Property Specifications
Attribute Detail
BBL (Borough/Block/Lot) Brooklyn, Block 1243, Lot 24
Building Type 3-story brick rowhouse with basement and attached 1-story rear extension
Residential Units 3 (see note below)
Building Class C0 (Walk-up, three families)
Building Dimensions 17.33 ft wide × 30 ft deep
Total Building Area 2,080 sq ft
Lot Dimensions 17.33 ft wide × 175.58 ft deep
Lot Area 5,302 sq ft
Cross Streets Park Place between Kingston Avenue and Albany Avenue
Zoning District R6 (General residence district)
Community Board Brooklyn Community District 8
Police Precinct 77th Precinct (NYPD)
Note on unit count: The house was not originally built as a three-family dwelling. The current C0 (three-family) building classification dates from a later conversion carried out after the Edmund family acquired the property in 1974. The top two floors were converted into a separate apartment for Bertin Edmund Sr.'s brother Ossin and his family. An electrician---a childhood friend of the elder Edmund---performed the conversion work and registered the building as a three-family, although only two families occupied the house. The original construction was as a single- or two-family residence.
Note on lot depth: At over 175 feet, this is a remarkably deep lot for a Brooklyn townhouse, where lots typically average around 100 feet. This extra depth is a distinctive feature of lots on this section of Park Place, which back onto Sterling Place properties.
Original Construction: The 1910 Rental Advertisement
A newspaper advertisement dated September 18, 1910---just one year after the house was built---provides the earliest known description of Park Place as originally constructed:
Park Place, Nr. Kingston Av. --- 3-story, detached house, 15 rooms and 3 baths, with or without heat; rent, \$1,000. Keys with Edward Lyons, 505 Nostrand av, near Fulton st.
This advertisement reveals the original scale of the house: a 15-room, 3-bathroom, three-story residence---far larger than the 2,080 square feet listed in current city tax records, which may reflect only a portion of the building or a post-conversion measurement. The \$1,000 annual rent was a premium figure for 1910, equivalent to roughly \$30,000 or more in today's dollars.
The ad describes the house as "detached," which is notable. Park Place is one of a row of three houses---1044, 1046, and 1048---all built simultaneously by Leininger (architect Arthur R. Koch, c. 1909) with identical facades centered directly across from Brower Park in the most desirable position on the block. The 2nd and 3rd floors of all three houses are identical in layout; the difference is on the first floor. While 1046 and 1048 are "mini" versions with standard ground floors, 1044 has the deep L-shaped rear extension---art gallery, living room, dining room, kitchen, and servants' quarters---wrapping approximately 120 feet behind its two sister houses. Leininger appears to have developed 1044, 1046, and 1048 as a coordinated three-house group, with Arthur R. Koch as architect of record. The 1910 U.S. Census does not list occupants at 1046 or 1048, indicating they had not yet found tenants or buyers, which likely explains both the "detached" description (the sisters may not have been occupied, making 1044 feel freestanding) and the rental availability of 1044 during this transitional period.
The "with or without heat" option indicates the house had a central heating system---a notable amenity in 1910---with the option to rent at a reduced rate without heat service, allowing tenants to supply their own coal stoves. The availability of 1044 for rent in 1910 may reflect a brief marketing period while the sister houses were still under construction; by October 1913, the Brooklyn Eagle confirms Leininger was hosting political receptions at "his fine residence, Park Place," which the newspaper described as a "Park Place Mansion"---so any rental period was short-lived.
Original Floor Layout
Based on family knowledge passed down through the property's ownership history, the original interior layout of Park Place was as follows:
Floor Layout
3-Story Front Section Vestibule (entry from Park Place) and large foyer/central hall. During the Goldberg era (c. 1940--1974), Dr. Rachelle Goldberg sectioned off the foyer with soundproof walls and doors to create her private psychiatric office---allowing her to see patients in the front of the house while the family lived in the rear. The Edmund family later added a kitchen in the front section (not original). Upper floors: 2 bedrooms on the 2nd floor (primary family sleeping floor) and 3 bedrooms on the 3rd floor (2 large, 1 small).
1-Story Rear Extension --- Main Spaces Gallery (the art gallery, confirmed by 1913 Brooklyn Eagle; venue for the 1951 FDR Jr. event with 250 attendees), living room, dining room, and guest bathroom. These principal entertaining and living spaces extend deep into the lot in an L-shaped configuration wrapping behind the sister houses at 1046 and 1048.
1-Story Rear Extension --- Service Wing The original servants' quarters, located at the south end of the rear extension: three small rooms (used as bedrooms by William and Ida Teabout in the Leininger era), a servants' bathroom, a service hallway, the original south kitchen, and a pantry. The 1910 U.S. Census (Brooklyn Ward 24, E.D. 653) confirms two African-American domestic servants in these quarters: William Teabout (age 25, born c. 1885, New Jersey; parents both from NJ), the butler, and his wife Ida Teabout (age 22, born c. 1888, New York; father from Cuba, mother from North Carolina), the cook.
Basement Full basement beneath the front section, confirmed by the 1974 survey ("3 story and basement brick building"). Planned site of the Edmund family's maker studio.
Note on building depth: City tax records list the building as 30 feet deep, which measures only the three-story front section. The attached one-story rear extension stretches approximately 120 feet further into the 175-foot lot in an L-shaped configuration, giving the house a total depth of roughly 107 feet from the Park Place facade to the rear of the service wing. The 1916 conveyance metes and bounds (w 10.4 x s 175.7 x e 50 x n 70.1 x w 32.8 x n 105.5) trace the full L-shaped lot. This two-part configuration explains how the house contained 15 rooms as described in the 1910 rental advertisement.
1974 Survey
A survey conducted by Louis W. Reuter Jr. Inc. (105 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201), dated December 2, 1974 (reference 74-K-02067, R. Giordano), was prepared at the time of the Edmund family's purchase. The survey was guaranteed to Bertin & Clarice Edmund, with title insurance through Home Title Division / Chicago Title Insurance Co.
The survey map confirms the building's two-part configuration: the three-story-and-basement brick front section facing Park Place, with the attached one-story brick rear extension stretching deep into the lot in an L-shaped configuration. Low yards flank both sides of the rear extension, and a barbecue area ("BAR-B-Q") is marked in the rear yard. The survey documents the following boundary conditions:
Boundary Condition
Park Place (North) Stoop clear; no encroachments on street frontage
East Party wall shared with adjacent building; 12-inch concrete wall, 2.5 inches west of lot line; fence off record line
West Four-story brick building adjoining; encroaches 1.5 inches at top, 0.5 inches at base onto 1044 premises; roof tile overlap; fence off record line
South (Rear) 4-inch-high cinder block wall set 4 feet 6.5 inches north of the actual lot line; four-story brick building (1077 Sterling Place) beyond. Fences at 3--4 feet on east and west sides of rear yard
Note on rear lot line: The 1974 survey's finding that the cinder block wall at the rear of the property sits nearly 5 feet north of the actual lot line is directly relevant to the later Marsh v. Edmund case (Kings County, 2025), in which the court confirmed that the disputed rear strip beyond the wall falls within Lot 24. The survey establishes that this discrepancy between the wall and the lot line existed at the time of the Edmund family's purchase.