A Brownstone Grows in Brooklyn By Zachvs
The gals of “Sex and the City” may be trendsetters in fashion, but when it comes to brownstone living, the Huxtables were there first. Bill Cosby and his television family lived in a classic Brooklyn brownstone long before Carrie Bradshaw nabbed her apartment on the Upper East Side. But while both “The Cosby Show” and “Sex and the City” brought fame to these now coveted homes, the story of the brownstone begins much earlier.
In the 1800s brownstones were designed as single-family homes for the middle and upper classes throughout Harlem, Brooklyn and many districts of Manhattan. Back then you had your pick of mansions on New York’s avenues or stately apartments uptown, but for those wanting a home in the city, New York’s side streets where the place to be and the brownstone the home of choice.
The distinguishable Triassic sandstone facade was a cheaper alternative to marble and was favored for how easily it could be carved. Over the years New Yorkers came to learn that, although lovely to look at, sandstone didn’t weather well. So by 1910 brownstone construction came to an end.
By Zachvs
The iconic stoop was originally intended to keep horse droppings, slush and mud out of the home. Today the stoop serves as a common gathering spot for neighbors to chat and rest. Or in Carrie Bradshaw’s case, pose for a “photo op”.
But before we can arrive at Carrie’s door, we have to get through the Great Depression, when brownstones were often neglected or turned into tenements and the apartments that are available today. Next came the 40s and 50s, when many brownstones were demolished to make room for new buildings.
Bohemians were the ones to save the brownstone’s fall from grace, bringing it back into a popular light in the mid-20th century. Hip artists and writers like E.E. Cummings, Jack Kerouac and Jackson Pollack took up residence in the famed nabe, Greenwich Village. They paved the way for current celebrity inhabitants, such as Uma Thurman, Liv Tyler, Marc Jacobs and even the real-life Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker. Even though most of us can’t afford to live in a brownstone, these gorgeous buildings speak to the history of the city, and the defining culture of each nabe in which they exist. – Jennifer Gregoire
I always associate brownstones with Sesame Street–that’s where I first saw them!
Didn’t anyone notice that the Huxtable family on the Cosby show had a window in the living room??? They live in a brownstone… a middle home not end unit! That window would have looked into the next house! Dumb set designers! They should have caught that!