The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is set in a historic neighborhood in Harlem inside a brownstone, an iconic New York architectural feature that has become a symbol of the city’s history and character, as the chronicle of brownstone structures reveals the changing landscape of New York throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Author Karina Yan Glaser fell in love with the charm of New York early in life, and after attending college in the city, decided to stay and make it her home. She currently resides in a Harlem brownstone with her family and pets and chose this historic piece of New York architecture as the setting of her first novel. Incorporating her sketches of the rowhouses into the text, Glaser adds a visual element to the story giving her reader a mental picture of the iconic buildings. Using her thriving community as her muse, Glaser creates a warm story of family and community where most of the action takes place in a creaky, leaky brownstone that lives and breathes just like the characters. Glaser’s novel is a love letter to these historic buildings and the generations of New Yorkers they have housed.

The term brownstone comes from the buildings’ material components, a type of sandstone known as brownstone, which first gained popularity as a building material in New York during the 1830s when the stone was quarried from the sandstone deposits in the Connecticut River. Brownstone architecture first emerged in the city during the mid-19th century as builders first used it solely for commercial projects, but with the rapid growth and urbanization of the mid-19th century and because the stone was readily available in copious amounts nearby, brownstone soon became the predominant building material in residential construction. The earliest brownstone rowhouses in New York were built in the 1840s and 1850s and were usually three to four stories tall with narrow fronts. However, the lots ran deep, giving most brownstones a backyard, a unique feature in an urban housing situation (Smith, Virginia K. “New York City Brownstones Maintain Their 150-Year-Old Mystique.” Mansion Global. 21 January 2021).

In what became known as the Italianate Period during the 1860s, people became interested in the intricate style of Italian architecture and builders began adding ornate features such as carved stone lintels, intricate ironwork, marble fireplaces, and decorative cornices to the otherwise plain facades. The intense custom finish work in these townhouses increased their value and they became the prized possessions of the city’s upper class (Waldek, Stefanie. “A Stunning Photographic Timeline of New Yor City’s Iconic Brownstones.” Architectural Digest. 14 October 2019). After the 1920s, wealthier New York residents traded their city homes for sprawling waterside estates in Long Island, leaving the stately brownstone homes vacant, causing many of them to fall into disrepair. Some of the townhomes were razed to make room for apartment buildings, but others were purchased at a discounted price and turned into a rental property. By the 1960s and 70s, the brownstones had transformed from Gilded Age upper-class showpieces to homes for the city’s working class. The early 2000s saw a renewed interest in the historical value of the brownstones, and prices steadily rose as investors raced to scoop up a piece of New York architectural history (McIntosh, Sophie. “The History of the New York City Brownstone.” City Signal. 2 August 2022). Young families seeking the close-knit community that the connected brownstones provide migrated to the neighborhoods bringing an influx of youthful energy into the landscape. Today, the neighborhoods feature an eclectic mix of individuals and families who value the connectivity of brownstone living and understand the importance of preserving the history of an important part of New York’s architectural history.