Actor Edward Norton Joins Fight to Save Historic Brooklyn Mansion

The fight to save a historic mansion in Brooklyn is getting some help from a Hollywood star.

Edward Norton is siding with residents and advocates who want the Jacob Dangler House designated as a city landmark. The 120-year-old mansion on Willoughby Avenue in Bed-Stuy is set to be demolished and replaced with a condominium complex.

Norton wrote a letter to the board of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, saying the mansion should be viewed as a spiritual and aesthetic connection to the past and a as a major city asset. A representative for the actor also testified on his behalf at a public hearing on Tuesday, a city official said.

The house, designed by Theobald Engelhardt, was built for Dangler, who was a prominent merchant at the turn of the 20th century. The LPC called the house in a report a “fine example of the French Gothic style that stands out in its neighborhood.” The commission also found that the home has local cultural significance as well, as it was the longtime home of a masonic organization that was almost exclusively made up of African-American women.

The LPC will vote on the designation at a later date, but that date was not clear.