A House Portrait from Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York

by Jennifer Skopp

A woman from P.S. 321 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, who was in charge of the fund raiser, contacted Jennifer Skopp to see if she would donate her service to paint a Watercolor Home Portrait to the winner of the school auction. Jennifer agreed to the proposal.

The winner, who is a parent of a student in that school, owns a beautiful brownstone. The house has four stories. The ground floor is covered with large reddish-brown stones. The second and third levels are covered with bumpy stones that are the shape and size of bricks. The fourth level has flat stones of varying grays.

The stoop or staircase has five steps that run parallel to the sidewalk. The side of the staircase is made of large, brownish- red textural stones. There is a landing at the top of the fifth step. Then there are five steps that run perpendicular to the first five steps. These steps lead to the front door. The front gate, window guard and banister are black wrought iron. There are decorative swirls on the banister and gate.

To the left of the stoop, on the ground level, is a double window, with a black frame and window guards.

The next floor up has the black front door, with a large vertical window. On the inside of the window is a white pleated curtain. To the left of the front door are two tall and narrow windows that have black window frames. Each one has a black window box with plants.

The third floor has three arched windows. The fourth floor has two windows with thick, bluish-gray, stone borders that protrude from the building. There is a Crosshead on top made of the same stone as the borders.