South Midwood
Unknown architect, ca. 1866

South Midwood was developed by the Germania Real Estate and Improvement Company and its homes were largely designed by Benjamin Driesler in 1899–1908. Number 527 predates the neighborhood’s development by several decades, as it is believed to have been built in the 1860s. The farm house, which was moved from its original location somewhere near the present-day Regent Place and modernized around 1910, was the home of Henry Lyles Jr., a sperm whale oil dealer and president of both the Flatbush Gas Works and the Bowery Savings Bank. Though it has undergone some major renovations over the years, the house stands as a reminder of what came before the grand Victorians.