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home. He was only 40. Henry had been quietly investing
in real estate and owned a huge portfolio, with property
in established neighborhoods, but also 193 lots in the
Twenty-Fourth Ward – the eastern end of today’s Crown
Heights North/Weeksville neighborhood. Henry was convinced
this area, with verdant rolling hills and fine views,
would be the next suburban paradise. Unfortunately, that
never panned out. The sale of the land made money, but
not the kind of dollars that Henry’s heirs expected. They
were going to have to work for a living.
The next fifteen years were Walter’s and Albert’s busiest
and most productive. They designed upscale townhouses
and large buildings for charitable institutions and commercial
ventures. They created firehouses, police stations,
and clubhouses. They entered several important competitions
to design the Brooklyn Museum, a new Municipal
Building, and the Brooklyn Historical Society headquarters,
but never won. Their egos were no doubt bruised but,
undaunted, they certainly were not without work.
They became quite proficient at designing houses of
worship. The brothers were Anglican but had a sensibility
for sacred spaces that transcended denomination. Grace
Methodist was a delicate Gothic chapel. Their 1894 golden
Roman brick Mount Lebanon Baptist Church is a sacred
mansion that complements its brownstone neighbors in
Stuyvesant Heights.
A magnificent 1893 Temple Israel showed creativity and
beauty in its Romanesque glory in Bed Stuy until it was
demolished in 1969. Their 1897 masterpiece, St. Augustine
Catholic Church in Park Slope, dominates the landscape.
Rich in texture and materials, it bursts with towers,
bays, turrets, stained glass, wrought iron, and statuary.
Along with the adjoining parsonage and school, it is their
finest work.
With most of brownstone Brooklyn built out, both Walter
and Albert looked to the newly developing suburbs of Bay
Ridge, Bensonhurst, and Dyker Heights. Developer James
Lynch hired the Parfitt Brothers as official architects for
his planned Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea development.
No doubt reminded of similar English seacoast communities,
the Parfitts not only signed on, they also both
brought their families to the area. Walter purchased the
A circa 1920 photo of St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church. Photo courtesy of Thomas E. Parfitt, Jr.