A storied five-bedroom, two-bathroom colonial residence in Queens’ Addisleigh Park historic district, once home to baseball icon Jackie Robinson during his Brooklyn Dodgers glory days, is now up for rent asking $5,000 a month, The Post has learned.
Spanning nearly 3,000 square feet, the dwelling at 112-40 177th St. in St. Albans offers a rare chance to lease a piece of American sports and civil rights heritage — as it’s where Robinson lived when he clinched the Dodgers’ first World Series title in 1955.
The move to St. Albans from Brooklyn in 1949 marked a new chapter for the Robinson family. With Jackie Jr. nearing his third birthday and his wife, Rachel, expecting their second child, Sharon, the couple outgrew their Flatbush apartment on Tilden Avenue.
Seeking more space, they traded proximity to Ebbets Field for a larger home in this stretch of Queens, joining a burgeoning enclave in Addisleigh Park.
This vibrant community, already a haven for black luminaries, had begun to flourish, despite its origins as a racially restricted suburb.
St. Albans’ transformation traces back to its early days as a railroad suburb for white families fleeing urban density in the 1900s. By the 1930s, restrictive covenants — private agreements embedded in property deeds — made for racial segregation in terms of home sales, a common practice across the Northeast.
Though the Supreme Court had struck down state-enforced segregation in 1917, these covenants persisted, often required for FHA-backed mortgages. Change came in 1948 with Shelly v. Kraemer, which deemed such restrictions unenforceable, cracking open the door for black families to settle in St. Albans.
“There was a restrictive covenant on the deeds where homeowners were not allowed to sell to anyone outside of the white race,” said Nadine Morency-Mohs of Jaymore Realty LLC, the home’s listing agent. “And there was a neighbor who was furious at one of his neighbors when he was moving and spitefully sold his home to an African-American.”
That act of defiance, as well as the court ruling, sparked a shift.
“It was challenged that it is illegal for these deeds to have a restrictive covenant, hence the reason why a lot of sports and entertainment luminaries moved into this neighborhood,” she added.
By the 1940s, jazz legends like Count Basie and Fats Waller had laid roots there, turning St. Albans into a cultural hub. The Robinsons arrived in 1949, following Dodgers teammate Roy Campanella, who had settled there a year earlier.
“So when Jackie Robinson moved here, he moved with one of his best friends who owned a nightclub in Harlem, from there a lot of the entertainers … learned about the neighborhood as well, and they also moved into the neighborhood,” Morency-Mohs added.
The roster grew illustrious: Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, James Brown and heavyweight champ Joe Louis all called it home.
“They all resided in this neighborhood around the same time in the ’40s and ’50s,” she said. “That is when the neighborhood started to change.”
For the Robinsons, the move brought mixed blessings. Fans flocked to their doorstep, eager for glimpses of the family.
“Usually, Rachel was diplomatic with the intruders,” Jackie Robinson later wrote. “But some of the liberties people took got on her nerves.”
Seeking privacy, they relocated to Stamford, Connecticut, in 1954. Yet their Queens legacy endures, tied to a neighborhood that became a symbol of racial progress.
The current owner, who bought the residence in 2005 for $525,000, is now downsizing.
“Both of [the] children moved out. One is in college, obtaining a law degree, and the other one is just moved out and starting on her own,” Morency-Mohs said. “So [the owner] was like, ‘I don’t need a big home, but I don’t want to let go of this piece of history. I don’t wanna sell my home. So now it’s time to lease it out.’”
Renovated over the years, the house retains its original layout and woodburning fireplaces.
Today, Addisleigh Park commands premium prices, with homes averaging under $1 million, but recently trading above that threshold.
Designated a historic district in 2011, the immediate area boasts a tight-knit community with holiday events and monthly meetings. Easy access to transportation is an added perk.
“It’s like an under-the-radar community and also it’s walking distance to the Long Island Railroad. So someone can be in the city during rush hour and in like 15 to 18 minutes. It is also 15 minutes to JFK Airport,” she said.
Set on an 11,000-square-foot lot, the rental additionally features a formal living room with a fireplace, a dining room, a galley kitchen, a sunroom and a sprawling backyard — steps from parks and schools.
Robinson was the first black person to play in Major League Baseball.
Over the course of his decade-long MLB career, he earned the first-ever Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, secured All-Star status for six straight seasons from 1949 to 1954, and claimed the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949, becoming the first black player to receive this accolade.
Robinson participated in six World Series. In 1962, his inaugural year of eligibility, he was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1972, he died of a heart attack at age 53 at his Stamford home.
