Search Results for: garden

Besides being a newly-hot neighborhood, Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant holds one of the city's finest collections of historic brownstones. Though many beautiful homes didn't survive the neglect of the late 20th century, many that did have been remarkably preserved or painstakingly restored to their original splendor. One of the highest concentrations of those impressive townhouses can be found in the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in the south-central part of the neighborhood. It's here that you'll find this landmarked four-story home at 407 Stuyvesant Avenue, just arrived on the market for $2.875 million. According to the listing, baseball icon and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson lived here, and the brokers tell 6sqft that this was his first residence in Brooklyn. They add that when the current owners moved in, they found a treasure trove of memorabilia. So let's just say this 20-foot-wide Romanesque Revival-style brownstone hits it out of the park when it comes to intact historic detail and unspoiled 19th century architecture.
Explore this central Brooklyn treasure

May 11, 2016

Behind This $1.25M Greenpoint Duplex Is a Barefoot Backyard Paradise

You're thinking of living in Greenpoint; you've fallen in love with the neighborhood. If the magical words, "two bedrooms plus office," and "outdoor space" don't get you to investigate further, you're not trying hard enough to make it happen. This nicely-outfitted duplex at 687 Leonard Street in the heart of north Brooklyn's waterfront paradise may not turn heads from the outside, but there are some pleasant surprises within.
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

May 11, 2016

Grow Vegetables in Your Apartment Effortlessly With Foop and Your Smartphone

By Rebecca Paul

Caring for plants at home is a nice idea, but growing food inside your city apartment is an even better one. Now with Foop, a hydroponic pod from Japan, you can grow vegetables and herbs, like lettuce, parsley, basil, and mesclun with almost no effort. The process couldn't be easier; The first step is to purchase of your desired vegetable seeds, and the second to place the seeds into Foop's "cultivation cup." After the seeds are in place, you set a time frame for them to grow using Foop's app. When the vegetables are ripe for picking, you'll get a notification on your phone!
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May 9, 2016

Williamsburg Unsurprisingly Tops List of NYC’s 15 Fastest Gentrifying Neighborhoods

Williamsburg has become the poster child for the hipsterfication of Brooklyn and NYC gentrification in general, but behind the beards and beet smoothies are actual facts to back it up. NYU's Furman Center released a report that identifies the city's 15 gentrifying neighborhoods, out of 55 total, and finds that Williamsburg/Greenpoint comes in at number one (h/t DNAinfo). Of course, it's difficult to define gentrification, but the study looks at areas that were relatively low-income in 1990 (among the bottom 40% in the city), but experienced higher rent growth over the past 20 years than other neighborhoods, a trend that the Furman Center feels is of "greatest concern in lower-income neighborhoods." Williamsburg and Greenpoint had a startling 78.7 percent jump in rent over this time period, followed by Central Harlem at 53.2 percent and Chinatown/Lower East Side at 50.3 percent.
See the full list here

May 9, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Brownstone Purchase LLC Tells of Escaped Slaves’ Brave Journey

Atlantic Writer, National Book Award winner and MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates recently made an appearance in real estate news; Coates, who is among today's most prominent writers on African-American issues, and his wife recently purchased a landmarked five-bedroom townhouse in Prospect-Lefferts Garden for $2.1 million. Not one to miss an opportunity to explore a facet of cultural history, the couple worked an interesting story into the LLC they used to purchase the property, DNAinfo tells us. Buyers commonly register Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) to purchase property in order to conceal their identities (celebrities, for example, or when making a big-ticket buy), and LLC names are often mundane, using the name of the property itself. But the Coateses LLC, "Ellen and William Craft Excursions LLC” has an inspiring tale behind it: The Crafts were an escaped slave couple from Georgia in the 19th century. Disguised as a white male slave owner and his slave, they escaped to Philadelphia in 1868.
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May 6, 2016

Livi Transforms the Traditional Flower Pot With Biomimicry and a Smart Stick-On Design

By Rebecca Paul

There's no denying 6sqft is a huge fan of incorporating greenery into the living space, both for their aesthetic appeal and numerous health benefits, so we're always on the lookout for new ways to house our favorite green friends. The latest innovation is Livi, a modern take on the traditional flower pot that uses Biomimicry to create self-adhering pads that replicate the way frogs' feet attach to glass or other smooth surfaces. Livi's fancy feet add life and functionality to the flower pot, allowing you to position your plants on both vertical and horizontal surfaces.
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Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

Foster’s original design

May 5, 2016

Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

By Diane Pham

Nearly one year ago it was revealed that starchitect Bjarke Ingels would be taking over the design of 2 World Trade Center from Norman Foster as developer Silverstein Properties was in talks with Fox and News Corp. to make the tower their new headquarters. However, plans fell through in January when the media companies opted to remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue. Now without a tenant and two different designs in hand, Chairman Larry Silverstein is said to be weighing both options. “[The top of] Two was a distinguishing feature of Norman Foster’s design,” Silverstein told The Post. “Opposed to what Bjarke Ingels proposed. We can go in either direction. Which way, we are not sure yet.” But he did add that they were leaning towards Ingels' design in discussions being had with prospective anchor tenants, which include BlackRock and JPMorganChase.
Find out more here

Architecture And Design

May 5, 2016

Jonah Hill Picks Up $9.16M Apartment at Noho’s Schumacher Condo Conversion

By Annie Doge

A tipster told 6sqft back in December that Jonah Hill was seen taking photos outside The Schumacher, the then-newly unveiled Noho condo conversion at 36 Bleecker Street. As it turns out, just two months prior he bought a unit in the building for $9.16 million, according to the Post. The unit, which was originally listed at $9.5 million, is a 3,280-square-foot, four-bedroom spread. It features the signature elements of the residence, including exposed brick vaulted ceilings, massive arched windows, restored original columns and beams, and views down to the building's vine-covered courtyard.
Take a look around

489 New Units of Affordable/Elderly Housing to Rise on Land in Brooklyn and the Bronx

Photo via Wiki Commons

May 5, 2016

489 New Units of Affordable/Elderly Housing to Rise on Land in Brooklyn and the Bronx

The de Blasio administration is expected to announce plans to lease New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) land to build nearly 500 apartments for low-income and elderly tenants in three buildings of up to 16 stories within existing housing projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to the New York Times. The sites, on parking lots and grasslands within the projects, were included in the housing authority's initiative to improve deteriorating public housing, as well as increase the number of new affordable units. More controversial plans are also in the works to add market-rate housing within public housing projects in prime real estate locations.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

May 5, 2016

Author Ta-Nehisi Coates Buys $2.1M Brooklyn Brownstone; Why NYC Has So Many Tulips

Atlantic writer and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Ta-Nehisi Coates bought a landmarked Prospect-Lefferts Gardens brownstone for $2.1 million. [NYP] Tour the 25 indoor and 12 outdoor venues for this summer’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics via Google Maps. [Refinery 29] For the first time in 40 years, a new brewery opens in Bushwick. [Edible Brooklyn] Take a look around NYC […]

Uncategorized

May 5, 2016

A Quiet Oasis on the West Village’s ‘Sex and the City’ Block for $720K

Home to movie stars, models, moguls, designers and plenty of lucky mortals in possession of a small fortune (at the very least), the West Village is one of New York's most sought-after neighborhoods. This one-bedroom co-op at 77 Perry Street on the famed "Sex and the City" block is all sunbeams and charm when the afternoon sun shows off its exposed brick walls, 10-foot ceilings and beautifully restored original hardwood floors. Its ask of $720,000 definitely reflects the neighborhood's cachet, but anything with even a memory of six figures in this neighborhood could be considered a find.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

May 4, 2016

An Option to Buy or Rent a Historic Renwick Triangle Townhouse in the East Village

Just because the East Village isn't known for its townhouse stock doesn't mean there aren't wonderful, historic (and expensive) houses to move into there. Take this one, at 114 East 10th Street, which is part of the Renwick Triangle in the St. Marks Historic District. The triangle gets its name from architect James Renwick Jr., who designed it with rows of Anglo-Italianate single-family homes. This house was on the market two years back asking $7.5 million and it sold for $7.606 million. Now you can either buy or rent it, for $9.85 million or $50K a month.
See the historic interior details

May 4, 2016

$14M Gilded Age Mansion in Murray Hill Was the Home of J.P. Morgan’s Attorney

Most of New York City's grand and historic homes have been altered for modern-day use as apartments, libraries, hotels, diplomatic buildings and the like. And when it comes to those that have remained as opulent single- or multi-family homes, most have changed hands so many times that we don't know much about their history. That is not the case for this massive 9,300-square-foot townhouse across the street from the Morgan Library. The home was originally the residence of J.P. Morgan's attorney John Trevor, Sr. and is currently in use as a 10-unit apartment building–albeit a rather special one with some unique spaces like a private office and a gorgeous rear parlor with symphony-ready acoustics and 13-foot ceilings. Whoever purchases the home, on the market for $14 million, could create a vast five-story mansion (there's already an elevator), or any number of alternate configurations–but they'll still have great sound in that back parlor.
The neighborhood blows up, then the lawyers move in

May 3, 2016

Looking Back at the Ruined Serbian Orthodox Church; An Oral History of ‘Rent’

On Sunday night, a fire tore though the Flatiron’s Serbian Orthodox Church. Here’s a look back its fascinating history. [NYT] Barbara Corcoran lists her UES co-op for $4.9 million. Last year, she picked up a $10 million penthouse in the ‘hood. [NYP] What moms want for Mother’s Day by state. [Mashable] Twenty years after “Rent” […]

Uncategorized

May 2, 2016

New Renderings of West Chelsea’s SkyBox Development and Art Gallery

By Ondel Hylton

A unique mixed-use development in West Chelsea may be the paradigm of what new development in Manhattan could aspire to. Combining new construction and rehabilitation, and marrying ostentatious high-end condos with affordable rentals and an art museum/gallery, the project dubbed Chelsea SkyBox will satiate a wide spectrum of urbanites. The 250-foot tower will rise directly south of Annabelle Selldorf's metal-face condo 200 Eleventh Avenue (aka the "Sky garage") and will host ten full-floor apartments plus a spectacular five-story penthouse that developer Jonathan Leitersdorf told the Journal he will ultimately occupy. The project also will rehabilitate the corner SRO building next door known as the Chelsea Highline Hotel. The ground floors of both buildings will be shared, and there will be 15,000-square- feet of commercial space that will have 30-foot-high ceilings and accommodate an art museum and a private gallery to contain works by Picasso, Keith Haring, Kandinsky, and Anish Kapoor.
Lots more renderings ahead

May 2, 2016

Two Buildings and a Central Courtyard Make Up This $2.6M Williamsburg Property

It's a two-for-one deal at a Williamsburg townhouse property at 164 Ainslie Street. The lot holds both front and back buildings separated by a large, south-facing garden courtyard. They've been broken up into apartments with a total of 20 rooms, 11 bedrooms and six full bathrooms. And there are still some great historic details preserved inside, like fireplaces and carved wood mantlepieces.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

April 28, 2016

Live in a Lofty Triplex Apartment at a Former 1880s Firehouse for $4,500/Month

Before 735 Dean Street was anybody's home, it was the post of Engine Company 219, who moved in when the firehouse was built in 1880. The historic structure in Prospect Heights has since been converted to apartments, one of which is this 1,400-square-foot triplex being offered for rent. From the inside, though, you wouldn't guess this was in an old fire station; it looks like your typical Brooklyn loft.
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Transit Think Tank Says MSG Move Could Be a $5B Example of ‘Architects Run Wild’

Rendering for a proposed new MSG by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

April 27, 2016

Transit Think Tank Says MSG Move Could Be a $5B Example of ‘Architects Run Wild’

Moving MSG to make room for a bigger, better Penn Station train hub would be really expensive and probably not a good idea, according to a new report by transit think tank Rudin Center for Transportation Policy. Commercial Observer reports that the just-released study outlines the concern that moving the arena would come with a price tag of over $5 billion, take, like, forever, and would generally "become an urban planner’s worst nightmare." The study refers to the proposed overhaul of Pennsylvania Station and the idea of extending it to the post office off Eighth Avenue as well as suggestions by urban planners for relocating MSG.
So what's going to cost so much?

April 27, 2016

Rent the Opulent Upper East Side Mansion Once Home to Versace for $120,000/Month

By Annie Doge

Now's your chance to live like fashion royalty, as the opulent Upper East Side townhouse once owned by Gianni Versace is on the rental market for the first time, asking a whopping $120,000. The Italian designer bought the house at 5 East 64th Street for $7.5 million in 1995, just two years before he was murdered in Miami. It sold again for $30 million in 2005 to Swedish hedge fund manager Thomas Sandell, but it still retains many of the details left over from Versace's renovation, including marble floors, massive chandeliers, and the painted living room ceiling.
See the whole place

April 26, 2016

Another Stubby Shotgun House Hits the Market in Brooklyn, This One Asking $999K

This shotgun house in East Bed Stuy (asking $775K last December) needs to move over: there's another stubby property in town. And by town, we mean the neighborhood of Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, located just south of Park Slope. The two-story home comes with two bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathroom and the opportunity to expand. The question is, would you pay just under $1 million for it?
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

April 25, 2016

Innovative 1931 Long Island ‘Skyscraper House’ Was Built by the Father of Palm Springs Modern

In a 1932 article in Modern Mechanix magazine, the design of this three-story Long Island “skyscraper house” was touted as the “latest in homes,” with an all-metal frame and glass walls. What the story doesn’t mention is that this little house in the ‘burbs was designed as a case study home by noted architects Albert Frey (who spent his early years in Le Corbusier's studio) and A. Lawrence Kocher. Known as the Aluminaire House, this diminutive dwelling is among the earliest examples of European-inspired modern architecture in the eastern U.S.. It was included by Philip Johnson in a MoMA exhibit in 1931 that later became the manifesto for the International Style of architecture–one of only six American buildings in the show to exemplify the style. With the Coachella music festival in the recent spotlight, visions of Palm Springs-style desert homes have been popping up at every turn, and though this little skyscraper house couldn't be further away geographically, its co-creator Albert Frey is known for establishing the "desert modernism" style exemplified in those iconic Palm Springs homes. And as with many ideas in the ultra-creative 1930s, the construction of this Modernist gem in 1931 was well ahead of its time.
Find out more about the story and future of Aluminaire House

Architecture And Design

April 22, 2016

Marc Jacobs President Lists Fashion-Forward Village Townhouse for $17M

One of several fabulous and fancy Greenwich Village townhouses owned by Marc Jacobs' friend and business partner Robert Duffy is back on the market. Duffy purchased the 3,800-square-foot, four-story 1839 brick home at 62 West 12th Street for $10.25 million in 2013. The brick beauty has been thoroughly modernized with attention paid to the aesthetics and function of every detail, from the massive steel-framed glass wall separating the ground floor from the rear garden to the fact that there’s an elevator to get you there from upstairs. Despite having all the comforts of home, the house has retained much of its architectural integrity and pre-war charm.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

April 22, 2016

The Met Struggles While MoMA Gets $100M; Illustrated Bodega Cats