Prospect Gardens Condominiums

Located on the corner of Highland Street and Prospect Street, 594-600 Prospect Street invites pedestrians off the concrete sidewalk and into its idyllic, green courtyard.[1] Surrounded on three sides by red brick in colonial revival style,[2] 594-600 Prospect Street, better known now as Prospect Gardens Condominiums, nestles itself into the urban fabric of the Prospect Hill neighborhood with its similar brick façade, unimposing size, and graceful execution in its style. Standing at three stories tall with twenty-four units, six units at each address corresponding to the doors in the main courtyard, [3] the condominiums provide luxury alternatives to housing in the neighborhood. Across the street from the super block of apartments built in the 1950s,[4] the condominiums are one of the housing options open to residents of the neighborhood. With its “gable roof pavilions [that] accent ends of complex…modillion cornice and frieze line at broad eaves,”[5] and its community evoking courtyard,[6] the condominiums are desirable for individuals and families wishing to remain in the Prospect Hill neighborhood in apartment units but not wanting to live in the repetitious 1950s apartments.



Prospect Garden Condominiums was known as Highland-Prospect Apartment House when initially constructed in 1926.[7] Prior to the construction of the apartment complex, the Prospect Hill neighborhood was not densely populated. The housing in the neighborhood consisted entirely of large single-family residences, with large tracts of lands undeveloped.[8] The Prospect Hill neighborhood was a predominately middle class, upper-middle class area. The apartment complex provided the densest housing in the neighborhood with sixteen units and was “an approach to multiple housing in an established neighborhood.”[9] It provided cheaper, smaller units for families wishing to find different alternatives to the large single-family house prevalent at the time. These units were not merely dense housing; these were luxury, high end units as the “dormer story was originally servants quarters for each unit.” [10] By the 1970s, the neighborhood fabric had completely changed with the construction of the massive 1950s apartment complex across the street, and the infill of empty lots with smaller single-family houses.[11] Despite the many years that have past, the complex’s exterior looks amazingly similar to how it looked when originally constructed,[12] the only difference being the erection of a parking lot in the front of the complex some time after the photo was taken.



Throughout its lifetime, the apartment complex has been residence to many upper middle class and middle class individuals and families. There were generally two themes to the tenants of the apartment building. The first theme consisted of white-collar professionals, who were often unmarried, although, sometimes married and with children. These professionals included physicians who worked at Yale New Haven Hospital, Yale University professors, managers, salesmen, presidents or vice presidents of local businesses, utility related officials including the president of the New Haven Gas Light company, and finance sector related officials.[13] These families and individuals most likely wanted to live in the Prospect Hill neighborhood because of its high-end reputation, and lacked the means to pay for a house in the neighborhood. The second kind of tenants that lived in the apartments consisted of widows and widowers. These individuals either came to complex from the area already having been widowed or had been widowed while living in the apartment. Because of the cheaper living and smaller quarters, it was much easier to live in the units than it was to live in a large single family home. A notable tenant in 1960, Mary Nettleton, wife of George Nettleton, had lived the majority of her life two lots from the complex, until her husband passed away in 1959.[14]



The Prospect Garden Condominiums continue to be an integral part of the current neighborhood fabric. Its historical characteristics and style continue to affect the neighborhood, and consequently, the building was nominated in the late 1970s to be part of the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Historical District.[15]  While the exterior of the complex has remained relatively unchanged, the interior of the building has been modified on several occasions; the most notable of the renovations were the renovations in the late 1970s. Responding to increased demand for units in the complex and different social environment, the dormer story, formerly servant’s quarters, was renovated into additional units, increasing the sixteen-unit apartment complex to a twenty-four-unit apartment complex.[16] The complex continues to successfully adapt to the changing neighborhood environment and to be one of the more remarkable buildings in the area.



[1] See Figure 1. Modern photo of the Prospect Gardens sign. Taken by Matthew Delgado.



[2] National Resources Inventory. Buildings and Structures. State of Connecticut. Connecticut Historical Commission. From the archives of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. Page 1 (736).



[3] National Resources Inventory, Building and Structures. Page 2.



[4] Brown, Elizabeth Mills. New Haven: A Guide to Architecture and Urban Design. 1979. New Haven and London. Yale University Press.  Page 149.



[5] National Resources Inventory Building and Structures. Page 2.



[6] See Figure 2. Modern photo of the Prospect Garden complex. Taken by Matthew Delgado.



[7] National Resources Inventory Buildings and Structure. Page 1.



[8] See Figures 3 and 4. Sanborn Maps from 1924. From Yale University Maps Collection.



[9] Brown, Elizabeth Mills. Page 149.



[10] National Resources Inventory Buildings and Structure. Page 2.



[11] See Figures 5 and 6. Sanborn Maps from 1973. From Yale University Maps Collection.



[12] See Figure 7. A 1930s photograph of the apartment complex from the Dana Collection. Volume 72. Page 87. New Haven Colony Historical Society.



[13] New Haven, West Haven, East Haven, North Haven… City Directory. 1930-1970s. Volumes 91-Volume 130. The Price and Lee Co. See attached document.



[14] New Haven, West Haven, East Haven, Woodbridge Directory. Volume 120. 1960. The Price and Lee Co. Page 1027 and Page 691.



[15] Prospect Hill National Register District Nomination. Unpublished Report. Washington D.C. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. January 5, 1979. Page 54.



[16] Certificate of Use and Occupancy. August 30th, 1978. From the New Haven Building Department.