Cornelia-Putnam Historic District

Cornelia Street and Putnam Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens, hold a small district of 87 brick buildings covering about six acres between Wyckoff and Myrtle Avenues. Two-story houses with an apartment on each floor and three-story tenements with two apartments per floor were built in separate rows between 1907 and 1922. Facades use yellow, amber or cream brick with brownstone or cast-stone trim, pressed metal cornices and elaborate ironwork, with Romanesque and Renaissance Revival details. Different builders hired the same architect, Louis Berger and Co., which produced consistent setbacks, scale and materials. Central buildings in each row sit back to form small gardens, while end buildings reach the lot line to define the row. The district was listed as a compact example of how Ridgewood's larger neighborhoods developed, and for its integrity: pressed metal entablatures, most original double doors and much ironwork survive. Only two 1960s houses disrupt the historic character.