Built by lawyer and railroad developer, Edwin C. Litchfield and designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, the Litchfield estate was built in 1857, almost a full decade before the development of Prospect Park. Built in an Italianate style, the property was purchased by New York City in the 1860s along with alot of what is now Prospect Park. Much of what was Litchfield's property became the neighborhood of Park Slope.