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DOWNTOWN BROOKL ESTA TEA Reader Talks About Her %u2018 treasured DayThis House Tour Was an Exploration o f Park Slope%u2019s History(Photo Courtesy of M aria Rampello)BY MARIA RAMPELIX)Many thanks for your excellent coverage and description of the various current house tours, especially my first %u201cExplorers of the Vanishing Arts%u201d yesterday in Park Slope; had I not seen your announcements, I would have missed a most treasured day!The Park Slope Civic Council had things arranged very well %u2014 volunteers at each door, marking tickets and they supplied an extremely informative description sheet of each house. For me, after staring at so many of these historic facades and photographing them, it was a grand experience to be able to enter them.The supply was amply chosen %u2014 about 10 %u2014 and some owners were present to speak with the visitors. (One young boy was afixing a sign to his bedroom door, %u201center at your own risk,%u201d while his mother was explaining how they refinished the walls.)Several of the homes were still in the process of being renovated, and one was being done over in the same antique manner, matching moldings and frames to their original styles. A few very modern exteriors were quite contrasting to the 1880%u2019s time setting; yet, some other homes faithfully kept the original settings and furniture pieces in the older time period.For me, it was an honor to be speaking to the descendants of Wild Bill Hickok, whose name (recently acquired) is one of the most charming in its unusual color schemes, decor and personal trimmings; it was the most %u201chomey%u201d of them all, on a par with Theodore Roosevelt%u2019s Sagamore Hill in the sense of being well-decorated yet personally endowed.The oldest house was extremely interesting. Very admirable was the black, large wood-burning stove and the old green gas stove, still in use by the present owners. The still exposed gas jet and tin ceiling withthe two sinks (for dishes and clothes) all still being used, made that kitchen most unusual %u2014 especially compared to another house%u2019s bright, airy kitchen, with a long work table in the very center of the room, overlooking a play area, where, while cooking, the parent can %u201cwatch her little daughter play.%u201d (Her white polar bear in its red chair silently greeted us.) Everywhere were immense and beautifully-arranged floral pieces.Our reward for the unusually warm, but lovely day, was to be admitted to Mr. and Mrs. Barnes%u2019 home %u2014 last on the tour %u2014 a %u201cNeo-Italian Renaissance classic\was breathtakingly beautiful! One felt more like being in the Metropolitan%u2019s Family Wing rather than in Park Slope. Its kitchen, with a huge skylight and large windows allowed the garden and sun to come inside! Their furniture was exquisite and the family room, very comfortable. A four poster bed needed almost a small ladder to approach it; its colorful, original-motif bedspread set off its beauty. The blue soup tureen, silver tea set and tray on the cherry wood dining buffet, were perfect, and the delicately-arranged flowers in the bathroom, seen from above on the beautifully-carved staircase made adelightful picture, especially with ine fouiposter bed in the background, and the very elegant rosette moldings before it in the hall.On leaving this last house, the owner pleasantly accepted the people%u2019s grateful remarks and, his cats which he had to lock up, heard his voice and began calling out %u2014 much to the amusement of the house guests! Nearby was the former maid%u2019s room, which now held shelves of flourescent-lit African violet plants. This was in what was called an %u201cEnglish basement,%u201d quite cool, nicely-papered and, in those times even used as living quarters.(He said he uses no air conditioning.)The end of the tour was at the Garfield Temple%u2019s reception hall and provided cello music, piano recital by a young woman, an Italian aria from La Bohome sung with feeling by a deep-voiced man, a slide show of Park Slope and cider and cookies. After all that beauty, mental stimulation, cameraderie and happiness, the best place was, for me, in the Park, where, in its coolness, I rested and read the Brownstoning brochures, breathing in that heavenly (or earthly) fragrance of the blossoms and grass lawns.The Council hopes, in sponsoring these tours, that others may be interested in purchasing homes and refinishing them; others on the tour were young couples, getting ideas for their apartments, hoping one day for a home such as these, and there were senior citizens, singles and even backpacked babies %u2014 all appreciating the history, the nostalgia, the hopes for the present and the great opportunity given them by entering these facades and seeing real homelife.Thank you for making us aware of these tours.EVERYONE%u2019S SAYING IT:BROOKLYN IS HOT!Hot? Brooklyn?HOT!It%u2019s practically an Inferno!We%u2019ve been proudly stoking the Brooklyn fire since 1973.And while that%u2019s not long in the course of things, we%u2019veworked hard at it. It%u2019s longer than most of you can think of(a word of mouth reputation never hurts). Why not get toknow us, your neighbors.R eal E e ta te Broker* in Brownstone B roo klynBrooklyn Height*,, Cobble HU, Carroll Garden*. Red Hook 194 Court Street, eouth of Congreae (718) 643-3330Boerum H i102 Hoyt Street, between Atlantic and Pacific (718) 875-5650F o rt G reeaa, C lin to n H ill, B ndfo rd Stnyvoeant O ne South E llio t Place a t Fort Greene Park (7 1 8 ) * 5 * -7 8 4 4Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Crown Height*, Prospect LeHert* Garden*M <*%u00ab Mnrh%u2019e Avenue, at Flatbuah (718) 857-5950W illiam L o ckrid g e H a rrt$, B ro k erl l l l f i i i ] %u00a9 l& EJfflatbitalf%u2022 HISTORIC AREAS %u2022%u2022 VICTORIAN HOM ES %u2022OUR SPECIALTYMary Kay Gallagher Dale Berson282-3141 941-8950REALTY W ORLD.LUIS E. REYESBroker/PresldentREALTY WORLD%u00aeLa Mirage Realty Corp.%u201cTHE RESULTS PEOPLE%u201dWE WELCOME YOU TO OUR GROWING FAMILY.5914-5th AVE., B%u2019KLYN., N.Y. 439-4764SUNSET PARK/Greenwood: 2 Fam . Fram e call for details,may be used as One Fam .Brow nstone/Brooklyn, $99,5006 Fam ily in Sunset Park Good potential. Call for further details(above 5th Ave.)FINANCING: Now is the right tim e you were w aiting for to savemoney by using your equity thru refinancing.NOW INTERVIEWING: REALTY WORLD La Mirage is interviewing. W e neeo career-m inded individuals to be professionallytrained for sales positions. Call now. M ortgage Power Broker.Page 30, TH E PH O EN IX, May 29, 1986