What Is a Brownstone?

You’ve seen the term everywhere while looking for a home in New York, but what is a brownstone? Learn the history and what makes a brownstone home so special.

When strolling about New York, it's not unusual to stumble upon clusters of large, reddish-brown stone buildings peppered across neighborhoods. These structures are referred to as brownstones, and are about as commonplace to New York as grabbing a slice of pizza or watching a taxi cab whiz by.

Thousands of these elegant structures are spread out across New York's five boroughs and have resided throughout the state for centuries. In fact, brownstones happen to be one of the oldest forms of housing that still exist in America, dating back to the 19th century. But what is a brownstone?

The term “brownstone” is often mixed up with “townhouse,” but brownstones have distinctive features that set them apart from row homes or townhouses. Townhouses are multi-story homes that are scaled similarly to nearby housing, whereas row houses are multi-story homes that replicate adjoining buildings. Row homes also tend to be built by the same architect. Though brownstones are multi-story and can also be considered row homes, the structures are distinguished since they’re sheathed in soft triassic sandstone or freestone. The name comes from the color of the sandstone, which appears brown. But the stone is actually pink when first cut and only morphs into its distinguished chocolate hue once the stone weathers.

According to Charles Lockwood, author of Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House 1783-1929, most of the brownstone used in 19th century New York originates from two places: Portland, Connecticut or Little Falls, New Jersey. The stone was cut within the two states and then carried to New York where it would eventually be unloaded near a building stone storage yard.

But just as Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the concept behind the brownstone structure. Brownstones began to be phased into New York architecture in the late 18th century as stoops or doorway trim on smaller homes. By the 1940s, it became the most fashionable building material. Mid-19th century row homes also popped up as brownstone fronts, which were brick houses clad in four to six inches of brownstone facing.

Not just chic in appearance, brownstone was also desired by builders for its softness and malleability, allowing it to mold into brackets, pediments, enframements and other architectural details. It can also be laid flat and provide smooth, invisible seams that mimic row-style housing.

A housing boom in the 1860s led to the proliferation of the Brooklyn brownstone, which remains a hallmark to New York architecture. Brownstone Brooklyn highlights many of the neighborhoods that house the beloved brownstone which include, but are not limited to Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford- Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Park Slope.