This home, built circa 1870, was the residence of Charles Ames, who worked in the insurance industry in New York. Charles and Phebe Ames were the grandparents of the renowned writer Van Wyck Brooks and the parents of Sarah Bailey Ames Brooks. The address of this home, once known as 17 Crescent Avenue, is the only Second Empire-style house with Eastlake influence that retains its original front porch and porte-cochere. Additionally, this property features a three-bay carriage house with an attached gardener’s cottage. The house showcases some of the most intricate wood details along the gables, on the incised window heads, and in the porch treatment, which includes chamfered columns. The latticework along the bottom would have been crafted from hand-carved slats made on-site according to the specifications of the owners/builders. The front porch is adorned with smaller-scale brackets and decorative scalloped banding running between them, creating a more custom and decorative appearance.