https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2023/09/18/the-story-of-a-magnificent-1850s-house-dubbed-the-blue-belle-of-brooklyn/ Ephemeral New York Chronicling an ever-changing city through faded and forgotten artifacts --------------------------------------------------------------------- << A faded sign with a mystery two-letter phone exchange beside a Bronx highway The story of a magnificent 1850s house dubbed the Blue Belle of Brooklyn It's the blue belle of Brooklyn; a former country villa that stands alone at 271 Ninth Street, between walkup flats and a featureless one-story Post Office. [ninthstreetconfectionfront] Passing this dowager beauty, which has stood on the block between Fourth and Fifth Avenues since the Antebellum era, is like being in a time machine. Everything about it is a wonderful anachronism: the mansard roof, the lacy ironwork over the bay windows, the front yard with rosebushes and lavender. How did such a spectacular house come to be--and then manage to stick around for more than a century and a half? The story begins in the middle of the 19th century. [bluebellestraight] Imagine today's Park Slope in the decades prior to 1850. Before elegant brownstone rows sprang up, the area was mostly pasture or bucolic countryside in the farming town of Flatbush--not yet part of the city of Brooklyn. But the 1850s were transformative, and what we now call Brooklyn began growing into its new role as an accessible-by-ferry suburb of Manhattan. A farmer descended from the Adriance family--whose holdings stretched from present-day Third Avenue into Prospect Park--sold off lots for development. [bluebelleupperfloors] One buyer in 1854 was a successful Wall Street merchant named William Cronyn (some references spell it Croynyn). Between 1856 and 1857, Cronyn built his suburban villa far from urban ills: a French Second Empire delight "reflecting the prosperity of the original owner," as the Landmarks Preservation Commission put it in a report on the house in 1978. "Of frame and brick construction covered with stucco, the three-story house features a central half-story cupola with a clerestory [windows above eye level] which lights the interior staircase," noted the LPC report. "Below the cupola is a slate mansard roof with end pavilions and ornamental iron cresting" typical of this fanciful style, popular in the 1850s-1870s. [bluebelle1940nypl] The Cronyns only stayed until 1862. As the house switched hands and residential development accelerated after the Civil War, neighbors arrived. "During the late 1860s, other sites on this block along Fifth Avenue, Eighth Street, and then Ninth Street began to be developed," states the LPC report. Apparently the neighborhood had something of a crime problem as well. On August 11, 1871, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported the story of a diamond merchant who was a houseguest of the Shanks family--the occupants of the house at the time. One afternoon, the merchant was beaten, robbed, and found moaning on the curb at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue. [bluebellegarden] "This is the latest and boldest assault of a series that have been made in Gowanus during the past two or three months," the reporter stated. In 1879, Daniel H. Gray, who worked in sulpher refining, bought the blue belle. In 1885, he transferred ownership of the house to his daughter, Mary Gray Cone, who lived in this dwelling until 1896, as South Brooklyn became an enclave of brownstones for white collar residents and later, flats and tenements for working-class folks. [higginsinkad] At the turn of the 20th century, the house entered a new era. "Charles M. Higgins acquired the property in 1898 as the headquarters for his India ink company, which occupied the building until the mid-20th century," per the LPC report. "The ink factory was located to the rear of the house facing Eighth Street. This change in use for the building reflected the change in the area to include commercial uses as well as residential ones." [bluebellelpcreport] Higgins was an interesting character, at least based on all of the letters he wrote the Brooklyn Daily Eagle over the years. He signed his letters using a different title depending on the issue: as part of the Brooklyn Ethical Association, or the South Brooklyn Board of Trade, or the Anti-Vaccination League of America. Born in Ireland but raised in Brooklyn, Higgins died in 1929. In his last decade, he left the borough a fitting legacy. "Higgins was responsible for the Minerva statue in Green-Wood Cemetery, and is buried behind her, on the hill," wrote Suzanne Spellen of Brownstoner . [bluebellelastphoto] In 1981, Charles Sibirsky, a jazz pianist, and his wife bought the blue belle and opened a music school, according to Spellen. "Slope Music" is embossed on a half-moon window above the slender front door. I imagine this is when the yellow flowers arrived on the roof, making the house even more whimsical. Some people might see the blue belle and think of the Addams family. Others might feel as I do, that this stunning survivor is a charming ghost from the borough's past--a witness to all the changes as the area went from Flatbush farmland to residential Gowanus, South Brooklyn, and now Park Slope. And luckily, it's been landmarked since 1978. [Fourth photo: 1940, NYPL Digital Collections; Sixth image: Brooklyn Daily Eagle; Seventh photo: LPC Report, likely 1978] Share this: * Twitter * Facebook * Reddit * Tumblr * Pinterest * Email * LinkedIn * Like this: Like Loading... Related Tags: 271 Ninth Street Brooklyn Park Slope, Blue French Second Empire House Brooklyn, Blue Old House Ninth Street Brooklyn, Most Charming House in Brooklyn, Park Slope History Houses, Park Slope Old Blue House Ninth Street This entry was posted on September 18, 2023 at 4:40 am and is filed under Brooklyn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. 14 Responses to "The story of a magnificent 1850s house dubbed the Blue Belle of Brooklyn" 1. [4ce] beth Says: September 18, 2023 at 5:22 am | Reply I absolutely love the house and its journey through time. my daughter and her family recently bought a house this color in ann arbor., where we both live, and everyone loves the color and will never change it. p.s. love higgins' variety of titles that he signed with 2. [747] VirginiaB Says: September 18, 2023 at 7:59 am | Reply Love your account of this great house and so glad it's landmarked. The color is awful.... 3. [747] VirginiaB Says: September 18, 2023 at 8:02 am | Reply Great article and so glad this wonderful house has been landmarked. The color, however, is awful.... + [d31] ephemeralnewyork Says: September 18, 2023 at 1:33 pm | Reply I happen to really love blue houses, especially with a confection of a house like this one. But I know people who agree with you that it's garish. 4. [072] countrypaul Says: September 18, 2023 at 8:18 am | Reply Love the color! We used Higgins India Ink in art classes in elementary school. 5. [4da] velovixen Says: September 18, 2023 at 8:45 am | Reply When I lived in the Slope, I would joke with my then-partner that I was "going to New Orleans" when I went to the post office or subway station, which meant passing that house. Now that I look at it again, I also think about pre-tech money San Francisco, where streets were lined Victorian houses (different style, I know) painted in colors like the ones on that house . I am happy it's still there and, we hope, will remain. Thank you for the story behind it. + [d31] ephemeralnewyork Says: September 18, 2023 at 1:36 pm | Reply I like to think Brooklyn had other French Second Empire houses like this one. I know I've seen a few that formerly stood in Upper Manhattan and Queens. It's a delightful style in my opinion, but it went out of style fast! 6. [b0b] nhu876 Says: September 18, 2023 at 11:26 am | Reply Zillow estimates it's current value at $3,506,000. The private driveway alone adds a lot of value to the property in an area with tight on-street parking. I'm very surprised that the home has lasted this long and even surprised that it survived the 1920s/30s IND subway construction under 9th Street without being permanently damaged and having to be demolished. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/271-9th-St-Brooklyn-NY-11215/ 30584655_zpid/ 7. [fde] Greg Says: September 18, 2023 at 11:59 am | Reply Very interesting! I've bought Higgins ink recently, it is still the leading brand. 8. [299] Shayne Davidson Says: September 18, 2023 at 2:09 pm | Reply Is it a private residence now? + [d31] ephemeralnewyork Says: September 19, 2023 at 12:26 am | Reply My understanding is that it's still owned by the people who founded Slope Music. I don't know if anyone actually resides there. o [299] Shayne Davidson Says: September 19, 2023 at 3:02 pm I want to live there and waft around like Mortician Addams! 9. [184] Steve N Says: September 18, 2023 at 2:33 pm | Reply I am interested in knowing when it was first painted (stuccoed?) blue. Those early photos, though b&w, seem to indicate that it was originally a lighter color. I love the whimsy of the blue - it brings a touch of levity! + [d31] ephemeralnewyork Says: September 19, 2023 at 12:26 am | Reply I wish I knew when it was painted blue, but I imagine it was under the ownership of the people who run Slope Music. They've had the house since the 1970s, so it could be 50 years of blue whimsy! I've found that whenever I'd mention the old blue house on Ninth Street, locals always knew the house I was talking about. Leave a Reply Cancel reply [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Blog at WordPress.com. Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). * Follow Following + [croppe] Ephemeral New York Join 10,492 other followers [ ] Sign me up + Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now. * + [croppe] Ephemeral New York + Customize + Follow Following + Sign up + Log in + Copy shortlink + Report this content + View post in Reader + Manage subscriptions + Collapse this bar Loading Comments... Write a Comment... [ ] Email (Required) [ ] Name (Required) [ ] Website [ ] [Post Comment] %d bloggers like this: [b]