PARK SLOPE BEFORE THE BOOM

Park Slope Civic Council

The 31st Annual Park Slope House Tour: Versatile Victorians [Brooklyn Architecture & Preservation]

PARK SLOPE DURING ITS TRANSFORMATION.
A detailed guide to the 31st Annual Park Slope House Tour, documenting Victorian houses in the southern portion of the Brooklyn neighborhood at a period of active restoration and renewal.

More than an event program, the booklet combines a mapped walking route with neighborhood history and individual accounts of the houses on the tour, recording their architecture, original features, alterations, ownership, and late twentieth-century restoration.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: A WALKING TOUR AND ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE.
Tall stapled booklet in illustrated wrappers, printed in black and brown. 5.5 by 8.5 inches. 16 numbered pages with additional wrapper material.

The opening spread contains a detailed folded map of the tour and expanded walking route, identifying individual houses and neighborhood landmarks. Text includes an introductory history, The Southern Area of Park Slope, followed by descriptions of the houses on the tour.

Individual entries identify street addresses and discuss construction dates, builders or architects where known, architectural details, interior arrangements, surviving period features, alterations, and restoration. Concluding material records sponsors, neighborhood businesses, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, brochure credits, and information on the Park Slope Civic Council.

CONDITION: CAREFULLY PRESERVED. No Flaws or Blemishes but minimal shelf handling;

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE HOUSE TOUR AS PRESERVATION.
The Park Slope Civic Council's house tours became part of the neighborhood's postwar architectural revival. The organization traces the annual tour to 1959, when it began showcasing Park Slope's brownstone, limestone, and brick row houses and encouraging interest in the neighborhood. The Civic Council also played a leading role in achieving Park Slope Historic District designation in 1973.

A NEIGHBORHOOD DOCUMENTED FROM WITHIN.
The importance of this 1990 guide lies in its contemporary record of individual houses. Entries describe buildings that had been subdivided into rooming houses or apartments and subsequently restored, recording surviving woodwork, fireplaces, stained glass, parquet floors and other original details alongside modern alterations.

SUBJECTS: Park Slope, Brooklyn, Victorian Houses, Brownstones, Historic Preservation, Residential Architecture, Park Slope Civic Council, House Restoration, Brooklyn Architecture, New York City, Urban Renewal, Neighborhood History, New York City History.

Item #22486

Price: $30.00