Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mayssa Jallad
Bookcourt is a family-owned bookstore on Brooklyns dynamic Court Street, lodged on the 1st floor of a
19th century wood-frame building. The frame house stands in contrast between two taller brick buildings,
which also offer storefronts to the commercial Court Street. The houses beautifully preserved details,
scale and program deserve recognition, as they are unique in the neighborhood. What is the significance
163 Court Street is a wood-frame, 3-story building built between 1842 and 1850, located between Pacific
and Dean Streets. It has had a commercial store on its ground floor since its construction, which is marked
in the 1855 map by a dot that signifies frame dwelling with stores under1. The 1911 map gives us a
better idea about materials, showing it is a wood-frame building with a brick base.2
The historic Redhook lane used to pass in front of 163 Court Street3. Also, the buildings right across the
street from it fall within the historical Cobble Hill neighborhood, which is today a designated historic
district4.
Court Street
Cour
Cour
Redhook Lane in accordance with the current grid, Block 279 conveyance Records, Brooklyn Historical Society / 1855 Map / 1911
Map
1
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. Index Map: Map bounded
by Schermerhorn Street, Nevins Street, Warren Street, Hoyt Street, Volume 1" New York Public Library
Digital Collections. 1855. Accessed December 16th, 2015.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-c018-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
2
Atlas of the Borough of Brooklyn City of New York, Plate 8. New York: E. Belcher Hyde, 1911. Avery
Library.
3
The Last Days of Redhook Lane, http://forgotten-ny.com/2004/06/the-last-days-of-red-hook-lane/
4
http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/
In 1841, According to the tax assessments, the house was not built yet5. Abraham van Sicklen owned the
plot as part of a larger group of 7 plots, but the city directories were inconclusive as to whether or not it
was built. All the records before 1850 state the presence of individuals in buildings on Court near Dean,
but not specifically at the 93 Court Street Address (93 being the previous number of 163 Court Street)6.
1843 conveyance records to Abraham Van Sicklen / 1841 tax assessments with owner Abraham Van Sicklen
The 1st confirmed evidence of the house being occupied is the 1850-51 directory, which states James
Harper, an Irish Undertaker, as the houses occupier7. According to the 1850 conveyance record, his father
William purchased the plot, which was singled out in its current dimensions for the 1st time in the 1850
conveyance. James lived and practiced there with his family. From the mid-1850s, the Harpers kept their
business on the ground floor but moved to 137 Court Street8. They rented the apartments above the store
5
City of Brooklyn property tax assessments, 1840-1841 (6th Ward), Brooklyn Historical Society.
6
Brooklyn alphabetical and street directory, and yearly advertiser. Brooklyn [N.Y.], Brooklyn directory
co. 1843/1844
7
Hearnes' Brooklyn city directory for, Brooklyn [N.Y.] : H.R., Hearne and W.H. Hearne, 1850-1854., v. :
ill. ; 24 cm, 1850/1851New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Libraries, 2014. Digitized by the Internet
Archive. February 17, 2015
8
Smiths Brooklyn Directory, 1856, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn, NY.
to immigrants (many of them Irish, like them). The Harpers had their shop there for over 60 years, until
1850 Coveyance Record to William Harper / 1850-51 directory with James Harper at Court near Dean / 1852-53 Directory with
James Harper at 163 Court Street (previously 93 Court Street)
Auction of 163 Court, at death of Francis Harper, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov 19 1911
163 Court is one of the few remaining Wood frame buildings in Boerum Hill. In the 1855 map of the area,
there are 235 wood frame structures. In 2015, only 20 wood buildings remain, meaning only 8.6% of the
1855 count. These numbers are proof of the disappearing historical frame-building fabric of Boerum Hill.
Frame buildings have become a rarity due to their old age, the disadvantage of their structural stability
compared to brick buildings, their fire hazard and the exploitation of the zoning law by developers and
owners who chose to tear down to build higher, using up all the available FAR.
9
Real Estate at Auction, William H. Sith, Auctioneer. Executors Sale by the direction of the Nassau Trust
Co. Executor, etc., estate of Francis Harper, deceased [], The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday November
19, 1911.
1855 Wood-Frame Buildings
The remaining wood frame buildings are residential, 2 story with basement and 3 story with basement
examples, with a transitional example with attic windows typical of the Greek Revival style. All these
wood-frame houses share a box-like quality with a roof invisible from the street, bold features, similar
proportions and simple but striking details characteristic of the Greek Revival style.
69-71 Dean Street (2 story with Basement), 446 State Street (2 story with attic and Basement), 36-46
Bergen Street (3 story with Basement)
Remaining Commercial Building of Boerum Hill
Another important aspect of 163 court is its historic storefront on its 1st floor. Many other examples of
historic storefronts exist in the Boerum Hill neighborhood, mainly laid along the 2 commercial streets:
Atlantic Avenue and Court Street. However, the few wood-frame buildings with a storefront were
demolished, for example 151 Court Street on the corner of the same block as 163 Court Street. There are
no wood buildings on Atlantic Avenue. In fact, all of the wood-frame buildings with storefronts have been
lost, except for 163 court, which is therefore is the only remaining wood building with a storefront in the
Boerum hill area. The already existent historic storefronts of the neighborhood are also in danger of being
replaced by newer installments rather than being restored. With the absence of designation, they are also
being completely erased with the demolition of the buildings in an increasingly gentrified neighborhood.
Map of Boerum hill with Atlantic Avenue and Court Street highlighted with a few Storefront examples. / 155 Court Street,
demolished. Source: 1937 Tax Photo
Mary Gannett and Henry Zook have owned 163 Court Street since 1981. They opened BookCourt in its
ground floor and they have lived on the top floors ever since. However, they are today in a state of
transition, as their son moved out and only one of them lives in the house. They bought the building from
George Spanakos, who is a lawyer practicing on 50 Livingston Street in Brooklyn today, and had bought
the properties as a real estate investment. In 1990, Mary and Henry made an office-space out of the dirt
basement. In 1996, they bought 161 Court Street and expanded the bookstore into its storefront, which
used to be Alberts Flower Shop. They also started renting out the apartments above it. In 2008, they took
over the flower shops 2000 square-foot greenhouse at the back of 161 Court Street and converted it into
The owners in 1981 / BookCourt Storefront / BookCourt Front Door / BookCourt Interior with tin ceiling
a space for events and extra book display. The continuous activity of the store has played a major role in
the preservation of the building and the active engagement of the community with and within it.
Restoration
When the owners bought the house, its faade had been deteriorating from weather damage. In the 80s,
a customer complained that a piece of the cornice fell on his head as he entered the store. Soon after this
incident, the owners hired a contractor called Harold Timmons to replace the window frames, 6x6 paneled
windows, cornice and siding exactly as they were. They specifically asked for the exact replication of the
already existing details, and said that the contractor had been very accurate and professional in his
restoration. The whole faade was custom made to replicate the old deteriorated one. On the main faade
the windows and cornices have Greek-revival style protruding coronas with dentils. The window frame
jambs imitate small columns carrying a cornice. The design of all the cornices of the main faade is
emphasized by rows of dentils, to the point Professor Andrew Dolkart described the building as being an
Essay in Dentils. They were indeed an original feature of the design: The dentils were replaced exactly
for accessibility. The window panes at the storefront must have been paned with a multitude of small
rectangular leaded glass similar to Storefronts in Peter Nicholsons The new and improved practical
builder10. As for the rest of the storefront, the wood below the glass vitrines seems to be original, just
like the door enframement, which is the discrete side-centerpiece to this faade.
1937 tax Photo of 163 Court Street / 2015 Photo of 163 Court Street
10
Nicholson, Peter. The new and improved practical builder [electronic resource].London : Thomas Kelly, 1841, 106
Door Enframement
The door to the house is original and was not replaced by the contractor. It was recently painted red,
along with the rest of the storefront. It is recessed from the main faade and is rich in enframement
details. It is flanked with double box-column, with capitals with the Tower of the Winds order (which
of the curls, beads running down the side and an acanthus leaf at the bottom, seem to support the
cornice cantilevered above the door. It was useful to compare these details to similar enframements in
the West village in Manhattan. On West 11th street is a series of row houses with Greek revival doors. One
example is a door enframement which also uses 1 and a half double columns in the Ionic order. It is
followed by a sequence of 12 row houses using the same box column with the Tower of the Winds order.
Building companies must have had ready-made wood column of this order, which they propagated around
New York. While it is doubtful these companies owned a copy of Stuart and Revetts lavish book, it is
possible they copied it and other details of moldings and brackets from a practical builders handbook,
11
Stuart, James and Revett, Nicolas. The antiquities of Athens : measured and delineated by James Stuart
and Nicholas Revett, painters and architects / with an introduction by Frank Salmon. New York : Princeton
Architectural Press, c2008.
such as Peter Nicholson (The father of American carpentry and joinery12)s The New and Improved
Practical Builder (1841)13, Minard Lafevers The modern builder's guide (1833)14, Asher Benjamins The
architect; or, Complete builder's guide [] (1845), or John Havilands The Builders Assistant (1937).
Door Enframement details / Storefronts in Peter Nicholsons The new and improved practical builder p106 / Anthemion Patterns
in Asher Benjamins The Architect or complete Builders guide
12
Hamlin, Talbot. The American development of Greek-inspired forms. Appendix A of Greek revival
architecture in America, 1943?
13
Nicholson, Peter. The new and improved practical builder [electronic resource].London : Thomas Kelly,
1841
14
Lafever, Minard. The modern builder's guide (1833), New York, Dover Publications [1969]
Doors on West 11th Street, Greenwich village, Manhattan: 1 and a half double Ionic columns / Order of the Tower of the Winds
Columns
Interior
The interior maintains many original details. On the second floor, the large doorways are framed with box
columns with a typical interior Greek revival simple capitals. The roof is decorated with beautiful moldings,
with a leaf pattern running along the filleted corner-molding. The interior window frames are Eared or
crossetted. They have pocket shutters attached to their insides, but they have been painted into the frame
The mantelpieces are of different styles on each floor. Although they are both made of white marble, they
seem to be of different kind of marble. On the 1st floor the mantelpiece is Italianate with its arched details.
Its style succeeds the building date of the house, which means it might have replaced an earlier
mantelpiece. On the 3rd floor, it the mantelpiece is Greek revival but the slight pointed architrave, it seems
to approach gothic revival. The mantel cover is in cast-iron specifically fitting the mantelpieces. On the
third floor, the cast iron is a mold of a gothic perspective relief of an interior space flanked by two women.
Mantelpiece detail from Asher Benjamins Practice of architecture / Second Floor Italianate mantelpiece with circle detail
resembling Asher Benjamins at the corner piece.
The wooden stairs are well preserved, with the original wooden newel at the 1st floor. The original yellow-
pine floor was preserved around the stairs, but covered with a newer elevated parquet in the rest of the
rooms.
A mysterious feature of the 1st floor entrance is the curved wall. Its presence is interesting, especially that
a detail like this would have been expensive to make. It was perhaps added to create a larger, smooth
These rich details are a testament that the original owners of this house truly valued the architecture they
lived in, and gave special importance to fine architectural detail. It is then fair to suppose the owners were
indeed the Harper undertaker family, which would have built this house in 1850 with such intricate details,
Greek Revival to Gothic Revival Mantelpiece / Curved wall at 1st floor house entrance
Significance
This paper illustrates the significance of 163 Court Street as a unique building in the neighborhood. It is
one of the few remaining Frame Houses in Boerum Hill and the only Storefront Frame building in the area.
Its Original Greek Revival Style Door Enframement presents intricate detailing which is still in good
condition. As for its faade cornice and window surrounds, although they are not original, they baffle the
viewer with their beautiful and intricate restoration. Finally, many interior details remain intact and
original, and are a testament to the refined taste of the original owners and their appreciation of fine
details. These elements should help in valuing the significance of this building in case of any threat in the
future.
Mary Gannett and Henry Zook have done a beautiful job in preserving their home and workplace. Their
intervention, maintenance and care for the building is one of the most important elements of its
significance, since it has allowed it to stay significant after all these years. Their local business is a staple
within the community, and it too must be saved. The locals are aware of its importance, as the bookstore
has a loyal following despite the threat posed by the newly opened Barnes and Noble mega-bookstore a
few blocks away, which was a major blow to local bookstore businesses. This report aims at supporting
Mary and Henrys business and at thanking them for hanging on to this gem in Boerum Hill for so long.
Bibliography: 163 Court Street
ATLASES
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. Index Map and
Plates 26, 27, 28, 29, 30: Map bounded by Schermerhorn Street, Nevins Street, Warren Street,
Hoyt Street, Volume 1" New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1855. Accessed October 28,
2015. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-c018-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Atlas of the Borough of Brooklyn City of New York, Plate 8. New York: E. Belcher Hyde, 1911.
Avery Library.
CONVEYANCE RECORDS
DATABASES
1937 Tax Photos, 163 Court Street and 151 Court Street, NYC Municipal Archives.
DIRECTORIES
Brooklyn alphabetical and street directory, and yearly advertiser. Brooklyn [N.Y.], Brooklyn
directory co. 1843/1844 (only found Court near Dean references to the building)
Hearnes' Brooklyn city directory for ... [electronic resource], Brooklyn [N.Y.] : H.R., Hearne and
W.H. Hearne, 1850-1854., v. : ill. ; 24 cm, 1850/1851-1852/1853. Brooklyn city directory and
annual advertiser for the years ..., Brooklyn city directory. Electronic reproduction. New York,
N.Y.: Columbia University Libraries, 2014. Digitized by the Internet Archive. February 17, 2015
(found James Harper)
Smiths Brooklyn Directory, 1856, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn, NY.
(Harper moved from building except store)
Upingtons General Directory of the Borough of Brooklyn, 1908 A - K Published by George
Upington, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn, NY. (Francis Harper still at
store)
CENSUS
1860 United States Federal Census, James Harper, Image 128, Kings Ward 10, District 2
1870 United States Federal Census, James Harper, Image 3, Kings Ward 9
1980 United States Federal Census, 163 Court Street, Image 21, Kings 020
BOOKS
Benjamin, Asher. The architect; or, Complete builder's guide, illustrated by sixty-six engravings,
which exhibit the orders of architecture and other elements of the art. Designed for the use of
builders, particularly of carpenters and joiners, Boston, B. B. Mussey, 1845.
Benjamin, Asher. Practice of architecture. Containing the five orders of architecture and an
additional column and entablature, with all their elements and details explained and illustrated,
for the use of carpenters and practical men. With sixty plates. By Asher Benjamin ...Boston, Pub.
by the Author [etc.]; New York, Collins & Co., 1833.
Hamlin, Talbot. The American development of Greek-inspired forms. Appendix A of Greek revival
architecture in America, 1943?
Hamlin, Talbot.Greek revival architecture in America: being an account of important trends in
American architecture and American life prior to the War between the States, New York, Dover,
1964.
Lafever, Minard. The modern builder's guide (1833), New York, Dover Publications [1969]
Nicholson, Peter. The new and improved practical builder [electronic resource].London : Thomas
Kelly, 1841
Schmidt, Carl Frederick, Greek revival details, [Scottsville, N.Y., 1968]
Stuart, James and Revett, Nicolas. The antiquities of Athens : measured and delineated by James
Stuart and Nicholas Revett, painters and architects / with an introduction by Frank Salmon. New
York : Princeton Architectural Press, c2008.
Wiebenson, Dora. Sources of Greek revival architecture, University Park, Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1969.
NEWSPAPERS
Real Estate at Auction, William H. Sith, Auctioneer. Executors Sale by the direction of the Nassau
Trust Co. Executor, etc., estate of Francis Harper, deceased [], The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday
November 19, 1911.
Popular lectures on architecture, by J. Gallier, architect. : The first of a course of seven lectures on
architecture, will be given in the large room of the Classical Hall, Washington Street, Brooklyn, on
Tuesday evening, the 25th of February ...[Brooklyn, N.Y. : s.n., between 1831 and 1837] Avery
Library Classics Collections.
WEBSITES
CLASSICAL COMMENTS: TOWER OF THE WINDS ORDER by Calder Loth, Posted by Sara
Durkacs on October 29, 2010, http://blog.classicist.org/?p=1425
The Last Days of Redhook Lane, http://forgotten-ny.com/2004/06/the-last-days-of-red-hook-
lane/
Bookcourt Website, About. http://bookcourt.com/about/about-bookcourt
Historic districts map http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/
INTERVIEW
Meeting with Mary Gannett, who showed me the house over the shop at 163 Court Street. Short
Meeting with Henry Zook.