Brownstones in New York City is actually built of brick and only the ‘facade’ is made of brownstone.
These are considered a true brownstones.
It can be pink, red orange, or purple-ish in hue depending on minerals, clay, and other constituents.
During the heyday of the NYC brownstone in the 1870’s through the 1890’s the stone was easy to come by from New Jersey.
Most of the craftsmen who created the stonework on NYC brownstones were German immigrants who worked under horrendous conditions.
One of the most distinctive features of a classic NYC brownstones is its stoop—a word appropriated from “stoep” – “stair” – the Dutch word. The Dutch built stoops to raise their parlor floor above flood waters.
You can find brownstone in almost all NYC neighborhoods.
Today, the majority of brownstones can be found either in Brooklyn or in Manhattan on the Upper West Side or in Harlem.
Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Gowanus, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Brooklyn Heights, Bedford Stuyvesant, and Sunset Park are the one to look if you are brownstone hunter.
Architecture is so attractive to real estate buyers that sometimes prices are limitless.