2. Tara of Prospect Park, 1440 Albemarle Rd Brooklyn, NY 11226
This large white home, known as the Tara of Prospect Park South, is the former home of actress Michelle Williams. The nickname comes from the fact that the home bears a resemblance to Scarlett O’Hara’s mansion, Tara, from Gone With the Wind. According to the Landmarks Preservation Commission report for the historic district of Prospect Park South, the Colonial Revival house was designed for Brooklyn lumber dealer J.C. Woodhull in 1905. The architects, Robert Bryson and Charles Pratt, also designed buildings within Prospect Park.
When Michelle Williams purchased the home in 2015, it needed a lot of repairs and restoration. The historic facade was covered with asphalt siding that Williams replaced with historically appropriate cedar clapboard and shingles. Working with Matiz Architecture & Design, Williams brought the home back to its former glory. When Untapped New York visited to take photographs, a poem by Seamus Heaney, The Cure of Troy, was displayed on a sign at the end of the front walkway leading up to the home.
