From the National Register application:
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"The Kelley and Browne Flats, two sets of rowhouses (the Kelley Flats contain three units and the Browne Flats two units) sit adjacent to each other on the south side of Frederick Avenue in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri. Staggered in their design and orientation so as to provide the best façade view as one approaches from out-of-town on Frederick Avenue, a diagonal street, both rows are two-story brick structures with Queen Anne detailing which sit near the front of their respective lots abutting the public sidewalk. Although referred to as “Flats”, a misnomer, the Kelley and Browne Flats are actually rowhouses. They possess all of the typical rowhouse characteristics: built as a single-family residence of two to three stories, masonry construction, attached to a similar rowhouse with a common party wall, and sited on a narrow lot with the façade abutting the public sidewalk. [In contrast, “flats” are multi-family structures in which an entire unit or apartment is located on one floor, not split between floors.] Although deteriorated in condition due to lack of maintenance over a period of time and despite a few minor non-historic alterations, both rows possess their integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and feeling and association.
Frederick avenue is a two-lane major arterial which runs diagonally from the downtown intersection of Felix and Eighth northeasternly; at the time the Kelley and Browne Flats were built (1888 and ca. 1890 respectively), as it still remains today, Frederick Avenue was one of the major arterial routes into the heart of the city. It is lined with one- and two-story commercial establishments, including a concentration of properties associated with the automobile service industry; a significant number of these properties date from the 19th century and have resulted in a Frederick Avenue Multiple Resourse Area nomination. The Kelley and Browne Flats are one of the few remnants of the residential use that fronted Frederick Avenue at the turn of the century. Early Sanborn Fire Insurance maps indicate that a number of multi-family residences, built in both frame and brick, competed with commercial establishments for frontage along the avenue; today, commercial establishments dominate.
The Kelley and Browne Flats sit in the middle of the twelve-hundred block of the south side of Frederick Avenue. The rowhouse cluster is isolated by an expanse of vacant land on the east, west, and south, an unusual condition in the densely packed bustling streetscape of Frederick Avenue. Historically, the rows were flanked by other multi-family residences; today the only other building on the south side of the twelve-hundred block of Frederick avenue is 1224-26 Frederick, which sits on the southwest corner of Frederick and 13th Street. The Browne Flats sit on a long narrow city lot; the Kelley Flats occupy the northeast corner of a trapezoid lot. Both lots slope steeply to the south and east, away from the public sidewalk and street, and are overgrown with weeds and large shrubs.
The Kelley Flats (1208-1210-1212 Frederick Avenue)
The Kelley Flats is a two-story red brick rowhouse with three units separated by party walls. Due to the steep terrain of the lot the row sits on, the first story façades of the Kelley Flats are at street level with a full walkout basement at the rear. The façade of each unit varies slightly in the fenestration arrangement of the left bay of each unit. However, the façade of each of three units has in common the fenestration pattern and entrance treatment of the right bay of each unit, the cornice and roof treatment, and corbelled brick stringcourses and watertables. The roofline consists of a dentiled cornice with shallow mansard roof above that hides the structure’s flat asphalt roof; probably the mansard was originally covered in slate shingles, although today it is covered with rolled asphalt roofing. The right bay of each unit is occupied by the façade entrance on the first story and a single 1/1 double-hung window on the second story. The second-story windows on 1212 and 1210 Frederick are topped by segmental-arched, corbelled brickwork; 1208 is capped by an ornamental carved-stone hood. The entryway round-arched openings are decorated with corbelled brickwork identical to that repeated elsewhere on the row’s façade. The entryway openings are filled with historic half-moon fixed transoms, contemporary flush panel doors, covered by aluminum storm doors, and solid wood sidelight panels. The width of the archway would suggest that historically they were open, providing direct access to the entrance foyer and double-leaf doors behind. Access to the façade entrances are by non-historic concrete and wood stoops with wrought iron and pipe handrails.
A two-sided bay occupies the left two-thirds of 1208 Frederick Avenue. The second-story windows on this bay consist of 1/1 double-hung windows in each side of the bay, which are tied together by a carved stone hood that wraps around the corner of the bay.
1210 Frederick Avenue also possesses a two-sided bay. Fenestration on the first story of the bay consists of a single 1/1 double-hung round-arched window with a recessed ornamental stone panel below on the east side of the bay and a large round-arched window on the west side of the bay, which is filled by a pair of rectangular 1/1 double-hung windows with a quarter-round, fixed-glass window above each. The round-arched window openings on this level are formed by corbelled brickwork and in the case of the large window, an ornamental stone keystone. Each side of the bay on the second story possesses a single 1/1 double-hung window in a segmental-arched window opening; the arch is again formed by corbelled brickwork.
1212 Frederick Avenue possesses a three-sided bay. Each side of the bay on the first story possesses a 1/1 double-hung window with a half-round, fixed-glass window above; these windows possess the same round-arch brick corbelling as found elsewhere on the façade, although the center window also features recessed checkerboard brickwork above. The second story of the bay possesses a single window in each side identical to those found on the second story of 1210 Frederick. All façade windows on all three units sit on plain stone sills.
The west elevation of the Kelley Flats is basically a blank wall with one small window over the stairwell. The outline of a one-story building which must have abutted the front two-thirds of that elevation still exists. The east elevation is pierced by two windows, one on each of the upper floors. The rear wall of the Kelley Flats is pierced by three windows on the first and second stories of each rowhouse; two rear entrances and one window occur on the basement level. All historic windows on these elevations on these elevations are 2/2 double-hung rectangular windows in segmental-arched openings; several historic windows have been replaced with 1/1 windows over time.
The Browne Flats (1214-1216 Frederick Avenue)
The Browne Flats sit approximately three feet to the east of the Kelley Flats with the same streetscape setback. Again, due to the sloping terrain of the lot, the first-story façade of the Browne Flats sits at street level with a full walkout basement at the rear. Like the Kelley Flats, the Browne Flats were originally built of red brick, but have been painted white, which has weathered badly. The two units of the Browne Flats are stepped in orientation and façade design. The façade entrances to both units are located in the center bay, with a window above and flanked by a three-sided bay on the left and a two-sided bay on the right. Each side of both bays contains a window on both stories; all façade windows are 1/1 double-hung with flat radiating voussoirs. The entrances still possess their historic rectangular transoms and doors. These doors have a window pane in the upper half surrounded by small square panes and three panels in the lower half; they are covered by aluminum storm doors.
The entrance to 1214 Frederick retains its historic shed roof hood supported by wood fretwork; 1216 does not. Access to the façade entrances is obtained by a non-historic concrete-slab platform and steps. Like Kelley Flats, the Browne Flats feature simple corbelled brick stringcourses and a watertable between stories. Unlike the Kelley Flats, the façade of the Browne Flats is divided by corbelled brick pilasters on the second story. The roofline of the Browne Flats is a simple corbelled brick cornice topped by a pressed-metal cornice with dentil detail and a brick parapet wall which hides the structure’s flat roof. The metal cornice forms a large pediment centered over the left bay and a smaller pediment over the right bay above the meeting of the two sides.
The west elevation of the Browne Flats is pierced by three windows on each of the upper stories and two small windows, a two-thirds size windows, and a door on the lower level. The east elevation contains three windows on each of the upper stories and a door flanked by three small windows on the basement level. Likewise, the rear elevation is pierced by similar pairs of windows on the upper floors of both units; the basement level of each unit contains a door and a small window. All windows are 1/1 double-hung rectangular windows in segmental-arched openings."