ttracting artistic residents for at least a century, a Neo-Grec
brownstone mansion facing the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
played a leading role in a 1977 campy occult thriller,
counted among its inhabitants the creators of “I Left My
Heart in San Francisco,” and is today a co-op whose members
are close enough to occasionally host a building-wide party.
Despite changes and conversions over the years, 10 Montague
Terrace retains a remarkable number of features original to its
1875 construction — even a coat closet with the original hooks in a
shared hall, now deeded to the occupant of the former library.
In the opening scenes of “The Sentinel,” a realtor describes 10 Montague
Terrace as standing on “one of the nicer tree-lined blocks in
New York,” and by nearly anyone’s standards – let alone a realtor’s –
the compliment is an understatement. As for the building, a classic
of brownstone architecture, its imposing presence and magnificent
interior made it the perfect setting for an atmospheric horror film.
And if “The Sentinel” mostly left critics cold, the film still does a
wonderful job of showcasing one of Brooklyn’s grand mansions.
The street now known as Montague Terrace stands on the site of
the former Pierrepont estate, which was gradually subdivided by
Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont beginning in 1816. The houses that line
the block-long street were constructed in the 1870s (a pleasant Colonial
Revival apartment building replaced two houses in the early
20th century). In 1872, prominent citizens Henry Sanger and his
wife, Mary, (née Requa) acquired two adjacent lots; their new house
was built on the corner of Montague Terrace and Remsen Street,
affording waterfront access and garden views of New York Harbor.
The brownstone at 10 Montague was designed by Ebenezer L. Roberts,
whose output included the striking South Brooklyn Savings
Institution at 160 Atlantic Avenue and the Charles Pratt House,
now St. Joseph’s College Founders Hall, at 232 Clinton Avenue.
Reported in the Brooklyn Eagle as costing “about $175,000” to construct,
the house was praised as “a palatial new residence” and is a
striking example of Neo-Grec architecture that also includes some
Italianate and Queen Anne elements.
The house’s exterior incorporated classically derived window
hoods, a dentilled cornice, and a massive stoop sweeping up to the
parlor floor (the last feature was removed some time after 1940).
Front, side, and rear gardens surrounded the house, and the interiors
are finished with cherry, oak, and bird’s-eye maple cabinets,
mantels, pocket doors, and shutters. A monumental staircase
winds around a wide central hall connecting the parlor floor’s
grand rooms.
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