Brooklyn Boro

The Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead is a historic treasure

Eye on Real Estate: Farmhouse near Madison High School housed Hessians during the Revolutionary War

July 19, 2017 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead, which was built before the Revolutionary War, is located in the Madison section of Brooklyn. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan
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If these walls could talk, they’d say snide stuff about the Hessian officers who moved in during the Revolutionary War.

This farmhouse, built about 1766, is located on a Brooklyn street a few blocks away from James Madison High School.

The white-shingle house, which has a porch with a distinctive Dutch Colonial-style curved roof, is the centerpiece of the Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead. The city landmark also includes a barn and a white picket fence surrounding a vast yard that’s a remnant of the 100-acre farmland that once was part of the property.

The neighborhood that grew up around the homestead in the early decades of the 20th century is called Madison. The present-day street address of the long-deceased Hessians’ hangout is 1669 East 22nd St.

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Three years ago, it was our good fortune to meet the modern-day occupant of the house, Stuart Mont, and hear about its extraordinary history.

He and his late wife, Annette Mont, purchased the Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead from the estate of Gertrude Ryder Bennett Williams for $160,000 in 1983, city Finance Department records indicate. It had been designated as a city landmark in 1968.

In 2016, Stuart Mont transferred ownership of the property to the Stuart Mont Revocable Trust with Randi Mont and Ira Mont as trustees, Finance Department records show.

 

The Elias Hubbard Ryder House is another neighborhood treasure

A second Madison historic home, the Elias Hubbard Ryder House, is Dutch Colonial in its architectural design though it was built in 1834 when America’s colonial days were over.

The farmhouse at 1926 East 28th St. has a white-shingle facade and a sloping roof. It was designated as a city landmark in 1976.

It’s a surprising sight to people passing down East 28th Street for the first time since it’s sandwiched between 20th-century semi-attached houses and a line of 20th-century rowhouses.

Members of the Ryder family owned the Elias Hubbard Ryder House as recently as 1966, Finance Department records indicate. Currently it belongs to David Hamou, who bought it for $730,000 in 2007, Finance Department records show.  

Earlier this year, the property was for sale. The most recent asking price was $1.05 million, online postings indicate.

Lia Isaac of the Ready Group, the listing agent, recently told Eye on Real Estate that the house is off the market.

 


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