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September 15, 2008

House of the Day: 315 Garfield Place

Holy Cow! The owner of 315 Garfield Place in Park Slope wants to party like it's early 2007. The oversized brownstone (it weighs in at about 6,700 square feet) admittedly looks flawless, but we can't quite get our arms around the asking price of $8,500,000. According to DOB filings, the seller started renovating the one-family house a month after purchasing it in October 2006 for $3,275,550. (The application cites a project cost of just $75,000, but it's common practice to understate this number.) Still, the market now can't be any higher than it was two years ago, and the seller's looking to get a mark-up of more than $5 million. Huh?
315 Garfield Place [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark

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This is truly laughable, and the brokers know it. They are trying to equate this property with 17 PPW (the Connelly mansion that allegedly sold for its asking price of $8.5 million), but that is like comparing mealy, wormy horse apples to apples. This Garfield Place house is not an $8.5 million property! At all!!

I am indignant at the fact that at this price tag, the front door is a cheap, white Home Depot-looking piece of crap. How did they get that approved by Landmarks? The wood paneling is PINE (!!) and must have been part of the reno by the owners. This will sit and sit and sit, just like 155 Warren in Cobble Hill--you'll recall it was listed by this same BHS broker at $8.75 million, only to be reduced by millions and finally handed over to Sotheby's where it still can't move at $6.3 million.

This pricetag is ludicrous. Flippers will most likely have to settle for merely breaking even.

Posted by: nyc87 at September 15, 2008 1:28 PM

I think he will get close to asking, if the house was on Mars.

Posted by: Xander Crews at September 15, 2008 1:30 PM

Honestly, I haven't a clue what I would do with all that space.

Posted by: Fjorder at September 15, 2008 1:30 PM

I agree w/ nyc87, this is not an 8.5M house. I believe this is not even a landmarked part of the neighborhood. But better yet, this does not compare to 17PPW adn I'm not even referring to the material used on the home for the renovations. OY VEY

Posted by: oohlala at September 15, 2008 1:33 PM

I hope the seller will be reading the posts that he gets on this one.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2008 1:34 PM

Fiorder - with all that space, I would have put in a bigger master bathroom. with a soaking tub and a shower a large vanity. The more I look at the plan the more I'm getting irked by that little dinky master bathroom.

Price is funny though...made my day. This is the perfect house of the day, on the day the finacial world is reeling.

Irony at it's best!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at September 15, 2008 1:36 PM

Wow what a house. Even if I were able to afford this and move in, the first thing my out of town relations would say when they visit would be: "nice, but our house has a 2-car garage, where do you park?.

The panelling is indeed pine, "knotty pine", which was all the rage in the 1900-1920 period. The knots are small though not like the 1950's version.

I think for this money I would rather buy a couple of houses, including a place on Mallorca, my latest fave island.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 1:51 PM

Ugh.....did they actually choose to put in that wood paneling? That's so wrong.

Posted by: cortnyc at September 15, 2008 1:52 PM

Finally a price that even Brownstoner thinks is absurd! The seller should get some kind of medal--the Brownstoner Golden Cahones.

Posted by: shillstoner at September 15, 2008 1:54 PM

Unless this was purchased with the intent to flip, I wonder if the owner is listing this as an ego boost or to test their investment.

Posted by: cortnyc at September 15, 2008 1:56 PM

You can always rent out the English Basement and the top floor to help meet the mortgage.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 15, 2008 2:08 PM

This is a joke, ya?

Weird layout, painted trim (which I like, but for this price) 3 kitchens...no 1/2 bath on parlor floor but 2 on the garden floor (that is a full bath off the hall, isn't it? Formal dining room one floor up from the kitchen? I guess you'll have to have serving maids.

Posted by: cmu at September 15, 2008 2:09 PM

I heard they discovered oil under the back garden.

Posted by: dittoburg at September 15, 2008 2:11 PM

I just read the desciption more carefully.
This was designed by CPH Gilbert. That's hot stuff.
He was the architect to the stars back when.
The knotty pine panelling is definitely original, it was quite expensive because the knots are small and they
boards had to be carefully matched to present an even patterning. I have seen the same panelling in CPH Gilbert mansions in Manhattan.
Definitely to die, not your average Brooklyn brownstone.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 2:13 PM

You're right dittoburg...it sits right next to the giant 24K gold boulder they dug up.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 15, 2008 2:16 PM

Unless this were purchased by a flipper, I wonder if this listing does not reflect a true intent to sell, but rather is designed as an ego boost/investment check.

Posted by: cortnyc at September 15, 2008 2:16 PM

There's a kitchen right off the formal dining room. There is also a kitchen in the English basement, so that looks like a separate unit. Same goes for the top floor. Odd layout unless you need to house the help and the in-laws.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 15, 2008 2:17 PM

No doubt the house is gorgeous but, the pricing is out of control. Shame on the agents.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 15, 2008 2:18 PM

"Definitely to die, not your average Brooklyn brownstone."

Agreed, but still overpriced by at least 50%, no?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 15, 2008 2:18 PM

HOLY SHITE That front door is so ugly and out of place. The person who is responsible for that should be spanked, and hard.

Posted by: billyboomer at September 15, 2008 2:21 PM

The white door does look ridiculous. Get some Hollandlac Brilliant Black on there!!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2008 2:22 PM

this house is beautiful, gorgeous. not too much space at all. i love the layout. the price is outrageous. maybe the owner worked for Lehman and needs the cash and thinks this will save his/her retirement?

Posted by: bkny at September 15, 2008 2:22 PM

Knotty pine? For $8 mil? Yeah, right.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 2:31 PM

Is Park Slope the new Upper East Side?

Posted by: Amzi Hill at September 15, 2008 2:32 PM

A small kitchenette off a main dining room is not uncommon for a house this size. If you were hosting a formal dinner party it would serve as a final staging area before the food went out to guests.

I'm assuming the top floor kitchen is for the help. If you can buy a house like this you more than likely would have live-in help.

Seriously killer house even though the pricing still has me shaking my head.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 15, 2008 2:33 PM

I have to disagree with the posters that are disparaging the design of the house. The front door, like the panelling, looks original to me. Painted on the outside, rubbed finish on the inside. Exquisite. This is a connoisseur's house.
The price tag does seem outlandish but the place is a gilded-era, limestone-fronted mansion with a pedigree. It's in a league of its own. One thing is for sure, it hit the market at a really bad moment. wall streeters are reaching for their smelling salts, not their checkbooks to buy trophy houses.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 2:35 PM

Advice to seller: cut the asking price by 50%, and then still be prepared to accept a lower offer.

There is no way this seller doesn't come out of this looking even dumber than he already does. I usually blame brokers for stupid asking prices, but not even a broker is this foolish. The asking price must have been dictated by the seller.

Posted by: lechacal at September 15, 2008 2:38 PM

I'm sorry, don't get me wrong, I love Brooklyn. But is there anything in this boro that warrants an 8.5 million dollar pricetag? I thought the Connelly mansion was overpriced as well - but the market spoke I suppose. This seems like 5 mill @ the most. (7 in carroll gardens haha)

Posted by: A Guest at September 15, 2008 2:39 PM

Surely this house is priced by McCain's economic advisor who thinks the economy is sound. Hey, maybe it is one of the houses that senile old bastard has forgotten about?

Is there a more perfect day for this to be the house of the day?

Posted by: kuroko at September 15, 2008 2:40 PM

Incidentally, I know one of the brokers, and remember being shocked at how much she was asking (as rent) for her duplex+basement in central PS. They had several offers right away. She is also one of the top brokers at BHS, so maybe the price underscores something we don't see.

Posted by: cmu at September 15, 2008 2:45 PM

Not so long ago one could have bought all of Crown Heights for 8 million and they would have thrown in Bedford Corners.
Wait, that may still be the current price.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 2:46 PM

$8.5mm and only 4 interior photos? *head explodes*

Posted by: z at September 15, 2008 2:47 PM

"Back in the day" sam, Manhattan went for $24 to the Indians!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2008 2:51 PM

Dave: Peter Minuit may have worked for Corcoran.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 2:55 PM

ooooh, lookie, lookie! Another "intelligent" neighborhood market analysis from sam. Ooooh. How you do it, sam? It's all in the placement of your head, right? I find it amazing that you can bend so far over backwards.

Posted by: lurker in the mist at September 15, 2008 3:06 PM

I wonder why they didn't list it for an even 9 million. Or is that just crazy talk.

Posted by: Xander Crews at September 15, 2008 3:07 PM

this is the same agent who overpriced 3rd street, no?

Posted by: bulla12 at September 15, 2008 3:15 PM

Oops- and for my gratuitous comment: Love the house, too much money by half, hate knotty pine and can't say from the [picture if it's original or not but it looks too modern to me and the fireplace looks like it was modernized. But that's just my impression from the pictures.

From the web site "a library paneled with rare patterned wood."

Posted by: lurker in the mist at September 15, 2008 3:20 PM

All this talk of Jennifer is making me sad. How could she leave us?

Posted by: FatLenny at September 15, 2008 3:26 PM

lurker...go back to lurking and not posting. You apparently can't understand a joke.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2008 3:32 PM

This is looking more and more like black monday to me.
AIG is slipping away too. The Dow Industrials down 400 points. Dunno.
there are an awful lot of over-extended thirty-somethings and forty-somethings in the brownstone neighborhoods, especially the pricier ones, who are going to find themselves unemployed and undercapitalized. Most will be bailed out by their families I guess. The rest will have to sell and start over.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 3:47 PM

"All this talk of Jennifer is making me sad. How could she leave us?"

I know. I asked her that very thing the last time I was peeping through her window.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 15, 2008 3:51 PM

and you dave apparently can't see a pattern of snarking. sam's quite opportunistic. Why, he's almost, one could say, What-ish in his persistence.

Posted by: lurker in the mist at September 15, 2008 3:58 PM

The Fed asked Goldman and JPMorgan to lead the $80B loan to AAIG. For this they will throw them a bone. Fed will reduce rates tomorrow.

Goldman owns $40B in Treasuries...they mad $4B on the rise today in Treasury prices today.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2008 4:03 PM

18th century marble tiles in the description of the house? Really? Surely they mean 19th century, no?

Posted by: 1842 at September 15, 2008 4:29 PM

my blog name is Sam, yours is "Lurker in the Mist"
Who's more likely to come across as creepy and malevolent?
I'm just a regular nice guy who buys and sells houses now and then. I also fix them up. I also have a sense of humor.
Lets hear more about you.

Posted by: sam at September 15, 2008 4:51 PM

I have a sense of humor or lurker wouldn't be my name. (and, er....Son of Sam? sam can be a little creepy too, no?) I'm a long time b'stoner (NO- not another What alias!). For the most part you seem like an ok guy, but you have your moments- usually in regards to Crown Heights. I happen to love Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy and get tired of people snarking them.

Would love to do what you do though, but I'm tethered to Mr. Computer. I work from home, so it's not all bad.

Posted by: lurker in the mist at September 15, 2008 5:24 PM

If I had 8 million dollars I would buy one 8 million dollar hooker, or eight 1 million dollar hookers, but one has to be an albino, oh and some fried chicken.

Posted by: Xander Crews at September 15, 2008 5:29 PM

What the hell is the "Connely Mansion?"

Posted by: Ppark at September 15, 2008 8:28 PM

What the hell is the "Connelly Mansion?"

Posted by: Ppark at September 15, 2008 8:29 PM

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/05/house_of_the_da_492.php

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 16, 2008 9:24 PM

I can personally say withe the exception of sam and bkny you are all grossly uninformed! I have had the EXTREME pleasure of staying in the house many time. Every thing is completely restored to the most minute details. Keys found for all the look, like fixtures taken apart and cleaned or replaced with era appropriate one. Mahogany doors, hand made shutters on all the windows from mahogany, missing molding painstaking recreated. Chrome re-chromed, stainless steel matched. Even the brass screws have all bee removed and polished. The large planters in front are hand made and mahogany. How do I know this. I help oversee the army of old world artisans that did the work and personally search the world for the exact replicas. I have seen the fixtures go out for repair and return. The modern equipment has skillfully been hidden, AC huge sub Zeros, a massive Viking Range, Chimneys reopened by tearing out entire walls so that the industrial range could have a commercial hood. All fireplaces work. The house has been wired for networking. Every single wall has been re-skimed with plaster. Meile washer and dryers on two floors for the maid. This is a house for a family with servants and old world wealth. And person of that stature will instantly appreciate the detail and amenities for staff, as do the current owners. Jealously is a very ugly emotion. This is the real thing, design and restored to be lived in just as it was when it was built in the gilded age. I can't help if you cannot afford the gilded age lifestyle but many can and will completely appreciate it the moment they walk in the door.

Posted by: BDGates at October 5, 2009 3:45 PM

Sorry for the typos

Posted by: BDGates at October 5, 2009 4:55 PM

« Co-op of the Day: 100 Underhill Avenue, #3 Streetlevel: C-Town Coming to Greenwood Heights »

September 15, 2008

House of the Day: 315 Garfield Place

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