Droolworthy Mantelpiece at D-Squared

Yeah, I would love to hear the story on how this fireplace was "acquired" from a Harlem brownstone. The salvage business is so corrupt. Poachers routinely steal historic items out of these homes and dealers simply look the other way. Why wouldn't they? They get to buy stolen items on the cheap and sell them at exorbitant prices to the rich. This sort of stuff happens all over the place in Bed-Stuy too. The antique shops on Malcolm X Blvd make their cut and more often than not sell those very same items to the higher end antique shops on Atlantic who make an even bigger cut.

When a real estate hard landing occurs and foreclosures rise you can expect a slew of architectural salvage items to come onto the market. A big practice in Bed-Stuy is for known poachers to approach homeowners who are about to lose their brownstones to the bank in foreclosure and offer them a couple of hundred bucks to totally strip the house of entrance doors, pocket doors, pier mirrors, wainscoting, fireplaces, and light fixtures. The argument goes that "you're going to lose you house to the bank so you might as well as sock it to them and go down swinging." You’d be surprised at how often folks take the bait.

I'm not sure what banks can do to prevent this occurrence but something has to be done; perhaps a practice of having the house audited for fixtures by an inspector when a home is under foreclosure review.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 11:18 AM

I live in a brownstone neighborhood upstate, and a lot of the same rape has occured here. My neighbors bought their house at auction after it had been boarded up for more than 20 years. Between the auction closing and the time they took possession, a huge stained glass window from the front of the house and a fabulous pair of entrance railings were stolen. All of the mantles were ripped from the walls, but the thieves hadn't gotten around to removing them from the premises. The interior shutters were all taken, but somehow my neighbors were able to buy them back from someone connected to the crooks. (Sorry to say, but the rats who previously owned my house were evidently complicit in the crime.)

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 1:04 PM

And let's not even get started on the marble sinks, light fixtures, mantels, etc., etc., that contractors supposedly throw away "by accident."

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 1:06 PM

Demolition Depot prices are so offensive, I would never buy anything from them anyway.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 1:17 PM

anon 1:04 PM, I wasn't aware that there were brownstone nabes in upstate ny. where upstate do you live. just curious. how are the prices there? care to provide any links.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 1:24 PM

i'm constantly amazed at how creative people get to turn a quick buck. If this stuff about poaching is true I can only imagine that it will get worse in 07'. antique finishes (doors, windows, tin ceilings, etc) are now being incorporated as design elements in new furniture as well as custom interior designs.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 1:33 PM

I'm the upstate brownstoner. I live in Albany. Small city, obviously, but it's filled with brownstone/rowhouse/townhouse architecture. Prices are generally in the $100,000 to $300,000 range -- less in certain neighborhoods and more for something really special. I live in a downtown historic district developed between 1830 and 1900 around two city parks. It was once the wealthy, elite part of town. But familiar urban story ... The nabe fell on very hard times until it was 'rediscovered' and revitalized in the past 20 years. Houses range from early frame construction and modest rowhouses to former mansions of up to 8,000 sf. Many of the bigger buildings have long since been converted to apartments, but there are many examples still of brownstones in original condition with original layouts. (My brownstone was never altered from its single-family configuration.)

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2006 2:25 PM

That mantel is kinda ugly though, no? Some styles have a kind of intrinsic beauty to them, which keeps despite the passage of time. But the victorian era created some ghastly monstrosities, in my opinion. I've been trying to figure out why it aged so badly, and I think it's because the Victorian time saw the trend of mixing and matching just about any influence from any culture into an Englishized lump of gharishness.

Anyway, I guess it's still valuable for the craftsmanship that went into it.

It'd still hate to have that thing in my house, scaring the kids.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 16, 2006 1:14 PM