Brooklyn Heights carriage house will get a fix-up

Landmarks Preservation Commission approves demolition of 276 Hicks St.'s eye-catching skylight

April 26, 2017 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The skylight is going to be torn off the carriage house at right, which is 276 Hicks St., and replaced with a rooftop addition. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

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Say sayonara to this skylight.

The new owners of a Brooklyn Heights Historic District carriage house plan to tear down a distinctive skylight that has topped their home at 276 Hicks St. for many decades.

On Tuesday, the city Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) gave Philip Kearns and Grace Elizabeth Ray permission to do so.

The skylight demolition is the prelude to the construction of a rooftop addition on the carriage house and renovation of the property’s facade, which the LPC voted to approve after a public hearing at the preservation agency’s Lower Manhattan headquarters.

Removing the skylight, which is visible from the Hicks Street sidewalk, “adds unity to the streetscape,” LPC Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan said before the vote.

That’s because the carriage house next door at 278 Hicks St. looks like 276 Hicks St.’s twin, except for the presence of the skylight.

Commissioner Jeanne Lutfy said the design of 276 Hicks St.’s rooftop addition, which was drawn up by Bouratoglou Architect PC, is “very sensitive” to the surrounding area.

The picturesque sights on the block where the house is located include Engine Company 224’s Renaissance Revival-style firehouse. It’s at 274 Hicks St., right next door to the carriage house that’s going to be renovated. The block runs between Joralemon and State streets.

In testimony during the public hearing, Patrick Waldo of the Historic Districts Council and Christabel Gough of the Society for the Architecture of the City recommended that the skylight be repaired, not demolished.

According to city Finance Department records, the new owners, Kearns and Ray, bought 276 Hicks St. for $4.32 million this past November.

The carriage house, which was built in 1903, is in much need of a fix-up, the couple’s architect noted during the hearing.

“It is in sad shape,” architect Jill Bouratoglou said.