The firm of Cleverdon and
Putzel, architects of speculative row houses, was the most prolific design
team in the Mount Morris Park area. This series of homes (1887-90) is
typical of middle-class housing created by untrained designers for
developers who realized reasonable profits by employing non-professionals.
The capriciously carved details in the form of humorous faces add a
liveliness to the otherwise standard brownstone design of the time. One
wonders who the models for these characters were, and if they were
flattered by their likenesses!