22 SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Mathews Flats helped make Ridgewood a special place
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
From the beginning, they were
something special. The apartment
houses rose in the heart of Ridgewood,
Queens in stark contrast to the
dark and dingy tenements thousands
of Lower Manhattan residents called
home. Not only were they spacious,
bright and airy, but they also off ered
those lucky enough to own one a way to
climb the economic ladder and achieve
real economic success.
Like many American success stories,
the tale of the Mathews Flats has its
roots in Europe. The Mathews brothers
who built them were from Paltino
in Bavaria, Germany, in the early 1900.
Gustave Xavius Mathews, who was
born in 1871, came to America with his
brothers in 1886. In 1900, he married
Clara Kuntz, whose father was a builder.
They had four children: Ernest L., Curtis,
William Elliott and Gustave X. Jr.
Gustave Mathews began building
homes in 1903; on July 2, 1904, Mathews
Realty and Construction Company
purchased from Peter Wyckoff a strip
of land 100 feet wide and 600 feet long —
located on what is today the north side
of Linden Street from Seneca Avenue
to about 100 feet east of St. Nicholas
Avenue.
Wyckoff took a purchase money
mortgage for the property, and
Mathews Realty agreed to build on the
property within a decade. Although
the deed specifi es the sale was made
for “$1 and other valuable considerations,”
from the down payment on the
mortgages, it is believed the land sold
for $22,826 per acre.
When the Wyckoff Farm was divided,
the dividing line ran approximately
north to south 100 feet east of what is
today St. Nicholas Avenue. Peter Wyckoff
owned the land east of the line, and
his brother Nicholas owned the land to
the west.
Mathews Realty and Construction
was owned 50 percent by William Matthews,
Gustave’s older brother, who
served as president. The other share
was split between Gustave and younger
brother Ernest, who was secretary.
In October 1904, Matthews Realty
and Construction obtained a $45,000
mortgage for a 243 foot frontage on
Linden Street, west of Cypress Avenue,
laying out 10 lots of 19.9 by 100 feet, and
two lots of 22 feet by 100 feet. The German
Savings Bank, which provided the
mortgage, set the interest at fi ve percent,
and require repayment by Dec. 1, 1905.
Patriotic banners fl ew from the Mathews Flats apartment houses on
Palmetto Street between Fairview and Forest avenues in this photo
taken on July 4, 1917. The revolutionary six-family dwellings were a
signifi cant addition to Ridgewood, bringing in new residents and giving
building owners a second source of income.
The Mathews company also built
houses on Grove Street and Bleecker
Street.
BUILDING THE FLATS
About 1907, the Tenement House
Law changed and, as a result, Gustave
Ridgewood Times/File photo
Mathews and his brothers designed a
six-family, three-story brick house on
a 27 1/2’-wide plot, 100’-feet deep, with
a backyard. They used light-colored
brick with red trim and included large
airshaft s so every room had a window
with fresh air.
Each of the fl ats had fi ve rooms plus