Albemarle Road, Local Landscape

One block from my home, in the landmarked Prospect Park South Historic District, Albemarle Road spans six blocks, from Coney Island Avenue to the B/Q subway cut. Albemarle Road is part of the Flatbush Malls, an extended series of streetscape gardens created by some of the developers who carved suburbs out of Flatbush farmland starting in the late 1890s.

A photograph of Albemarle Road as viewed from the train tracks 100 years ago, in 1909.


One of the class projects for my Urban Garden Design class with Nigel Rollings at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a written project, for which there were several options. I chose to write about a "local landscape." And Albemarle Road certainly is that. I've been captivated by this landscape since we first started househunting in the area. The more extensive stretches of Flatbush Malls lie south and east of me, along Glenwood Road and East 17th Street. Albemarle Road is a 2-minute walk from my home. It's given me a chance to inhabit and study this landscape close-hand.

I've been photographing Albemarle Road since we moved to the area. I'm compiling more reference material on the history of this landscape and its designer, which I'll save for a future post. In the meantime, please enjoy these views of Albemarle Road in all four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and - saving what I think is the best for last - Fall.

Much of the character of Albemarle Road is, by design, imparted by the deep private gardens of the front yards. So I've also highlighted two properties I've photographed at different times of the year, each of which captures, in its own way, the seasonal beauty of Albemarle Road.

Winter

Looking west from Buckingham Road, similar to the view in the 1909 photograph, January 2009.


1306 Albemarle Road, December 2008


Composite panoramic view from the corner of Westminster Road

Spring

Western end of Albemarle Road, at Coney Island Avenue, April 2008


Rugby Road, East side, South of Albemarle Road, April 2007

Summer

1314 Albemarle Road, September 2006


1510 Albemarle Road, September 2006


131 Buckingham Road, September 2006

Fall

Corner of Albemarle and Marlborough, looking east, November 2007


Corner of Marlborough and Albemarle Roads, looking northwest November 2007


Albemarle Road, looking west from Rugby Road, November 2007


1406 Albemarle Road, October 2006


1423 Albemarle Road, November 2007


1510 Albemarle Road, November 2006. The trees at the left in the adjacent vacant lot were all downed by the Brooklyn tornado of August 2007. It's now the location of the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden.


On the same block, looking from the other direction, with the vacant lot on the left, on August 8, 2007.

1305 Albemarle Road

Winter

Spring

Summer

1505 Albemarle Road

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Related Content

Winter Wonderland, 2009.01.19
The Flatbush CommUNITY Garden, Brooklyn's (and NYC's!) newest community garden, 2008.09.16
One Year Ago [Tornado recap], 2008.08.08
Albemarle Road in Prospect Park South featured in the Times, 2008.06.21
Forgotten Flatbush: The Albemarle Road Pedestrian Bridge, 2007.11.25