The owner of one of the buildings included in new historic district opposed designation. Landmarks voted to designate twelve 1910 rowhouses at 189 to 211 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn as the Ocean on the Park Historic District. In 1909, developer Charles G. Reynolds hired Axel S. Hedman to build a row of homes along Ocean Avenue bordering Prospect Park. Hedman built ten Renaissance-revival rowhouses at 193 to 211 Ocean Avenue. The homes feature limestone facades with randomly alternating bay designs, iron cornices, and unusually deep 30- foot front yards.

Philip A. Faribault purchased 191 Ocean Avenue from Reynolds in 1915 and built a Federal Revival brick rowhouse on the lot. Two years later, Reynolds hired Eric O. Holmgren to design two Arts-and-Crafts style brick homes, separated by a shared driveway, on his remaining lots at 189 and 185 Ocean Avenue. In 2007, the owner of 185 Ocean Avenue demolished the building and obtained construction permits to develop a nine-story structure that would be cantilevered over the driveway shared with 189 Ocean Avenue. (read more…)