by Jeroslyn JoVonn
April 2, 2025
Jackie Robinson’s old home in St. Albans, Queens, is available to rent for $5,000 a month.
The charming five-bedroom, two-bathroom colonial home in St. Albans, Queens—once owned and lived in by the legendary Jackie Robinson—is now available for lease at $5,000 per month.
The nearly 3,000-square-foot home was recently listed for rent by its owner, who needs to downsize but hopes to preserve this rare piece of sports and civil rights history. Located at 112-40 177th St. in Queens’ Addisleigh Park historic district, the home is where Robinson lived when he won the then Brooklyn Dodgers’ first World Series title in 1955.
“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,” Nadine Morency-Mohs of Jaymore Realty LLC, the home’s listing agent, told the New York Post. “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.’”
The current owner purchased the home in 2005 for $525,000. While it has been renovated over the years, it still retains its original layout and wood-burning fireplaces. Situated on an 11,000-square-foot lot, the rental includes a formal living room with a fireplace, a dining room, a galley kitchen, a sunroom, and a spacious backyard—just steps from parks and schools.
When Robinson moved his family to St. Albans in 1949, the home became a powerful symbol of racial progress. At the time, their son, Jackie Jr., was about to turn three, and his wife, Rachel, was expecting their second child. With their growing family, the Robinsons knew it was time to leave their apartment on Tilden Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
St. Albans, a vibrant community and hub for Black luminaries, was beginning to thrive despite its origins as a racially restricted suburb. Robinson purchased the home just a year after Shelley v. Kraemer (1948), the landmark Supreme Court decision that rendered racially restrictive covenants—private agreements in property deeds used to enforce segregation—legally unenforceable. The ruling paved the way for Black families to move into previously segregated neighborhoods like St. Albans, Queens.
By the 1940s, jazz greats like Count Basie and Fats Waller had established roots in St. Albans, transforming it into a thriving cultural hub. The Robinsons moved there in 1949, following Dodgers teammate Roy Campanella, who had settled in the neighborhood a year earlier. Over time, the community became home to an impressive roster of icons, including Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, James Brown, and heavyweight champion Joe Louis.
“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 said.
In 1954, the Robinsons moved to Stamford, Connecticut, seeking privacy after their St. Albans home became a frequent stop for Dodgers fans.
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