This brownstone on Ninth Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is one of a row of four houses designed by architect Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert in 1887. The four houses all measure 17.83 feet (5.4m) wide by 45 feet (13.7m) long, but all are different. No. 344 is the only one to retain its original details, and is still a one-family home. It was originally owned by a gravel and sand merchant named Michael Fitzsimmons. Between 1902 and 1913, it was occupied by the European Conservatory of Music, later called the Manhattan Conservatory.
C.P.H. Gilbert was born in 1861. Little is known of his early life or training, but eventually he wound up designing mining towns in Arizona and Colorado, where he also learned trick riding and shooting. He returned to New York City in 1883. These four houses were his first Brooklyn commissions. He later designed numerous mansions and townhouses in Park Slope, especially on Carroll St. and Montgomery Place. He also had many clients among Manhattan's elite, including F.W. Woolworth.
His Brooklyn buildings were eclectic in design, as opposed to his Manhattan projects. This New York Times feature says, "Whereas Gilbert's Manhattan mansions are all about good taste and sober politesse, his Brooklyn work tends toward a rugby scrum: the houses tangle and tussle with one another like cats and dogs in a burlap bag. He left no diary, no notes, no thoughts on design, no hint as to whether he later regretted his Brooklyn work, or looked on it with affection."
The drawing in process, pencil drawing and inked. . .
Info on this house and C.P.H. Gilbert:
NY Times: Brooklyn Streetscapes C.P.H. Gilbert-The Wild Years
Brownstoner: Building of the Day: 340-344 9th Street, a Study in Change in Park Slope
