315-377 & 314-378 E 25th Street
1909-12
Glucroft & Glucroft

This group of 56 Renaissance Revival rowhouses were built by the Henry Meyer Building Company. At the time, transit improvements spurred residential development in Flatbush, and farmland began to be subdivided and sold to developers by the early-1900s.

This area was part of the former Vanderveer farm, owned by one of the oldest families of Brooklyn.

Motivated by Flatbush’s affluent reputation, Meyer and his son Charles developed East 25th Street as “one-family houses of a high grade,” unlike the many two-family houses that they has previously built in Cypress Hill and Woodhaven. The design included four types of houses, with either a limestone or brownstone front and rounded or angled full-height bays. All feature carved ornaments, pilastered entrance surrounds, and modillioned cornices.

Similar developments quickly lined the surrounding streets, with notable examples still remaining at 31st and 32nd Streets, between Beverley and Cortelyou Roads.

Meyer’s firm only sold 14 houses between 1909 and 1912, ultimately transferring them to developer Realty Associates, who completed the sale.

Before World War II, residents were upper-middle-class white families, with a handful of immigrants, mostly from northern and western Europe. Since the 1950s, the houses’ ownership started to reflect the growth of Flatbush’s African American and Afro-Caribbean communities. Today, the outstanding integrity of the East 25th Street houses is a testament to the remarkable community spirit, pride, and dedication of its homeowners and residents. Their efforts also extend to the carefully maintained front gardens, whose meticulously manicured tropical flowers, shrubs and trees have earned it recognition as “Brooklyn’s Greenest Block” for several years. It was designated as a NYC Historic District in 2020, and certified as eligible for the National Register in 2023.

Photo:
(top) View of 336-354 E 25th St (bottom) View of 315-325 E 25th St.