Ocean on the Park Historic District

Spurred by the construction of Prospect Park, as well as by improved transportation, suburban development continued in Flatbush into the early twentieth century. The Ocean on the Park Historic District, a fine example of such residential development, is comprised of twelve row houses built from 1909-1918 on Ocean Avenue, across from Prospect Park. Initially occupied by middle-class businessman and professionals, by the 1930s, many of these houses were subdivided for multi-family residential use. A notable resident, at 193 Ocean Avenue, was Charles H. Ebbets, owner of the Brooklyn Baseball Club, later known as the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ten of the twelve buildings, 193-211 Ocean Avenue, were designed by Swedish architect Axel S. Hedman and built 1909-10 in the Renaissance Revival style. Set back from the street, with deep interconnected front yards, they display limestone facades, terraces, balustrades, iron cornices, with ornamental egg and dart moldings, half pilasters, foliate formed corbels, and lintels with scallop shells. In 1915, Philip Faribault, a civil engineer, designed and built his own residence, 191 Ocean Avenue, with a unique Federal Revival facade. The building features Ionic columns in antis with an arched brick door surround, limestone lintels, and a cornice with dentils. 189 Ocean Avenue, designed by Brooklyn architect Eric O. Holmgren in 1917, is an Arts and Crafts-style, attached townhouse. It possesses a straightforward form, with a brick terrace decorated by spandrel panels, balustrade, and hipped roof with pantiles.

The residential buildings of the Ocean on the Park Historic District, with their distinctive setback and low scale configuration, form a cohesive and distinctive mini-district. The buildings today retain their residential form and use. ©2014