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May 15, 2008
House of the Day: 491 3rd Street
At least we know where I. M. Pei stands on the recessed-lighting issue! At some point, the famed architect designed the upper duplex of this four-story brick house at 491 3rd Street in Park Slope. (The lower two floors are floor-through apartments.) The design is nice enough, but other than the archway, there aren't a lot of strong statements going on as far as we can tell. According to the listing, the two lower floor-through apartments have retained their historic details and will be delivered vacant. Given the location, the asking price of $2,795,000 probably isn't too far off the market. The first open house is on Sunday from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
491 3rd Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
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Comments
mr b:
i know you always have a problem w/ the recessed lighting, but a couple of questions i hope you answer:
1. do you really not think that if recessed lighting was around 100 yrs ago, people wouldn't have used it? i tend to think they would have.
2. in this regard, why is it acceptable to install central air or window air conditioning, as 100 yrs they didn't have that--i kind of think they would have installed it then if they had it.
3. why is not a disservice to have fancy kitchens w/ crazy appliances? they didn't have that 100 yrs ago either?
4. why is it okay to have electricity--everything was gas back then.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 1:36 PM
I thought he would have knocked it down and put up a glass pyramid.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 1:46 PM
Too bad he didn't do something about the facade next door
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 1:49 PM
Secret truth #1: I'm in contract in bed stuy. I've been reading Brownstoner again so I can fool myself into believing I'm getting a good deal.
Secret truth #2: I think recessed lighting is ass. So are window AC units. I won't pretend to have some historical purity to stand on. I just think it is ass.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 1:50 PM
I personally really like the interior of this space. I think it's really well done.
Great location. Price seems about right...
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 1:51 PM
Hey Mr. B, what's with the new way of doing photo slideshows? I liked the old way, where you didn't have to reload the page to see the next pic.
Just my .02
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:03 PM
Lighting debate aside, whats makes the design of this so spectacular that IM Pei would have anything to do with it? Seems very standard - nice but not significant.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at May 15, 2008 2:10 PM
2:03
Don't hate the man for wanting the page views. it's the business he has chosen.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:10 PM
2:03:
Oldest trick in the book. The new way is a new "hit" for the blog with every picture...
Gotta love it.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:10 PM
#1 - recessed lighting isn't abhorrent becuase its new. You're just not getting it.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:32 PM
Great space, if it were cheap it would be great but 2.79 million is nuts.
People are nuts, there is no other explanation.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:32 PM
boring little house.
take away the furniture...you have four walls....Yawn.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:33 PM
At least Brownstoner has a bit of a sense of humor about recessed lighting. If you think it's "ass" you're entitled. Insulting others because you think you're an arbiter of good taste is pretty weak. Glass pyramid comment was funny. what would Gehry have done to it?
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:35 PM
Why would a great space in a great location in a great city be cheap, 2:32??
You sound nuts for thinking that nice things should come cheap...
2.7 million is the cost for a nice house in many other cities also...namely Seattle, San Francisco, parts of LA, DC, Boston.
Not to mention London, Tokyo, Zurich, Syndey, Dubai and Copenhagen.
Why should NYC be cheap? Just because you are??
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:36 PM
sorry, we just think it's looks bad to have recessed lighting in spaces that have strong period details like crown moldings...it's a matter of taste, but, hey, it's our bully pulpit...
Posted by: brownstoner at May 15, 2008 2:38 PM
I saw this place a couple of years ago. The IM Pei-ness of the place was a tad underwhelming. Downstairs apartments not great condition but with a facelift (perhaps already done) some decent rents to be had.
Pretty big pad. But IM Pei didn't facilitate any outdoor space from upper duplex which, along with the price similar to today's, kinda killed it for me in '06.
Posted by: Johnny at May 15, 2008 2:46 PM
I. M. Pei! I.M. impressed!
—Lisa Simpson
IMHO, this home is a perfect storm—in a good way—of what many with families will view as the epitome of fine city living.
I have no doubt that this place will fetch at least $2.5M. 3rd street is Park Slope is topps for city living for families with kids—the home is within walking distance to so much, and it's zoned for PS 321. And the place looks great.
Add that to two rental properties that'll give the homeowner approx. $75K in yearly revenue, and they'll be families tripping over each other to bid on this place.
Posted by: Fjorder at May 15, 2008 2:48 PM
strong period details like crown moldings? there are no "strong period details" in the rooms you've pictured with the recessed lighting. take another look. it's okay to hate recessed lighting, mr. b., but you should just admit it's an irrational hatred and not, in most cases, tethered historical appropriateness.
Posted by: i disagree at May 15, 2008 2:53 PM
I 100% agree with you Fjorder.
This one's a keeper. I'm guessing it will have a bid or two by this time next week...
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 2:55 PM
Did I. P. Freely do the interior design?
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:02 PM
Even with $6k a month in income, why would a family that can come up with $2.7 mil want to live in a smallish two-floor-walk-up duplex?
If the intention is to use whole house, you in it for $3+ mil plus you'd be messing with the feng shuei of the im pei.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:03 PM
2:36
You're right I am cheap and it has always served me well. Many of the places you name, London, San Francisco, Seattle, etc are famous for their excellent quality of life.
We are talking about Brooklyn here. The quality of life here is not all that great.
If anything Brooklyn is famous for its crime, dirt, and impoverished denizens. The cost of Brooklyn properties today is nuts. There is no there there. No reason for it to be so high. I would never buy here now, I'm too cheap. You're right.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:05 PM
3:05. You are right you free-wheeling world-traveler you. Please don't live in Brookyn. Ass.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:08 PM
I agree...I think you should leave Brooklyn.
I think it's one of the greatest, most culturally and ethnically diverse places on the planet.
I've created a nice quality of life for myself.
Perhaps you want yours handed to you, but here in New York, we work for what we want.
Which is what makes the city so alive and full of energy. People who have drive.
Not cheapskates who want everything on a silver platter.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:12 PM
ooooooh, them's fighten' words 3:05!
Posted by: Nokilissa at May 15, 2008 3:12 PM
Question:
If Brooklyn has such poor "quality of life" as you say, why is it that more people live in this borough alone than San Francisco and Seattle combined?
If it's so much better and cheaper everywhere else, don't you find it odd that NYC has 8 million people and the next largest city in the country has 3?
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:14 PM
Hey Nokilissa, thanks for your comment in yesterday's Garden of the Day feature. I'm doing great and daveinbedstuy seems to be none the worse for wear either. I couldn't believe even you caught some shrapnel. I also couldn't help but notice that without Dave and I commenting on todays GOTD, there was a grand total of 6 comments as of 3pm. I found that hilarious in light of all the guests who accused us of ruining the feature yesterday. Gee, where are all of them today with their insightful and fascinating insights on gardening?
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 3:23 PM
Yes, I know.
The truth hurts.
Brooklyn sucks, that's why it was always the cheap alternative.
everybody knows that.
maybe your friends and family who visit you
are to polite to tell you what they really think.
the prices today are insane,
in a million years would I have moved to Brooklyn if it had not been dirt cheap.
Now that it is pricey I am going to cash in because frankly, I have never really liked it.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:23 PM
Oh, and to stay on topic, this place will go for $2.7MM, recessed lighting and all.
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 3:25 PM
Dehli has a population of 14 million.....
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:26 PM
Brooklyn will be better off once you're gone, 3:23.
I know that for a fact.
In another 10-15 years all these uneducated old timers and goombahs will either be kicking the bucket or moving to florida, and this borough will only get better and better.
Us newcomers aren't going anywhere!
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:37 PM
I lived in Seattle for years and while the quality of life is great, it rains constantly nine months of the year and the people tend to be passive/aggressive and bland as oatmeal. Now I live a block away from this spectacular place. Hope it fetches 2.7M so I feel good about my 700 sq. feet.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:41 PM
I lived in Seattle for years and while the quality of life is great, it rains constantly nine months of the year and the people tend to be passive/aggressive and bland as oatmeal without brown sugar. Now I live a block away from this spectacular place. Hope it fetches 2.7M so I feel good about my 700 sq. feet.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:41 PM
I know 3 people who lived in New York and moved to San Francisco. All were back within 3 years.
They said it was boring as hell and they missed the energy that only New York seems to have.
Well most people have it. Clearly not 3:23. Luckily he's leaving soon anyway, hopefully.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:44 PM
"We newcomers," goombah.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:44 PM
Most of the posters on this site are such assholes I have to say.
You bunch of granite-haters!
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 3:49 PM
that is one fugly facade on the house next door.
Posted by: z at May 15, 2008 3:51 PM
i actually kinda like the faux stone facade for some reason...
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:01 PM
Hey,
I'm the one who brought up IM Pei in the last discussion regarding recessed lighting. you will recall my point that it is not at all unusual to mix disparate styles to good effect as in his addition of a glass pyramid to The Louvre in Paris. I'll stand on my original point, contradictions in style are what make for interesting juxtaposition as in a floorstanding antique wooden radio in the middle of a glass and steel modernist room, or a pair of sleek speakers at either side of an art nouveau carved fireplace mantle. think outside the box folks and make your own style in life, after all, when they first hooked up those brownstones to electricity it was the turn of the century equavilent of hooking up your house to broadband wireless. or perhaps we should be sticking to the hardwired electrical wiring sheathed in cotton cloth like some brownstones still have behind their walls.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:06 PM
I lived in London and find Brooklyn very similar to a lot of London neighborhoods. Low rise, kind of green (greener than Manhattan but unfortunately not nearly as green as London) + very neighborhood oriented. Even is not as much as it used to be.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:07 PM
If the rentals generate $75K than that could cover about $1.2 mm of mortgage which means you're getting the duplex for about $1.6 mm. That doesn't seem like the greatest deal in the world to me.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:13 PM
Brownstoner, you've got to stop with the comments about people's design choices. When you were renovating your own place you stopped posting pictures when people started questioning your own design choices. The houses you post here have not asked for this. They have not created blogs about their houses. They are simply trying to sell. If you couldn't take it when it happened to you on your own blog, what gives you the right to slam their choices. Go back to being neutral before it's too late.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:13 PM
That was me above.
dt
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:14 PM
This is the same house that was on the market last spring, but I don't remember the price then, not that it matters. Not the most exciting house on the market right now, but not the worst either.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:15 PM
London has its pitted parts too. But the nicer areas are to die for. So many lovely, green, well-tended cities in Europe. Unfortunately none of our American cities come close except perhaps San Francisco and Seattle.
Brooklyn is an acquired taste. Life is hard here and the locals are, well, they're Brooklynites. I feel that my relatives in other cities have a nicer quality of life than I do. An easier time of it. No subways.
No roaches, no rats, no urine by the doorway as you leave your house in the morning. The little things like that.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:18 PM
You belong in house in the burbs in New Jersey, 4:18, doing your part to ruin the planet.
BTW, this house in the nicer parts of London would cost 7-10 million US dollars.
You sound like a miserable old fellow.
Ignorant too...
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:22 PM
I've encountered quite a few people lately from these "lovely, green, well-tended cities of Europe" who have either visited or bought property in Park Slope. Most have said they think Park Slope is more beautiful. And a bargain.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:24 PM
if you live in brownstone brooklyn and don't have a good quality of life, that's because your life sucks. don't blame it on brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:30 PM
Help yourself to SF or Seattle and maybe the rest of us will get to enjoy Brooklyn that much more.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:42 PM
You know what they say...
If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.
Seems 4:18/3:23 simply can't make it.
Don't feel bad for him though. He gave it a few decades, but his small IQ just won out in the end.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:47 PM
All the gorgeous $20 million historic townhouses in Manhattan have recessed lighting. See for yourselves. Look at the pictures on listings on the NY Times.
But the $1 to $3 million brownstones in Brooklyn are too stylish for that?
Whatever.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 4:57 PM
He should spend more time at Union Hall!!!
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 15, 2008 4:59 PM
Dave, today's Garden of the Day now has a whopping 8 comments as of 5pm, including one by you. Boy, all those faded typers where so right about us killing the discussion yesterday. I'm sure they'll all be showing up momentarily with hundreds of valuable gardening comments without us there to railroad the discussion.
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 5:09 PM
yeah, we know Biff. you wrote the same comment in another thread.
no one found it funny then, and we still don't.
you two really are grade A losers.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 5:17 PM
I don't have a problem with the lighting, and think the duplex renovation is fine. However, there's one major problem with this house in my opinion -- the layout is such that if you actually want more than the small duplex (and most people buying property for this price do) you basically have to tear out all of the I.M. Pei designed details to move the kitchen to the parlor or ground floor.
So, for 2.8 million, you are really limiting yourself to a small segment of buyers who want a walk-up duplex with no outdoor space. I guarantee you that the typical brownstone family is not looking for this. So your pool of buyers is far smaller than for other brownstones with a typical configuration. So the I.M. Pei stuff is a waste, and really doesn't add much value to this at all.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 5:18 PM
Thanks for reading and remembering all my posts, 5:17! Just another fan to add to my fan club.
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 5:19 PM
Oh, and by the way 5:17, the "same" comment was not on another thread, it was above at 3:23. My last comment was an update on that post. Please get with the program, honey bun.
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 5:20 PM
haha, you wish you were my honey bun, loser. uh oh, somebody's gotten under 5:23's skin...
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 5:25 PM
i don't wish.
i'm not into middle aged, ambigously gay losers.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 5:28 PM
Wow, 5:28, I think the only thing worse than a loser, is someone like you who continues to be baited into responding to a "middle aged, ambiguously gay loser." :-)
Your turn...
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 5:37 PM
you didn't post a single comment on the garden, biff but are criticizing people here for not doing so?
what would your kids say about your hypocrisy?
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 5:39 PM
No, 5:39, it was the guests yesterday who criticized me and Dave for getting in the way and halting the garden discussion so I'm pointing out how silly they were since nobody is commenting on gardens today when I'm staying away from teh topic. It has nothing to do with hypocrisy. I'm sorry that simple concept is so tough for you to grasp. I'll use smaller words next time, ok?
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 5:46 PM
Why are they selling?
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 5:52 PM
I don't know about you'all, but I find the facade of this house is a mess. What a lousy "brownstoning" job. The house was uglified and lost detail. Sad.
They should drop the price a little to move this house. It's a good location but an ugly string of rowhouses. Must have been decent in 1890 but that's over 100 years ago.
To the first poster on this thread, gas was not a 100% of the lighting 100 yrs ago. Oil was still being used and then kerosene came in. There was lots of non-gas lighting and soon electric bulbs DID come in. Now, if you were talking 150 years ago, that'd be a different story. Our house was probably on oil lamps and candles originally...no gas...it was retrofitted later.
Now, on this whole discussion of living in other cities and European cities being so fabulous...hhhh... I've lived in big and small cities…in European cities, in Southeast Asia (a huge city) and Manhattan…and frankly:
I LIKE BROOKLYN!
Paris can be dirty, pee-stinking, polluted...tiresome with social unrest, homeless guys who accost you, military police hanging over you ...attitudes of stressed inhabitants rushing around. When you live in a city and work there, you're not in the same mode as when you visit.
Some cities are considered “livable” but they can play out pretty quickly sometimes. Amsterdam…plays out…Aachen…tiny…Geneva...ugh.. Berlin...too complicated to comment on here but it has its issues. Madrid... okay but issues...
It depends on what you find livable, what culture you jive with...and then...most people benefit from an eventual change of scene.
There are lots of pretty livable small cities in the US that no one ever seems to mention. Though cities in Western Europe may seem lovely, and even if they have better social services and safety nets, they still have their poverty and depressing housing...now, honestly, our plight in the US is worse on that level. But, yes, there are some nice smaller cities in the US that are not doing that badly and are picturesque.
J’AI DEUX AMOURS: MON PAYS ET BKLYN!
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 6:43 PM
Sniff,
I don't always get your comments. Relax. Don't stress so much.
Anyway, let's hear it for middle-aged gays!
Wahoo! Just won in Cali!
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 6:46 PM
Oh...and Paris=dog doo... Berlin too...
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 6:48 PM
The garden is prettier than the interior which needs some color on those walls but then maybe it would look smaller.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 7:02 PM
To the person who keeps writing how high the quality of life is in San Francisco. Like any city, it depends on the neighborhood. Some are high end yuppie hell and some are gang ridden and drug infested. I lived there for 14 years. Although it is aesthetically gorgeous there are many issues not unlike here. But one of the serious "quality of life issues" was the vast number of homeless people. I'm telling you there were days I didn't want to leave my flat because on each street corner there would be a panhandler. And they are notoriously aggressive. I've actually been spit at, cursed at, and chased because I wouldn't hand out money. I've been in Brooklyn for 12 years I couldn't think of a better place to live. Yes, there are times when I go nuts, but at least I don't have to hear "whatever" from a San Franciscan who doesn't want to cause waves.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 7:33 PM
I have to say that although i have lived here for fifteen years, brooklyn has its problems. I think that yahoos who think all old people should die or that anyone with an opposing view should move out, do not reflect well on Brooklyn. There is a certain coarseness here, which is absent in most other places where houses sell for a million dollars or more. i think it is something we should think about and try to improve. I realize some of the posters here are just kids but the tone is sometimes so awful that it is just completely off-putting. For example, the writer who is so rude to Biff, he is a redneck. I don't care if he is a native New Yorker, he is still a redneck. it is hard to reconcile redneck behavior with million dollar real estate, I have to agree with that.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 7:47 PM
Really, 7:47?
I happen to think posters like Dave and Biff are two "people" who give Brooklyn a bad name.
They are aggressive, they will pick a fight with anyone, act like children and talk about nonsense for hours on end.
You do realize that those are two grown men, right?
Their behavior is deplorable, in my opinion.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 7:56 PM
Look, for the time being we can handle Brooklyn. It's where we live and frankly, there IS less dog doo on the streets compared with Paris!
7:33--you're right. San Francisco looks great but it's got problems. Cali is a mess. Love it but it can be a mess. NY'ers can't function out there. It's another country.
And anyway, San Francisco can be boring...a compleeeetely different rhythm...and to think it's the biggest city for a huge distance in both directions on the coast. Very hard for East Coast Megapolis (Megalopolis?) dwellers to fathom.
We live between two East Coast cities and though they're farther apart than I would like in terms of our commuting back and forth, I like the two places and the commute is do-able.
Sadly, there is a LOT of harrowing poverty in the US and Brooklyn. I wonder what will happen to central brownstone Brooklyn as the economy falters. There are many people suffering now. How visible will poverty become in the, currently, tonier nabes? Will there be more break-ins, renos that don't progess or half-built apartment buildings like in the early 90's, muggings?
Funny, I used to live on the UES on a main drag (Park) in a "pre-war" doorman 12-story building (1 & 2 apts per floor)--you know, the formula--a car had its window smashed in for a stereo right in front of the building one night...a friend was brutally mugged on E. 77 just off Park.
So...who knows...
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 7:59 PM
Regarding Biff Champion:
You have divulged too much info about yourself, buddy. We know approximately what streets you live near, we know you have kids, but may or may not have a wife. We know you like to flirt with men and even gave out your email to a certain poster on here not too long ago. People talk, you know. And a LOT of people in these parts read brownstoner and are better at putting pieces together than you might suspect.
I suggest you wise up, unless you'd like to be "outed"
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 8:05 PM
Yes, Biff and Dave are tiresome...such drivel from their fingers...
Maybe they should open a sports bar: "Biff'n'Dave's".
Could go national.
Anyway..."Biff Champion"??? Was that a hero on an old-time radio drama...or a thoroughbred racehorse? I don't get it... I have friends named Kick, Skip, Tripp and a couple other incredibly preppy-sounding names I won't even write.
But "Champion"...? I guess it's supposed to be 50's-60's retro.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 8:05 PM
7:47 I suspect that you are a person (notice I do not put that in quotes) who is a bit hostile to homosexuals or to others who you think have different values than yourself. No one likes a bully or a man or woman who is coarse or ill-mannered. If one is speaking of homes valued at 2.7 million dollars, it is not fitting to be juvenille, homophobic, racist, ageist, or just plain rude. People with money do not appreciate rudeness, except perhaps from their lawyers but never done in their presence. If Brooklyn is truly a place where houses go for these prices I think we should start acting the part. Don't you think so hon?
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 8:07 PM
I love Brooklyn. I Lived In New Jersey for 3 years and I hated it. There is nothing to do at all, the best place to eat is the Cheescake factory. Yuck
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 8:32 PM
I love brooklyn too but gosh, my in-laws live in new jersey and we have been to some really great restaurants there. i mean don't over do it, there is life outside brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 8:43 PM
8:05#1, you're hilarious. You really think I'm worried about some guest threats? You know approximately what streets I live near, that I may or may not have a wife (why don't you add in that I may or may not be gay and I may or may not have a job, etc). Any idiot can repeat the vague information you've given. People talk...OOOOOOHHHHHHH. A lot of people in these parts read Brownstoner. Yeah, ok. So what are you going to do, tell the wife that I may or might not have that I'm not popular with all the posters on Brownstoner? Are you going to tell my imaginary kids (thanks for proving you are totally off base) about their "daddy"? You are so sad.
8:05#2, please try to at least be entertaining. That post was very bland.
Posted by: Biff Champion at May 15, 2008 9:17 PM
@8:05,
i'm not exactly a biff fan. i find him often annoying and sometimes enterntaining, but to threaten someone like you did really isn't cool, just like the What threatening brownstoner isn't cool. this is a blog for goodness sake.
i prefer not to sign in, but we shouldn't punish those who do and are more "accountable" for their comments by using information they've shared against them.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 10:11 PM
7:59
What the F%^k??? "harrowing" poverty?
What is it with you people who think that "poverty" is a problem in the US. It is categorically NOT a problem in the US as opposed to much of the rest of the world. Unless of course you define "poverty" as having only one television with cable, a one bedroom apartment, approximately 30 thousand in yearly entitlements, oh and 3 meals a day with approximately 50 pounds of exess weight (i.e. obesity). And you read that right, the "poor" in america are getting the equivalent of about 30 thousand dollars in entitlements when you add up the housing subsidies, the food subsidies, the daycare subsidies, the medical subsidies and the fact that they do not pay taxes. Oh, one last thing, EVERY single one of those folks in "harrowing" poverty in the USA is entitled to a free education. Nothing against the poor, in fact I was "poor" once, just the idea that there is a screaming social problem being unaddressed in this nation when in fact it is the poor personal and social choices that people make in life that are responsible for many of the "harrowing" situations we see, not the lack of abundant opportunity. compare that to Russia, China or India for instance. Comparisons to northern european socialized nations of roughly 1/50th our population and 1% immigration and zero birth rate do not count.
Posted by: guest at May 15, 2008 10:35 PM
I have been in 491 3rd Street and the owners' duplex is HUGE. It has four bedrooms and really high ceilings and a beautiful layout with the living room and dining room and kitchen. I also love the garden apartment, which has two bedrooms and feels like an English cottage. If I had the money, I would buy this place immediately. The house has wonderful flow and feels very special.
Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 10:15 AM
I just saw this house and it's pretty amazing. The space is laid out incredibly well in the upstairs apartment with really beautiful light from the third floor windows. The two downstairs apartments have clearly been really tastefully renovated. The middle one has gorgeous high ceilings and the basement apartment has woodsy charm (original fireplace and mouldings, etc.) It seems like a really good price for so much space considering the block and the amenities... Great garden too.
Posted by: newtothehood at May 16, 2008 10:27 AM
"Sadly, there is a LOT of harrowing poverty in the US and Brooklyn."
NYC has a huge multitude of social programs, privately funded, on top of programs that are funded with public money. There is more poverty than there should be in the U.S. and NYC of course, but in any family where the poverty has become "harrowing" it's because of substance abuse and neglect from parents. Nothing creates poverty like alcoholism and drug abuse. Nothing. And those addictions happen because of a general childish outlook and total lack of responsibility.
We have to prevent poverty. Prevent substance abuse. Not keep paying out money for band-aids.
Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 11:29 AM
Okay 10:15 and 10:27 am, there's alot of square footage but 2 bedrooms are 6 x 14 which are extremely small for anyone, even a child. Perhaps the floorplan isn't accurate. And, having only one bath on the floor with 4 bedrooms means always going downstairs to bathe. Yes, it might not be that big of a deal, but the more "typical" family-sized brownstone is 4 floors, with 2 floors of bedrooms (each bedroom being fairly sized) and baths on each bedroom floor.
Someone may fall in love with this, but it's still hard for me to believe that someone with a 2.8 million budget might not keep looking a bit to try to find something better, especially something with outdoor space. But good luck selling it, it is still a nice house, just not the ideal configuration for most buyers.
Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 12:33 PM
Designed by IM Pei? Himself? Uh, no. At best it's 6 degrees of separation. It was a draftsman who may have been able to claim a remote relationship with IM Pei.
Posted by: guest at May 17, 2008 9:23 AM
Hey 9:23am...don't be a hater.
Can you even afford properties such as this?
Posted by: guest at May 17, 2008 8:24 PM
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