{"nrhp_refnum":"82005030","name":"Cronyn, William B., House","other_names":["House at 271 Ninth Street"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"271 9th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.66986673900004,"lon":-73.98731240199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, freestanding French Second Empire house at 271 Ninth Street in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, built in 1856-57 for Wall Street merchant William B. Cronyn.","why_significant":"The house is presented as a fine and rare example of French Second Empire suburban residential architecture of the late 1850s, reflecting its original owner's prosperity. Most mid-nineteenth-century housing in this part of Brooklyn was rowhouses, so this large freestanding residence stands out. It also illustrates the area's development, including later commercial use as an ink factory headquarters.","narrative":"Rising three stories on Ninth Street in Brooklyn, this freestanding house was built in 1856-57 for William B. Cronyn, a prosperous Wall Street merchant who had bought four farm lots in 1854. Its dominant feature is a slate mansard roof with end pavilions, iron cresting, dormers and a central cupola with a clerestory, set off by a bracketed cornice. Three-sided bays flank a portico entrance, and the frame and brick walls are covered in smooth stucco. The site lay within the former Rem Adriance farm, subdivided for development from the 1840s. Cronyn's family sold the property in 1862. Daniel H. Gray, a sulphur refiner, lived there from 1879, and in 1898 Charles M. Higgins acquired it as headquarters for his India ink company, with a factory at the rear. The house is again a residence. It is regarded as a rare example of French Second Empire design among the area's rowhouses, symbolizing its first owner's prestige.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific dates 1856-57)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"French Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied; used again as a private residence after serving as an India ink company headquarters until the mid-twentieth century. Condition is listed as good, altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.912048-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/82005030.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82005030/460320dd51-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82005030/460320dd51-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_B._Cronyn_House_271_9th_Street_South_Slope.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_B._Cronyn_House_271_9th_Street_South_Slope.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318361","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Cronyn_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8004780"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/cronyn-william-b-house-82005030/"}