Montauk Club

19 8th Avenue | also 15 Plaza Street West, 13 Plaza Street West, 17 8th Avenue | Park Slope | built 1891

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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1889

    Twenty-five charter members found the Montauk Club, joined early by Charles Pratt and Edwin Clark Litchfield

    A group of 25 charter members founded the Montauk Club in 1889 as a men's social club for the fast-developing Park Slope. Membership quickly grew to 300, making it Brooklyn's most prominent club. Robert Pinkerton, Edwin Clark Litchfield, Richard Schermerhorn and Charles Pratt were among its early members.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1889

    October 2

    Ground is broken for the Montauk Club's clubhouse in October 1889, after the club incorporates that March

    The Montauk Club was incorporated on March 11, 1889, and ground was broken for its building at Eighth Avenue and Lincoln Place on October 2 of that year. The Landmarks Preservation Commission describes the clubhouse as an expression of the social forces of the late nineteenth century, one of the few surviving Brooklyn private clubs.

    “…incorporated March 11, 1889. Ground was broken for the structure on October 2, 1889…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1890

    September 20

    A terra cotta frieze of the club's founders laying the cornerstone becomes a matter of controversy

    When the terra cotta frieze showing the founders and builders laying the cornerstone was installed above the second-floor window, it stirred controversy. Brooklyn Life discussed the dispute in its issue of September 20, 1890. The frieze sits above a round-arched window set in terra cotta ornament.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1891

    May 23

    The Montauk Club holds a gala opening reception in its new Venetian Gothic clubhouse

    The finished clubhouse opened with a gala reception on May 23, 1891, about a year and a half after ground was broken. The Landmarks Preservation Commission calls the elaborately decorated building an architectural treasure of Park Slope. It says the founders' wealth and the importance of the members show in the palazzo's design.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1891

    Francis H. Kimball designs the clubhouse after the Venetian Gothic palaces, with American Indian ornament

    Architect Francis H. Kimball took his inspiration from the late Gothic palaces of early Renaissance Venice, notably the Ca' d'Oro on the Grand Canal, without copying any one of them. Mason Charles T. Wills built it with brownstone and two shades of brick. A carved band of American Indian heads tops the main entrance, and a continuous frieze tells the history of the Montauk Indians.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1891

    A separate ladies' entrance makes the Montauk Club one of the first men's clubs to admit women to its facilities

    The clubhouse has a separate ladies' entrance to the left of the main door. Through it, women could go up to the dining room floor without crossing the main lobby. The Landmarks Preservation Commission calls the Montauk Club one of the first men's clubs to open its facilities to women.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  7. 2017

    The restored clubhouse wins the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award and the MASterworks Award for Best Restoration

    In 2017 the Montauk Club building received two honors for its restoration: the New York Landmarks Conservancy's Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award and the Municipal Art Society's MASterworks Award for the best restoration. The club had earlier sold its upper and basement floors to a developer for condominiums, keeping the first and second floors.

    “In 2017, the Montauk Club building received the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award…”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 22 buildings with stories in Park Slope