$2.875M Brooklyn Brownstone Goes Yard on Jackie Robinson History

Listing notes for this pretty stupendous Brooklyn townhouse at 407 Stuyvesant Avenue say that Jackie Robinson lived there. So, having never seen any evidence that Robinson lived in any place other than the two homes associated with the Hall of Fame player, we had to check it out. We went right to the source: Morgan Munsey, a preservationist and Halstead agent widely regarded as a Stuyvesant Heights expert. In 2013, Robin Finn of The New York Times profiled Munsey about his knowledge of Bed-Stuy.

According to Munsey, Jackie Robinson stayed at 407 Stuyvesant Avenue for “a few months when he first came to Brooklyn and later hung around there after he moved around the corner.’’

“The current owner has been there about two years, but the previous owner was there around 60 years and had a relationship with Robinson,’’ Munsey said, adding that Robinson memorabilia and photographs were found in the basement of the property.

In the meantime, the multi-family brownstone at 407 Stuyvesant Avenue is listed for sale for $2.875 million and is still an historic bit of Brooklyn by the sheer fact that it is located in the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District.

The 20-foot-wide Romanesque Revival style brownstone was built by R. Sweet in 1892. The building features six fireplaces, pocket doors, pocket shutters, original tin ceilings and a host of other original features. It is currently configured a triplex owner’s unit with a 2-bedroom unit on the top floor.

> See more photos of 407 Stuyvesant

The Jackie Robinson House in Flatbush

Still, it’s been tough to pin down exactly when the great Hall of Fame player lived in the Bed-Stuy brownstone. Robinson historically broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when the Brooklyn Dodgers called him to action in 1947, and he promptly won Rookie of the Year. From 1947 until 1949, Robinson lived at 5224 Tilden Avenue in Flatbush — a home that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It is called Jackie Robinson House and it was sold last year for $815,000 (photo below).

From 1949 until 1955, Robinson and his wife, Rachel, lived at 112-40 177th Street in Addisleigh Park, an enclave of St. Albans section of Queens where many prominent African-Americans lived. In addition to Robinson, jazz greats like Count Basie, John Coltrane, Lena Horne, Fats Waller and many others lived in St. Albans and Addisleigh Park. By the time the Supreme Court knocked down racially discriminatory covenants, Addisleigh Park was already home to many affluent African-Americans. In 2011, Addisleigh Park was designated an historic neighborhood by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

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