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April 2, 2007

House of the Day: 112 Prospect Park West

Yowza! Check out today's eye candy on Prospect Park West, a two-family center-stair mansion in full period get-up. As the pics show, someone's gone to great lengths to preserve the original details and to recreate the original interior design. According to Property Shark, this house hasn't changed hands in the last four decades, implying this is really a lifetime's labor of love. This is one of those listings that is useless to try to put a dollar value on. At $3,975,000, it's expensive enough to be well out of the reach of mere mortals. The question is only will someone very wealthy fall in love.
112 Prospect Park West [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark

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I'd pay 3 mill. 4 mill is for MD's at banks or movie stars.

If you put 1 mill down and were able to get a 6.5% interest rate on the remaining 3 mill, that's 195k a year in interest alone, not taking into account principal repayment, property taxes, and costs associated with getting the mortgage, like the 2.75% recording tax.

I envy the guy who can afford this place. you gotta be selling another valuable property, or be making truck loads of cash. . .

Posted by: Jake the Snake at April 2, 2007 12:15 PM

seems like ALOT of high end stuff hitting the market...smells like a cyclical top to me - this place will seem cheap when it trades for $6 mil 10-15 yrs from now.

Posted by: Brownstone Dreamin at April 2, 2007 12:23 PM

that's only if the market keeps going up . . .

it could stay flat or go down. . .who knows

Posted by: the scarab at April 2, 2007 12:26 PM

at least this place (unlike many) actually looks to be "worth" 4 million bucks.

this is a gem and given that some of the great townhouses in brooklyn heights have gone for 6 million or so, i think this seems pretty fair for its great location and architecture.

Posted by: anon at April 2, 2007 12:26 PM

i have to be honest, i think it's overpriced. essentially you are paying for 3 floors of living and the top two floors are not very deep. there are four bedrooms (though one is set up as a study), and the ground floor is a medical office, which will costs a pretty penny to renovate and restore to match the rest of the house.

are there many single family buyers w/ the money to pay $4mm who want to have a doctor's office on the ground floor (unless it's a doctor who's buying it who needs place for his office...a very small target audience).

just my $.02.

Posted by: what bubble? at April 2, 2007 12:31 PM

to be clear, i think it is nice and deep (compared to normal brownstones), but the top 2 floors seem to be "only" 40-45' deep...not the 80' deep as advertised

Posted by: what bubble? at April 2, 2007 12:34 PM

I agree with 12:31, if someone can spend 4 million dollars on a house, why would they want a doctor's office on the ground floor?
I think that here and elsewhere in Brooklyn, the old reality has not caught up with the new reality of four million dollar houses.
The prices are just bonkers.
And you will get a parkling ticket just like everybody else if you don't come out at 7 AM to move the car.

Posted by: Serge at April 2, 2007 12:45 PM

I'm missing where it is 'advertised' as 80' deep.
Also missing how ' top two floors are not very deep'. Looks almost 50' to me which is certainly deeper than standard.
House is large, spacious, great orig. detail and facing the park , plus roof deck with probably expansive views.
If I only I had the money.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 12:55 PM

I wonder what kind of rent the doctor's office brings in?

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 1:07 PM

It is a plastic surgeon's office. The owner is the Dr.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 1:14 PM

I wonder what the advantages are of renting a space for a dr. office as opposed to 'regular' tenants. assuming they're not doctors themselves and they rent it to someone else. there's a lot of traffic during the day but if you work I suppose you really wouldn't mind especially if the trade-off is complete silence at night since no one is there. I wonder if they get more for rent and if the eviction process is the same (if it comes to that of course). although I'd assume that it would be far less likely that a person renting a space for a doctor's office won't pay their rent since they have a lot to lose if they're evicted, namely a place to house their practice.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 1:16 PM

A plastic surgeon on prospect park west?
I thought they were only allowed in the Upper East Side. What next? Sotheby's opening their Park Slope shop?

Posted by: bingo at April 2, 2007 1:20 PM

i don't understand the bitchy comments made here about having a doctors office in your first floor space. seems like an ideal tenant to provide some extra cashflow should you need or want it.

do you people just make stuff up to bitch about?

Posted by: anon at April 2, 2007 1:32 PM

anon @ 1:32...noone is bitching...just pointing things out and what some deterrents to purchasing might be. i invite you to read what people are writing and not take the slighest "bad" comment as "bitching"...grow up.

Posted by: what bubble? at April 2, 2007 1:39 PM

This place is butt ugly. Yuck! Grandma palace! ergh

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 1:42 PM

it ain't butt ugly at all

after consideration, I've decided no buy will keep it a doctor's office unless the buy happens to be a doctor with a private practice (small chance).

folks with that kind of dough would make it part of the house, though doing so would not be easy as the real estate agent claims.

you'd have to gutt renovate it. i'm not sure what she means by easy unless you want to sleep on an examening board and spend your free time reading in the doctor's waiting room.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 1:47 PM

hey what bubble? not really interested in listening to someone say grow from a guy who comes on here and constantly makes comments about things as if you are the lord, savior of real estate.

i personally don't think that only doctors would look at this space, and think it rather absurd to even suggest so.

love the will cost a pretty penny comment. like you'd know...

Posted by: anon at April 2, 2007 1:48 PM

A new term of art, new to me anyway,
a "grandma palace".
I'm afraid the poster has a good point.
But if you spend this much dough for a house, you will have your design consultant redo the place from top to bottom. Out with Queen Victoria in with Casino Royale.
The new owners will most likely seldom be home. Folks with that sort of money like variety.

Posted by: Serge at April 2, 2007 2:01 PM

anon @ 1:48...in all the time I've been reading this site I've made no more than 20-30 comments...so I don't know what you are talking about...but I see you don't dispute the fact that noone is bitching and your comment was out of line.

but anon, you seem so pleasant to everyone, i wonder why do you even bother commenting...does it make you feel better?

Posted by: what bubble? at April 2, 2007 2:21 PM

How do you all compare this house versus the really spendy one in FG that has been much debated...

http://www.ahrlty.com/H181L/H181L.html

- Both "older" style but FG house looks slightly better
- Think FG house is much bigger (5-storey)
- PS house has A/C
- PPW is an expressway; Washington Park is pretty quiet

A $400K price differential seems tough to swallow given that in PS you're still going to have to tip in a lot of money getting the old-lady style out and reclaiming Dr 90210's office

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 2:31 PM

if you'd like i'm more than happy to present your "20-30" comments. if by 20 or 30 in the last month, yes, i'll agree.

and most are rather snide.

and yes, i do think people were being bitchy about why anyone would want to spend 4 million to have a doctors office. this is an amazing house. gorgeous details, great location. if someone wants it, they'll figure out what will happen with the office. don't think it's going to detract from prospective buyers is my point.

i've also noted that you didn't respond to the question posed about the depth of the building.

and how were my 2 comments not pleasant to EVERYONE?

Posted by: anon at April 2, 2007 2:33 PM

i think the place is ugly, it looks like a museum, but some people love that stuff. i do agree about the doc's office, if you can affford $4 million you don't need the income. but there are very few houses on PPW so it'll sell, if you can afford this place you can probably afford to renovate the garden floor. speaking of which, does this place have a garden? that to me is the greatest part of a townhouse. Also everyone on this site acts like $4 mill is some crazy high number that very few can afford. this is NYC, there are many thounsands of multi millionairs, as well as hundreds, if not thousands of listings for $4 mill plus. they trade every day, some new condos in manhattan don't even have apartments that start at 4 million. yes brooklyn only has 10 or so $4 mill plus transactions a year, but how often do houses on PPW come on the market?

Posted by: anon at April 2, 2007 3:00 PM

Well I think four million dollars is a lot of money for a row house in Brooklyn. I don't think they will get it. The interiors are nice, but not that grand really. And the new owner would need to deal with a dumpy old doctors office on the garden level.
Park Slope is nice but its not Park Avenue. You can get nice digs on Park Avenue for four million.

Posted by: Serge at April 2, 2007 3:12 PM

you get 3000sq ft with very high taxes and maintnance for $4 mill on park ave, not a house.

Posted by: anon at April 2, 2007 3:27 PM

Sounds good to me.
You think this house is low maintenance?

Posted by: Serge at April 2, 2007 3:36 PM

if it sounds good to you, why are you reading about brownstone living in brooklyn?

just curious since to have such an affection for park avenue would not be something most of us brooklynites would be looking for or aspiring to...

just my guess

Posted by: anonymous at April 2, 2007 3:50 PM

I see quite Pk Slope houses over the $3m mark. Even in contract. And even between 6th/7th Avenue. And, yes, some of them are not even single family.
So even those with big bucks do buy these houses with a rental (what they do with the rental who knows).
Question is how much premium for being on Prospect Pk.
And yes this house has backyard, with pond if you checked out the listing.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 4:06 PM

If I had 4 million to spend on real estate in Brooklyn, I'd buy the Pfizer mansion at 280 Washington. http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=760180

Posted by: donatella at April 2, 2007 4:13 PM

i agree...i walked around this weekend and saw many "in contract" or "sold" signs on many of the real estate windows...a few of which were 3 mil plus townhouses on good prime streets in park slope.

i actually think this one is priced pretty agressively.

in my mind, some of the ps blocks with great townhouses are some of the most coveted in the city. they should be anyway.

Posted by: anonymous at April 2, 2007 4:14 PM

Here's my quibble--but one that I think touches on an issue for lotsa rowhouse buyers in BKLYN: As gorgeous as this house is, that kitchen island butting up against the original fireplace is mucho awkward-looking. It points up how verrrrrry difficult it is to put the kitchen where it wasn't intended to be in these places. More practical for today's lifestyle, definitely, to have cucina on parlor floor--but I have YET to see one that didn't look/flow somehow screwy. Anybody got a picture of a successful one? Would love to see. Me, I'm keeping mine on the ground level--at least I'll get buns o' steel. :)

Posted by: bob999 at April 2, 2007 4:16 PM

gorgeous house on washington you linked us to.

but to be on prospect park is a great thing. i'm actually surprised it's not more sought after than it is.

imagine what this place would be on cpw?

8-10 million is my guess.

and prospect park is arguably much more beautiful.

Posted by: anonymous at April 2, 2007 4:21 PM

Oh bob999 with your buns o' steel - we too are putting our kitchen on the garden florr during reno (moving it from parlor floor) and putting in a dumb waiter. Has anyone had any good experiences with installing a dumb waiter? companies/experts etc.? was it a good idea? did you use it? etc etc

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 4:25 PM

Oooooh, Anon 4:25, I have ALWAYS wanted a dumbwaiter--and actually have posted here looking for suggestions--to no response. Are you putting in a vintage-y one, or one of the modern, hydrolic ones? The latter is all I could really find on the internet. Unfortunately our needs in the kitchen renovation will be such that I don't think we can devote the space to one of these, but I'd love to be talked into it. Whatcha got? Thanks!

Posted by: bob999 at April 2, 2007 4:47 PM

We put our kitchen on the garden level, too. There's nothing like a 20' wide kitchen looking out on the garden. On warm days like today I sit at my table and stare out the french door to see all my plantings come to life. It's a joy.

Posted by: dt at April 2, 2007 5:09 PM

Bob999 - I got nothing unfortunately. Looking for suggestions - architects drew it in, engineer's going to spec the installation but we've got a bunch of other stuff to focus on right now so haven't spent any time looking at actual dumb waiters! Some people are pushing us towards manual pulley systems rather than electrical as less to break down...

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 5:23 PM

Anon 4:21,

I agree, Prospect Park is hands down lovelier than Fort Greene Park but, my feelings are that with PP, you feel so far away from the park - two lanes of traffic, great, wide sidewalks and so many trees lining it that you have to be on upper floors to see into the park. With Fort Greene Park, it's a bit threadbare but, the street is super quiet due to it being only one lane and a short street and the way the windows are set up in most of those brownstones, you can't see the cars from your parlor window, only the park so it looks like you have a massive front yard which is pretty cool. Those things said, I would take the FG house over the PP house: a) it's less money; b) it's got to be the same price to install central air as to gut the doctor's office, move the kitchen, REPAINT!!!; c) the neighborhood is friendlier and; d) the street is quieter.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 6:09 PM

Brooklyn used to be nice, you would put up with the car theft, and break-ins and general crappyness because it was cheap, and there were all these great old houses built in a more genteel time. But now, fuggedabodit. Who's kidding who? The prices are like freakin' Malibu or Palm Beach. It is nuts. I can't wrap my brain around it. Who would live in Brooklyn who could spend four million dollars on a really nice estate in the nearby suburbs? Do you have any idea how much nicer the quality of life is once you have detached houses with big trees and pools and private driveways?
Fuggedabodit, you guys are smoking to much prospect park weed.

Posted by: serge at April 2, 2007 7:01 PM

not everything is interested in an estate with DRIVEWAYS, pools, etc. i certainly wouldn't prefer it.
there is much to be said for living a city life instead of isolated on an estate in larchmont.

listen...to each his own, but there is a reason why more and more people are choosing to raise families in new york...it's because unlike where i grew up in the affluent suburbs, it's a much more vibrant, fullfilling life for the most part.

if i had 4 million, i'd be right here in brooklyn where am i now. maybe a little cabin somewhere or a little place at the beach to escape every now and then, but certainly not an estate in the burbs.

we are talking about very different types of people here and the audience of this website for the most part i don't think would agree with you.

Posted by: anonymous at April 2, 2007 7:26 PM

I honestly don't know what kind of people we're talking about. developers maybe who are buying these houses to cut them up into little apartments. I understand what you are saying, I think that the kids are going to flee from Brooklyn as soon as they can the way you fled from Larchmont. But you know what? most of the houses in larchmont are not four million dollars. This is not affluence, its hyper-inflation. It's just unsustainable.

Posted by: serge at April 2, 2007 7:53 PM

Great attention to detail. Not saying it's worth 4 mil, but I don't think it's far off if the quality is as high as it appears to be in the pics.

Just curious, rent for a doctor's office of this size - $7-10k a month? Or less? No idea . . .

Posted by: John at April 2, 2007 8:03 PM

The interior looks like something that would be featured on Curbed's "That's rather hideous" segment.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 8:06 PM

Hey, Sergie-Boy!

You want cheap? I got a lovely federal brick townhouse for ya in East New York for $2 million flat! Whatchu think?!?! Hyper-inflation? Nah!!!! Why gripe over affordability when it's just one or two nabes away?!?!?!? ;-) LOL!

Posted by: Anonymous at April 2, 2007 8:43 PM

Wow amazing pictures! I too am jealous but very inspired.... got to get me some more Rock Miricle.
And Serge welcome to Brooklyn now stay in your lane. This home is not for you and your skinny wallet. Get over it like the rest of us and move on.
The home is priced right for the location.

Posted by: stone face at April 2, 2007 9:08 PM

Actually, the decor in this house is pretty poor taste. The woodwoork, built-ins, moulding, and floors, are great, but the wallpaper, color scheme, carpets, furnishings, light fixtures, etc, are a really bad pastiche of turn-of-the-last-century interior design. This was done by somebody with lots more money than taste.

And I suspect that's who'll buy this house.

If you're not going to do it right, why do it at all? This isn't subjective, either. Any decent interior decorator will tell you that magenta circus stripes are more Victoria's Secret than Victorian.

That being said, maybe $3.4 mil. No more--but strictly a location and square footage purchase. Too much hassle for converting the ground floor and de-Grandma-izing the hideous paint, wallpaper, and Lowes faux-Victorian light fixtures.

Posted by: philistine at April 3, 2007 12:57 AM

Dark wood....yuck! Yes, very grandma indeed and seriously depressing. I'd wash all of that wood work with beautiful white oil paint and lighten up every room and make it more appropriate for modern living. All of that wood work severely limits what you can do with wall colors and sucks up the little natural light that these row houses afford.

And for all of you traditionalists out there, who are boiling with anger at the mere mention of painted wood, just examine any super high end listings on 5th Ave, Park Ave, Greenwich, CT, Bernardsville, NJ, Bedford, NY or the Hamptons. When it comes to the high end homes, everything is painted with the exception of libraries, offices or studies. This gives home a nice clean elegant look throughout the apartment/house, leaving standout wood work (coffered or beamed ceilings, wainscoting, etc.) for rooms where its most appropriate (creates a nice contrast). Same with kitchens too. Opaque (painted cabinetry), e.g., Clive Christian, is the way to go. In short, I prefer bright and airy over dark and stale any day. Period interiors such as this (throughout the entire house) simply do not appeal to me.

Posted by: Martha Stewart at April 3, 2007 4:05 AM

I have comments for Bob999, Serge and Martha Stewart. Bob, I really think the same way about kitchens on the parlor floor, unless you have a very wide brownstone. Mine is on the skinny side, and I didn't want to mess up the flow, so I kept mine downstairs too. It works. I am going to put in a little wet bar in a little alcove on the Parlor Floor with sink and one (or two) built in hotplates (and little frig) so that I don't have to run up and down if I have people over and we hang out in the parlor. For Martha Stewart, I'm with you. I probably will never buy something with lots of mahogony woodwork, especially in a naturally dark brownstone, because I hate the feeling of lots of dark wood. I hate the gentlemen's club, cigars and brandy ambiance. And I find Victoriana period stuff oppressive and fussy. Of course, what I bought was late Adams family so who cares. I know I will be hunted down and arrested after this admission, but I like to paint wood too!!

And for Serge, I'm with you, man, I am happy that my place has appreciated but I absolutely cannot process what places are going for now either. I am very fortunate that I got my place when I did.

Posted by: donatella at April 3, 2007 10:09 AM

Seeing shots of interiors like these makes me glad I still live in half-renovated squalor. Rather than 'grandma,' I'd think, "Barbie's Renovated Mansion--Deluxe Playset." It'd wear me out just to open my eyes in the morning.
Wonder if the owner is Dr. Fleisher--he's the plastic surg who sewed up my daughter's gashed face one night at the request of our ped (to avoid a nightmare trip to the ER and the less-than-skilled hands of the resident-du-jour),and I always wondered how he got to his office so quickly. He was a master, and mighty nice too.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at April 3, 2007 10:45 AM

I paint wood too!

Just had to confess that.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 3, 2007 10:58 AM

This home belongs to a close friend. While the decor may seem out-of-date, I assure you that it is a worthwhile purchase for those who can afford such a charm. Gorgeous rooftop. The architecture is amazing, all original details. Great house for a single (wealthy) family to grow up in.

Posted by: anon at April 3, 2007 11:10 AM

Close friend? Sure you're not the agent shilling your own property? I'm still not going to buy it.

Posted by: philistine at April 3, 2007 11:43 AM

easy to say you aren't gonna buy it when you've probably got 10 bucks in your checking account.

just because someone likes something on here does not make them the seller or agent.

do you have any idea how idiotic and ignorant it makes you seem to suggest so?

it basically means you are such a negative person that it would be impossible in your mind to say anything positive unless you are involved with the sale, which in my opinion is beyond sad.

Posted by: jm at April 3, 2007 11:57 AM

Exactly, JM. Right on.

The bitter cynicism like philistine's on this site is terrible. This site is unique, envied by other communities without such a resource, and is helpful to people. Or, rather it COULD be helpful. Were it not for the a-holes who insist on raining on the parade all the time. Who lives like that? It's okay to point out specific reasons you might not like a property, or why you think it's not priced appropriately. But as for the generic overall bitterness, it's useless and nobody cares to hear it.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 3, 2007 12:06 PM

Whether to paint wood or not depends entirely on the setting. There are plenty of rooms where bright white woodwork looks great. However a classic late-Victorian center hall staircase with carved details like the one in this listing is going to look weird painted white. Honor the house you've got is my credo.

Posted by: anonymous at April 3, 2007 3:33 PM

These houses are georgeous if you like these kind of houses. Dr's will pay high rent and most of the homes in that area have all the details. Mansions are over there Berkeley school is there someone will buy it.Not poor folks like us though.Let me add yr right accross from the Park walking distance to shops subway and NYM hospital great schools. May dr's have purchased homes in this area also.....

Posted by: PC at April 3, 2007 4:00 PM

Posted by: PC at April 3, 2007 4:04 PM

In our house the staircase was left stained and unpainted, as was the front door and foyer. The baseboards and moldings in other rooms were painted white. Which is perfect because it matches the new windows' white windowframes, and allows me to do more with color on the walls and with my decor. I have a feeling that was pretty typical, no? To leave the staircase unpainted, even if the other woodwork was painted? Seems like I see that more often than not at open houses.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 3, 2007 4:26 PM

« (New) Condos of the Day: 244 North 5th Street Monday On The Record »

April 2, 2007

House of the Day: 112 Prospect Park West

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