A narrow urban townhouse with a front of reddish-brown sandstone, especially common in 19th-century New York and other American cities.
Compound: 'brown' (the color) plus 'stone' (the building material). The brown sandstone became trendy in the 1800s for NYC buildings because it was beautiful and affordable. The term stuck for the entire style of house.
Brooklyn brownstones were once cheap housing for working families, then became symbols of poverty, then suddenly became some of America's most expensive real estate. The building didn't change—only society's perception of which neighborhoods matter.
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