thing that resembled nothing so much a branch of DMV. The new owners have been busy shearing the walls of the ugly white brick, recovering the red brick underneath (or possibly adding new red brick). In addition, they've added some welcome dimension to the Degraw Street wall by constructing a couple faux-chimneys, giving it a charming, castle-like facade. And it appears the Henry Street roof is to get three, spanking new dormer windows. I love me some dormer windows.

It's a prominent building, and the changes will give neighborhood citizens something far more pleasant to look at than was previously the case.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The name of the company changing out the bricks is called blocks and bricks out of long island city.

I believe the chimneys are real. I've watched the progress daily and saw the brand new flues go in the walls.

also, i don't think the house has changed hands recently. i haven't seen any moving trucks and the cars in the backyard are the same as always.

The story I heard is that the family filed to add a third floor and found out that the white brick was not landmark compliant. they had to change it out if they wanted to get approval for the addition.

I agree it's a huge improvement.

Brooks of Sheffield said...

Hoo! Lisa, you know a lot! Thanks for the additional information.