Search Results for: "brownstone brooklyn"

March 3, 2016

Grand Carroll Gardens Brownstone With Original Details Gets a Price Chop to $6M

The story of the historic townhouse at 46 First Place in Carroll Gardens is just as much a story of its owner, Kathryn Sennis, who has lived in and worked from the elegant 1899 brownstone for nearly 32 years. In 2012, Sennis, a psychotherapist, opened Who's On First? Children's Enrichment Studio with her daughter here, offering art classes, parties, baby yoga and programs for parents and children, including foreign language classes and parenting groups. Ms. Sennis's story was highlighted in the Observer last May, where she told of buying the townhouse in 1981 for $250,000 from an “elderly Italian woman,” how her presence confused the neighbors at the time ("you ain't even Italian!") and how much the neighborhood has changed since then. She also talks of the extensive, exhaustive renovations she painstakingly undertook. She rents out the upper two floors, and her daughter uses the garden level of the four-family home. It’s a Brooklyn story like so many others–though in this case it's one with a $6 million price tag attached.
Tour the inside
January 4, 2016

In the Historic ‘Fruit Streets’ of the Heights, a $4.5M Townhouse With a Private Garage

Tucked into one of the city’s more picturesque enclaves on Orange Street in Brooklyn Heights, this four-story, nearly-3,000-square-foot townhouse offers modern comforts with a nod to its historic surroundings. At an ask that doesn't raise eyebrows in a neighborhood whose graceful townhouses range from pricey to record-setting–sometimes regardless of interior state–this brick-clad row house, while not loaded with grand details, gets warmth from wood beams, exposed brick, a wood-burning fireplace and restored window moldings while providing turnkey touches like central air and an updated chef's kitchen. Another plus is a private garage, not exactly common in brownstone Brooklyn.
Have a look inside
November 11, 2015

For $3.45M This Unique UES Townhouse Condo Offers the Best of Both Worlds – and a Private Park

New York City in the 1980s saw an enormous building boom similar to the one we've recently been witnessing. And similarly, when it came to large residential developments, the emphasis was on the trendy and the luxurious to attract moneyed buyers. While the new-construction townhouse, integrated with apartment units as with The Greenwich Lane or left solo like Williamsburg's Wythe Lane, is today a growing trend in luxury residential development, at the time this handful of townhomes at 245 East 93rd Street wasn't, shall we say, as much of a thing. City folk wanted city apartments-and still felt doormen equalled safety. But as in a much earlier time, a house in the city represents a certain kind of luxury, a self-contained home without the limitations that come with apartments. And though we may hear mention of the Trump Towers (1983) and the One57s more often, it’s refreshing to see a variation in what’s available to the discerning buyer. Built in 1985, this 2,100 square-foot, three-story (plus lofts and terraces), three-bedroom townhouse, on the market for $3.45 million, is one of twelve that, along with a 33-story tower, comprise the 290-unit Astor Terrace condominium development. This unique home has a 20th-century-modern smartness–along with a spare, modernist look in dark red-grey brick and black-framed casement windows; a recent and thorough renovation has given it the benefit of contemporary luxury and convenience.
Explore this unusual Upper East Side home
November 4, 2015

Spend Eight Months in This Picture-Perfect Prospect Heights Townhouse for $12K/Month

There's not much about this townhouse triplex at 159 Prospect Place, available for short-term rental, that doesn't embody the brownstone Brooklyn ideal. On a beautiful block near the corner of Carlton Avenue and Prospect Place in heart of the neighborhood, this bright, sun-filled and renovated home also has the pretty historic details that give these big old houses such charm, and the private outdoor space we dream of–including one of those extra-long backyards unique to Prospect and Crown Heights.
Tour this lovely townhouse
October 8, 2015

This Cobble Hill Townhouse Rental Is Filled With Historic Charm and Contemporary Cheer

If it's been a while since your last case of townhouse envy, enter this 3,000-square-foot Cobble Hill classic at 217 Degraw Street, on the rental market for $15,750 a month. This four-story, single-family Gothic Revival-style home on one of those postcard-worthy Brooklyn blocks has that quality that inspires both admiration and bidding wars: It possesses many of its original details–intricate plaster molding, bedroom arches and pocket doors, for example–plus the benefits of a custom renovation that bestowed a modern dream kitchen, a wall of glass patio doors and several coats of personality. Equal parts contemporary cheer and historic charm, these four floors would be hard for any family, fraternal order, sewing circle or small army–assuming they could part with the five-figure monthly outlay–to resist.
Get the townhouse tour, this way
October 6, 2015

$1.6M Fort Greene Floor-Through Designed by The Brooklyn Home Company Is Quite Photogenic

Though they're charming and often in great neighborhoods, condos created from historic townhouses often disappoint. Railroad-style layouts get circumvented by oddly-configured hallways (left resembling a linear "ant farm" accessed by tunnels), kitchens are across the apartment from living rooms, bedrooms get subdivided into virtual closets, and so on. This lovely two-bedroom parlor-floor home at 122 Fort Greene Place in prime Fort Greene escapes most of those fates, and interiors by popular brownstone Brooklyn design firm The Brooklyn Home Company elevate it even further into the charm circle. The $1.6 million ask may seem high, but a sizable 1,384 square feet, tons of restored original details within a superb renovation, stellar location, and designer showcase status (it was featured in the coffee-table-favorite "Design Brooklyn," and a slew of interiors mags) rack up plenty of selling points.
Check out more of the interior this way...
August 31, 2015

BSC Architecture Simplifies a Park Slope Brownstone Redesign Through Subtraction

This 1899 Park Slope brownstone underwent an extensive renovation inspired by its new owners' desire to recreate their previous living space. Their former home was an airy, light-filled space with small private bedrooms adjacent to large communal areas, fostering a sense of family cohesion and intimacy. Unfortunately, their vision was contradictory to the existing Brooklyn structure. But these types of challenges can be a designer's greatest motivator, and the team from BSC Architecture took the test head on. Drawing inspiration from the words of Gordon Matta Clark, "a response to cosmetic design; completion through removal; completion through collapse; completion through emptiness,” the redesign was realized through a process of strategic removal.
More on this clever project here
August 17, 2015

Wood Detailing Galore at This Bed-Stuy Brownstone Asking $2 Million

One of our favorite things about old, well-kept brownstones? The intricate wood detailing you'll find along the doorways, mantelpieces, staircases and shelving. The phrase, "They just don't make them like that anymore" applies here. This brownstone at 429 Hancock Street in Bed-Stuy, a classic Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood, has plenty of the above details. As the listing says, the home is in the Queen Anne style with some Romanesque Revival elements thrown in. It's also got some modern upgrades to go along with it. For this blend of the historic and the new, it's going to cost you a total of $1.999 million.
Tour the interior
August 14, 2015

Elegant Brownstone in Sleepy South Slope Asks $2.65M

The Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenwood–with Park Slope to the north and Sunset Park to the south–has become a top choice for buyers priced out of other headline-stealing neighborhoods. It retains its somewhat sleepy old-Brooklyn feel, while enabling residents to stay in the loop with an ever-growing roster of amenities–including those in nearby Park Slope, Gowanus and Red Hook. The area is convenient, transit-wise; Prospect Park is its northeast border, and adjacent Green Wood Cemetery is one of the city's most treasured green spaces. South Slope itself has seen a precipitous price leap as it has gone from being a dodgy lower annex to merely a more laid-back option. And homes in Greenwood are no longer the "steal" they once were, but they are still expected to be considerably less costly than their northern counterparts. The row of stately four-story 19th century brownstones that includes 228 17th Street seems almost out of place among the eclectic mix of wood-frame, vinyl-sided and brick homes, larger townhouses and apartment buildings, some of them with modern renovations (plus the unavoidable march of new construction), that give both South Slope and Greenwood their laid-back feel. But variety is certainly welcome here. The home was first listed in April with Brooklyn Properties for $2.95 million, reduced to $2.750 million shortly thereafter, delisted in July, then listed anew in the able hands of Halstead at its current ask.
Take a tour
July 29, 2015

$1.75 Million Bed-Stuy Townhouse in a Future Historic District Has Location, Space and Charm

For anyone looking to bet on Bed-Stuy–not a bad idea, we hear–this classic three-family townhouse at 44 Macon Street could be a fine opportunity. While the $1.75 million ask for this 2,720 square-foot, 13-room home might have been unheard-of even five years ago, anything this charming under $2 million in brownstone Brooklyn is going to get some attention these days. The multi-family layout gives you lots of options–while still getting the 1-3 family tax break. Currently set up as an upper duplex with two floor-through apartments below, there is one catch: There's a tenant in place in the garden apartment, which won't be delivered vacant; this should certainly be considered, but that leaves three floors, all tastefully renovated with a laid-back, loft-like aesthetic, to do as you please.
Check out this classic Bed-Stuy bet, this way
July 14, 2015

INTERVIEW: Historian Francis Morrone on the Changing City, Modern Architecture and Why He Loves the ’50s

For the man who knows seemingly everything about New York City history, look no further than Francis Morrone. Francis is an architectural historian best known for his writings and walking tours of New York. Of his 11 books, he wrote the actual guidebook to New York City architecture—aptly titled "The Architectural Guidebook to New York City"—as well as the "Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes," "An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn," and "10 Architectural Walks In Manhattan." For six and a half years, Francis served as an art and architecture critic for the New York Sun, and he now teaches architectural and urban history at the New York University School of Professional Studies. As for walking tours, Francis was named by Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the 13 best tour guides in the world. You can catch his various tours, which sell out quickly and cover everything from "Midtown Manhattan's Side Streets" to the "Architecture and Changing Lifestyles in Greenwich Village," through the Municipal Art Society. We caught up with Francis recently after he published a much buzzed-about article for the Daily News entitled, "No, New York City Is Not Losing Its Soul," to talk about his life and work in the city, his opinions on modern architecture and development, and his favorite time period of New York City history.
Our conversation with Francis this way
July 8, 2015

Park Slope Townhouse by Etelamaki Architecture Uses a Nondescript Facade to Stand Out

This renovation of a Park Slope townhouse by Etelamaki Architecture puts into practice the old saying "less is more." According to Contemporist, the recently completed project "maximizes the potential of a non-descript building shell, and limited budget, to create a modern, light filled home that acknowledges the building’s past, while envisioning the neighborhood’s future." Since the block is filled with a mix of early 20th century apartment buildings and newer condos, the architects didn't have to worry as much about maintaining a historic style, giving them the opportunity to create something totally new and bold. The top three floors were transformed into an owner's duplex and the ground-floor into a rental.
Get a look inside here
June 27, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Landmarks Preservation Commission Maps 150 Years of LGBTQ History in Greenwich Village For $1.25M You Can Live Like a Governor’s Daughter in This Historic Victorian Home Are You Rich? The Wealthometer Will Tell You 2,000 NYCHA Apartments Are Vacant Despite 270,000-Name Waiting List Unique Brooklyn Heights Studio Comes with Clever Space-Saving Ideas and a Private […]

May 4, 2015

The High and Low: Two Pretty Prewar Co-ops on Prospect Park

Just north and west of Grand Army Plaza and the green expanse of Prospect Park, the heavenly slice of brownstone Brooklyn where Prospect Heights  meets Park Slope is considered one of the best spots in the borough–possibly the city–to live. Its streets offer some of the area's loveliest historic townhouses and some of Brooklyn's most gracious prewar apartment buildings, home to notables from Sen. Charles Schumer to Chloë Sevigny. Near an alphabet soup of subway lines and every amenity you could imagine–from the Brooklyn Museum to Barclays Center–these two classic prewar co-ops claim this prime location, sought-after full-service buildings and pretty Deco-era bones. The first also offers the spacious layout sought by co-op buyers, and at $1.4 million for a large three-bedroom, there's plenty of room to roam. And though a diminutive studio is best for one (or two who like to be very close) this particular version, asking a double-take-prompting $350k, is on a high floor in one of the area's loveliest buildings and has the same look–minus a few hundred square feet–as its more spacious sibling.
Take a side-by-side look
April 28, 2015

The Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate of Brooklyn’s… Gravesend?

When people talk about expensive Brooklyn real estate, the conversation often revolves around the well-kept townhouses in Brownstone Brooklyn, the waterfront condos of Williamsburg, the freestanding mansions of Prospect Park South. Gravesend is not a neighborhood that’s on most New Yorkers' minds. But this South Brooklyn enclave, bordered by Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Bensonhurst and the waterfront, sees some of the highest home sales in all of Kings County. Here, it’s not uncommon for selling prices to break the $10 million mark. Two years ago, a home hit the market for $14 million. So what’s happening in Gravesend? Simply put, this is not your average New York City real estate market. This neighborhood is home to the largest Sephardic Jewish community in the United States, and real estate is dominated by proximity to synagogues and Jewish Community Centers. That pressure for proximity has driven real estate prices into the multi-millions.
Learn more about the unique Gravesend real estate market…
March 9, 2015

The High and Low: Two Picture-Perfect Bow-Front Townhouses Go Head-to-Head

A classic bow-fronted Prospect Heights townhouse (above, right) offers many of the things we love about this star-studded $17 million West Village home (above, left)–for a lot less. The big-ticket Manhattan beauty set records and made movies. But for $3.5 million, a new-to-market gem in one of Brooklyn's most coveted neighborhoods is just as charming, and even offers some perks the Manhattan home lacks.
Compare these four-story homes with very different prices
March 3, 2015

$2.4M Joe Ginsberg-Designed Prospect Heights Loft Has a Suspended Office

Get ready to feast your eyes on this stunning Prospect Heights loft located in the Newswalk Condominium–and unlike anything offered on the Brooklyn market today. Every detail was masterfully created by award-winning designer Joe Ginsberg, from original furniture pieces fabricated in the artist’s atelier and included with the home to the specialized techniques and processes used in creating the distinctive wall and ceiling finishes.
More of this one-of-a-kind home
February 9, 2015

Photographer/Pillsbury Heir Snaps Up Turnkey Clinton Hill Flip for $3.5 Million

We’ve been a bit obsessed with the house at 102 Gates Avenue–a Brownstoner House of the Day not once but twice–since it hit the market as an estate sale back in 2013; lines stretched down the block and 350 people showed up on one Sunday to view the house, which was asking $1,295,000, a great price at a time when townhouse prices in the area were hitting their recent hot streak. The house, in estate condition but dripping with gorgeous original details, set off a bidding war and sold in a matter of weeks for $1,555,000, becoming a poster child of sorts for the frenzied brownstone Brooklyn townhouse market. After a high-end renovation that spared no detail, the house, a two-unit stunner with a sweet garden apartment and a beautifully restored triplex plus landscaped yard and deck, re-emerged less than one year later at the head-turning asking price of $3.35 million.
More on this brownstone Brooklyn Cinderella tale this way
February 8, 2015

MADE IN BROOKLYN: A Rep for Authenticity and Excellence That’s Well-Earned–and Far from New

The story behind cheese-aging facility Crown Finish Caves in Crown Heights tells of an enormous amount of risk and dedication to making something on a small scale; to doing one thing well. It also once again stirs the hive of buzz around today’s Brooklyn. Article after article raises the idea that Brooklyn’s moment as the new hot spot for excellence in food, culture and authentic, hand-crafted goods, is in some quarters regarded as trite and trendy hype with little substance to it. For some, the underground cheese caves are just one more example: Cheese caves. How Brooklyn. Thirty feet below street level, in the lagering tunnels of a former brewery beneath the Monti Building in Crown Heights, Benton Brown and Susan Boyle spent several years renovating and creating “Brooklyn’s premier cheese-aging facility” complete with state-of-the-art humidity control and cooling systems. The couple created the 70-foot space with advice from the world’s top cheese experts; Crown Finish Caves opened in 2014. On an article in Cheese Notes, a commenter raves: “If I were a mouse, I would move to Crown Heights.”
More excellence and authenticity this way
January 27, 2015

As Younger Renters Move to the UES, Trendy Commercial Tenants Follow

You don't have to tell us twice that the Upper East Side is trading its reputation as a stodgy, ladies-who-lunch spot for a younger, more hip vibe. Not only do we think it's a hidden hot spot for artists, but we recently profiled the unofficial "new" Upper East Side, the high 80s and 90s, clustered between Park and 1st Avenues. And let's not forget how the Second Avenue subway is already shaking things up. But with a new generation of Upper East Siders gobbling up the surprisingly affordable real estate offerings, it's no surprise that trendy commercial spots are also getting in on the action. Small, local shops and restaurants create little communities that you might expect to find in brownstone Brooklyn, and larger, big-name businesses like Warby Parker and Whole Foods promise to make it a neighborhood to rival Union Square or Chelsea.
More on the real estate trend ahead
January 13, 2015

Paying $3 Million-Plus for a Brooklyn Townhouse Is Now the Norm

Brooklyn's real estate market is hot, but the market for historic townhouses is searing. Today, the NY Post cites Ideal Properties' latest report which reveals that $3 million-plus townhouse sales in Brownstone Brooklyn and North Brooklyn increased 579 percent in the last five years, and accounted for 9.5 percent of the 1,035 townhouses sold just last year. Record-breaking sales in the last quarter gave the segment its biggest boost, and rising inventory is expected to swell this number even further over the coming year.
Find out more here
December 17, 2014

$2.5M Romanesque Revival Rowhouse in Prospect Heights Is Full of Original Details

"I want something with character." This is definitely a line brokers hear all the time. And if their current character-seeking client is looking to move to brownstone Brooklyn, this $2.5 million Romanesque Revival rowhouse in Prospect Heights is the perfect place to satisfy their check list. Located at 268 Prospect Place, the three-bedroom, 2,430-square-foot home was built by William L. Beers in 1899. It's oozing with historic details, including six fireplaces, stained glass transom windows, moldings galore, a carved wood staircase, sand wood floors, original wainscoting, cornices, and shutters.
Tour the historic home here