Prodigal House Pick: The Parsonage, $825,000

This large, stately Arts and Craft style home is located in the heart of the Stapleton Heights Preservation District. The picturesque home was built in 1922 as a church parsonage. This property features thirteen rooms, a third of an acre yard, a separate garage, and a water view. The beautiful, gothic style Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church is across the street from the home.

In 1907, the German Evangelical Lutheran Church called as its pastor the Rev. Dr. Frederic Sutter (1876-1971). Under his leadership, the church's membership grew rapidly and the need for a new building became apparent. In 1909, the church used a recent bequest from Charles Zentgraf, one of the founders of the DeJonge paper works, to purchase additional lots on St. Paul's Avenue. By 1913, work was begun on a new neo-Gothic church and parish house that were designed by the architectural firm of Upjohn & Conable...

The parsonage, designed by architect Henry G. Otto and built in 1922, is located across the street at 332 St. Paul's Avenue. The church was renamed Trinity Lutheran Church in 1928 to distinguish it from other German Lutheran churches on Staten Island and perhaps to acknowledge that an English-speaking generation was making up an increasing part of its membership. At the time it had the largest Protestant congregation on Staten Island. The church's interior was renovated in 1941-42 by the architectural form Cherry & Matz. The church continued to hold German language services until 1975. Reverend Frederic Sutter, who served as the church's pastor from 1907 to 1964, played an instrumental role in bringing Wagner College to Staten Island from Rochester, New York. His son, the Rev. Dr. Carl J. Sutter, succeeded him as pastor in 1964 and was responsible for building the school next door...

Henry G. Otto's finest house of the period, the parsonage of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church at 332 St. Paul's Avenue, was built in 1922. Designed in the Arts & Crafts style, this two-and-one-half-story building is constructed of terra-cotta blocks faced with stucco with brick accents and is capped by a complex slate-covered hipped-and-gabled roof with wide
overhanging bracketed eaves. The asymmetrically composed facades feature a variety of arched and trabeated window openings. Half-timbered gables, wrought-iron balconies on brackets, paneled and louvered wood shutters, copper gutters, leaders, and flashing contribute to the picturesque effect.

Click on the headline to go to the real estate listing. MLS #: 1042836. Contact: Sari Kingsley Real Estate, Ltd. Phone: (718) 667-1800