This is my view every time I leave my apartment building. The mansion, now apartments, was built by the man who invented Chiclets. Mr. Selden tells me that it is also one of the most haunted buildings in Brooklyn. He’s heard that three servants once died in a fire while stuck in the elevator. I have no idea where he gets his information.
Photo credit: Brownstoner
July 23rd, 2010 - 6:31 pm
Ah, The Chiclets Mansion. A clunking beauty. Thank you.
July 24th, 2010 - 1:50 am
Mr. Chiclets had some lovely, grand taste. Gorgeous view. It kind of looks like the Royal Tenenbaums house, doesn’t it?
August 8th, 2010 - 5:03 am
oh my goodness, it took me a moment to place this building. Then I realized I pass it every time I go to the dentist! I had no idea about the interesting back story.
September 16th, 2010 - 3:25 pm
I lived there for almost a year. I never saw the ghosts (I had the attic apartment) but I was told by the friend I sublet from to speak to them, and assure them I was their friend, and to mention I was Irish (an eighth).
The story is that the house is home to Brooklyn’s first privately installed elevator, and the family left for the summer after the installation. When they returned home, the family found the house still closed up, and the grisly discovery within the elevator: the bodies of the three Irish servants, who’d gotten in together and overloaded the system. Trapped inside the shaft, they died there. People who report hearing the ghosts say they hear screams for help, with heavy Irish accents. Or they see them on the landings.
I never felt quite alone there. But the attic apartment is very beautiful, and I loved sitting in the kitchen with coffee and reading.
September 16th, 2010 - 3:30 pm
There was no fire, though. They were simply playing with the new elevator.
December 22nd, 2010 - 5:01 pm
There was no fire, though. They were simply playing with the new elevator.