This Spanish Mission style house faces Shore Road near 92nd Street in Bay Ridge. Shore Road, which twists and turns along the ridges overlooking the Narrows, was developed early on — by the mid-19th Century — and was at first home to huge estates along the water owned by the wealthy nabobs of Kings County. By the 1930s, many of the estates had been redeveloped as multi-unit high rise housing.
This is one of the few private mansions left. Another one, at 99th Street, became Fontbonne Hall, a Catholic girls’ high school.
See the sights of Bay Ridge on an upcoming Forgotten NY tour on Saturday, August 17th, 2013.
6/25/13
5 comments
It is one of the last mansions in the area and is often confused with Fontbonne Hall. Doesn’t have as good of a story but the house was bought from the original owners by the family that created “Polly-O” cheese during the Depression. Legend is that they still have the cheese making equipment in the basement. That family still owns it. It is also a short walk from the “Gingerbread House” up a few blocks on Narrows Ave.
If permitted take photos and get more history. We used to live around the corner from this house and it is still a beauty.
Thanks!!
The only thing missing from that shot is a few Washingtonia trees, and it would look enough like Los Angeles to do a location for a film. Painting the curb red might not go amiss, either.
I live two blocks from that house. Supposedly, the Fontbonne Hall mansion was owned by Diamond Jim Brady. I am sure he entertained Lillian Russell quite frequently there.
Shore Road Hospital, which was not far away, was another of the mansions, and where I was born a few years back