A Landmark Becomes a Home
Just steps from our doors on East 22nd Street stands a house that has watched over Brooklyn for more than two and a half centuries. We are humbled and overjoyed to make it ours.
The Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead is among the oldest surviving houses in Brooklyn — and one of the last privately owned Dutch Colonial farmhouses in all of New York City. For generations it has been a silent witness to the story of this land. Now, with deep gratitude and no small amount of awe, Chabad of Flatbush is restoring this landmark to become a living home for Jewish life, learning, and warmth — for our whole community and for generations to come.
More Than 250 Years of History
Around 1766, Hendrick Wyckoff built this farmhouse along Kings Highway — then the main road across a Kings County that was still mostly open farmland. The Wyckoff family worked the land for generations until 1835, when Cornelius W. Bennett purchased the house and its roughly 100-acre farm. Four generations of Bennetts would call it home, giving the landmark the two family names it carries today.
In 1983 the house passed to only its third family in more than two centuries — Annette and Stuart Mont. A Jewish couple with a deep love for its history, the Monts devoted nearly forty years to caring for the landmark, filling it with treasures of 18th-century colonial life: a spinning wheel in the attic, foot warmers at the hearth, even a horse-drawn sleigh in the barn. In a spirit we are proud to carry forward, they opened its doors to the community — hosting gatherings and celebrations and welcoming school groups for local-history visits. After the Monts passed, the home left the family in 2021, and we are honored to become its fourth steward.
▶ Watch Annette & Stuart Mont give a tour of the home A 2012 tour filmed by Sarah Kamaras · opens on Vimeo
✒ Signatures from the Revolution
After the British invasion of 1776 and the Battle of Brooklyn, Hessian soldiers were quartered in this very house. Two of them did something remarkable: they etched their names and ranks into the windowpanes —
"M. Bach, Lieutenant, v. Hessen-Hanau Artillerie"
Astonishingly, those signatures survived in the glass for nearly 250 years — kept safe for decades by the Mont family, who treasured the home's history. Sadly, after the house left their hands the original artifacts, the signed windowpanes among them, were given away before it reached the developers we purchased this landmark from, so they are no longer on site. We carry their story forward even as we work to restore everything that remains.
- c. 1766Hendrick Wyckoff builds the farmhouse along Kings Highway.
- 1776Hessian soldiers are quartered here; two etch their names into the window glass.
- 1835Cornelius W. Bennett buys the home and its ~100-acre farm; four generations of Bennetts follow.
- 1974Added to the National Register of Historic Places.
- 1976Designated a National Historic Landmark.
- 1983Annette & Stuart Mont — the third family to own the home — become its devoted caretakers, opening it to the community for nearly 40 years.
- 2021After the Monts' passing, the home leaves the family.
- 2025Chabad of Flatbush acquires the landmark — beginning its next chapter.
Historic photographs courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Our Vision for the Landmark
A 250-year-old home, its main floor reborn as a warm hub of community life — with a resident rabbi caring for the landmark every day.
The rabbi and his family will make the landmark their home, watching over the property and keeping its history alive and cared for all year round. And its grand main floor opens its doors to the entire community:
A Commercial Kitchen
A full kosher kitchen that will power our Shifra & Puah breakfast program and cook for community gatherings.
A Gracious Dining Room
Welcoming the community around one warm table for Shabbos and holiday meals together.
A Judaic Library & Study
A spacious study lined with seforim — a quiet, beautiful place to learn for children and adults alike.
Every gift helps us restore and outfit these communal spaces — the kitchen, the dining room, and the library — so the landmark can serve our community for generations to come.
"A home that has sheltered Brooklyn for 250 years will now shelter Torah, kindness, and community for generations to come."
🏗️ Where Things Stand
After years of neglect, this landmark came to us in deep disrepair — but full of promise. We've already restored the adjacent barn into a beautiful sanctuary, and we're now in the midst of the landmark-approval and permit process required before interior construction can begin. As soon as we have the green light, we're ready to build. Every gift now helps us be ready to move the moment permits are in hand.
Help Us Restore This Landmark
Your gift goes directly toward restoring the interior and beautifying the historic grounds — turning this 250-year-old landmark into a vibrant home for our community.