Ortner, Everett

Edwin Clark Litchfield (1815-1885) was a Brooklyn lawyer turned businessman. He was the son of New York State Assembly member Elisha Litchfield (1785-1859) and Percy Tiffany (1786-1827) of Delphi, N.Y. (now Delphi Falls, N.Y.). Edwin Litchfield graduated from Hamilton College, located in Clinton, N.Y., in 1832, and went on to study law. Around 1852, he gave up practicing law to focus on business ventures, primarily railroad and real estate ventures. Litchfield partnered with his brothers Elisha C. Litchfield (b. 1810) and Electus B. Litchfield (b. 1813) on many of his business ventures, including building the Gowanus Canal and developing what is the present-day neighborhood of Park Slope. Litchfield was also founder and director of the Brooklyn Improvement Company which he used to manage his business ventures. The company's building (though originally built for the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company and taken over by Litchfield in 1873) still stands at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. Edwin Litchfield was married to Grace Hubbard (d. 1881). In 1857, the Litchfield's new villa, Grace Villa (renamed Litchfield Villa), was completed. The villa is now part of Prospect Park. Litchfield died in 1885 and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Everett Ortner is a writer, editor, photographer, and preservationist. Born in Lowell, MA in 1919, Ortner was raised in New York City, attended the University of Arkansas and graduated with a BA in 1939. Following his service in the US Army during WWII, Ortner worked at various publishing houses before landing a position at Popular Science magazine as an Assistant Copy Chief. Ortner remained with the publication for 33 years, working his way to Editor.

In the 1960s, Ortner and his wife Evelyn Ortner (d. 2006) bought a brownstone, or rowhouse, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the time, the neighborhood was suffering from neglect, as were the rows of brownstones that gave the neighborhood its unique architectural importance. In 1968, Ortner cofounded the Brownstone Revival Committee of New York (BRC), now the Brownstone Revival Coalition, in an effort to preserve the brownstones and to revive the Park Slope neighborhood. He continued his efforts in historic preservation and urban renewal by organizing the first Back to the City Conference in 1972. The conference brought at least 250 people to New York City, representing over 80 cities across the U.S. It also led to the founding of the organization, Back to the City, Inc. With his wife Evelyn, the Ortners founded Preservation Volunteers in 2002, an organization that connects preservation volunteers to historic preservation projects, both in the United States and in France.

Everett Ortner has served as a member and as an officer for various organizations over the years including as Vice President of the Park Slope Civic Council, as a trustee and Vice President of the Brooklyn Historical Society, and as board member of Preservation Action (Washington, D.C.). As a photographer, Ortner has served as a volunteer photographer for Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Litchfield Villa, originally called Grace Hill, was designed by New York City-born architect Andrew Jackson Davis (1803-1892), one of the most prominent American architects in the 19th century. During the 1840s and 1850s, Davis was renowned for his designs for country houses, most of which were in the Gothic Revival or Italianate styles. Completed in 1857, the Italianate villa, Grace Hill (renamed Litchfield Villa), was built for the wealthy Brooklyn businessman and resident Edwin Clark Litchfield (1815-1885) and his wife Grace (nee Hubbard; d. 1881). Built on top of a hill with far reaching views of Brooklyn, including views of Gowanus Canal which Litchfield built, Litchfield Villa featured an asymmetrical design typical of the Italianate style, with portions of the four-story villa constructed at various heights, including a turret and several towers. Stucco was used on the exterior facade of the villa, mimicking stone, while the interior designs were elaborate and included painted ceiling murals and colorful floor tiling. Davis also designed a coach house, greenhouse, and chicken house for the villa, none of which remain today.

In 1866, construction of Prospect Park, which bordered the villa, began in earnest after it had been put on hold due to the Civil War. In 1868, the Litchfield's were either persuaded or forced to sell their land and villa to the Brooklyn Parks Commission, though they were allowed to remain in the villa until their deaths. Following Edwin Litchfield's death in 1885, the villa was taken over by the parks department and was used as office space for park administration and park police. For the next century, the villa fell into disrepair.

In the 1930s, the deteriorating stucco facade was removed, exposing the bricks underneath. While there have been plans over the years to replace the white stucco, these have been put on hold due to the lack of funding. In the 1950s through the 1970s, the villa, particularly the interior, was greatly changed with the addition of fluorescent lighting, linoleum flooring, and wood paneling. In 1966, Litchfield Villa was designated a New York City Landmark. In 2001, efforts to restore the villa gained support. Though restoration efforts have suffered setbacks, exterior and interior renovations have been progressing, with funding for the restoration coming from both the city and from both public and private sources. As of 2011, Litchfield Villa houses the Brooklyn headquarters of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the offices of the Prospect Park Alliance.

From the guide to the Everett Ortner photographs of Litchfield Villa, circa 1965, (Brooklyn Historical Society)