Built in 1850, this building at 447 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn New York, was modeled after an Italian villa. Its first resident was David H. Burdette, and the building was used as the Galilee Baptist Church at the time it was sketched in 1994. It was later abandoned. In 2007 it was converted into 4 rental apartments. The building is located in the Clinton Hill Historic District of Brooklyn New York.
“The Hill”, as the general area was known – with a maximum elevation of 95 feet was believed to have health benefits because many people believed that disease was more prevalent in low-lying areas. The area is named after Clinton Avenue, which in turn was named in honor of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828).
This building is only one of two buildings that are still standing from the early 1850s development of Clinton Hill. Most of the rest of the neighborhood was replaced with row houses after the Civil War in the 1860s and 1870s.
The renovation of 447 Clinton Avenue won a pair of prizes, the Clinton Hill Historic Society and Preservation Award and the Building Brooklyn Award. Rent for one of the apartments was $6000 per month in 2017.