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October 27, 2008

House of the Day: 567 1st Street

567-1st-Street-1008.jpg
You don't see the phrase "quadruple parlor floor" tossed around too often, but it made the grade in this listing for 567 1st Street in Park Slope. The same rear addition that makes such a phrase possible is also responsible for pushing the square-footage tally on this four-story brownstone of the 5,000 mark (it's 5,352 square feet to be exact). It makes the claim of "extra-wide" which technically may be right (Property Shark says 21 feet) but is stretching it a bit. Anyway, beautiful house, stone's throw from the park—what's not to like! The asking price is $2,989,000. Buyer-friendly or oh-so-2007?
567 1st Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 1:19 PM | Comments (67)
Categories: HOTD, Park Slope

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Comments

pretty sweet...is that wood a funny finish, or is it just the pictures? And what's a "discreet" showing? Do you go in under the cover of night?

Posted by: new2hood at October 27, 2008 1:28 PM

Yeah, it looks as if that stairway and the doorways have some sort of faux finish or "antiqued" woodgrain finish. Fugly.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 1:33 PM

Personally, the problem with the extension (and almost all extensions)is that they cut off the garden from the house and of course greatly reduce the size of the garden. In this house you can't see the garden from any room but the kitchen and the only access is through the laundry room. Big parlor floor windows onto a garden--or a deck overlooking the garden--and a garden floor kitchen with doors onto the garden are probably the very best features of a brownstone. I don't see the appeal of a brownstone in which there is no view of--or easy access to--a really nice garden.

Posted by: shillstoner at October 27, 2008 1:46 PM

I concur; the woodwork is quite ugly. A discreet showing? WTF does that mean, give the mariachi band that accompanies me to every open house the day off?

Posted by: Fjorder at October 27, 2008 1:47 PM

new2hood - they must be embarrassed to be selling. You'll have to knock on the door disguised as the pizza man or a keyspan operative.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 1:50 PM

Not loving this house, esp. that wood stain.

They did an oval shaped (why???) addition but yet I can't figure out where the kitchen is.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 27, 2008 1:55 PM

"Discreet viewings by appointment only." Remember that people. No Fjorder, no mariachis in tow.

Why no pictures of the kitchen and baths brokers!!!??? Get with it.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 2:09 PM

My guess is that the house dates from the 1880's and was renovated in 1907. The renovation included the new oval dining room, the Caen stone mantle, and the light-color woodwork.
It looks like a stunning mansion to me.

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 2:11 PM

"It looks like a stunning mansion to me."

I agree it's stunning, sam, but is this really considered a mansion (and I don't mean in the true Mill Basin/Dyker Heights sense of the word) or are we getting a bit loose in applying that term to any brownstone in decent shape?

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 2:30 PM

The backyard of the apartment building to the right looks a bit dreary and takes the curb appeal down a notch or two. Why didn't they put lot-line windows on that side of the house? It would sure add some light to the extra-deep presumably dark townhouse.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at October 27, 2008 2:32 PM

Biff, The parlor floor layout says "mansion" to me.
this is not an ordinary brownstone.

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 2:34 PM

mansion to me always means freestanding.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 2:41 PM

Mansions are free-standing in the suburbs, but in the city they are often part of a row, or semi-attached, like this one.

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 2:44 PM

nope. it's a mansion, you're going to say a kensington attached house in london isn't a mansion?

i like it, thought, huge and i like the layout, except i'd turn the dining room into a kick ass kitchen...

but that wood might be a dealbreaker, maybe not so bad in person...

plus i'd play doctor fetish games in the garden floor...

Posted by: sender9999 at October 27, 2008 2:46 PM


"Why didn't they put lot-line windows on that side of the house? It would sure add some light to the extra-deep presumably dark townhouse."

best suggestion i've heard all day! i have a friend with a huge brownstone with a double extension and home is beautiful but very dark. not alot of natural light on the parlor at all.

Posted by: bkny at October 27, 2008 2:54 PM

This screams "needs major updating" to me.

Posted by: MR at October 27, 2008 2:56 PM

Sender, I am from London. We'd never call this a mansion. These houses are two a penny in London.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 2:57 PM

The wikipedia entry for mansion has got pictures of houses that are mansions.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 2:59 PM

Where's TownhouseLady to show all of us what a mansion really looks like?

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 3:04 PM

Mansion...NO!!
Townhouse...YES.

Mansion = Breakers, San Simeon, Biltmore, etc.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 27, 2008 3:07 PM

mansion: a very large, impressive, or stately residence. (random house)

Posted by: new2hood at October 27, 2008 3:12 PM

"These houses are two a penny in London."

Yikes, UK real estate has fallen further and faster than I thought!

Posted by: SnarkSlope at October 27, 2008 3:13 PM

I must be the only one but I like the light colored wood work. It doesn't appear to be stained at all. If they had all that woodwork stained dark, it would be really overbearing.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 27, 2008 3:14 PM

I would consider the ex-connelly house a mansion or the ethical culture society for sure, but not a brownstone that does not differentiate itself from its attached neighbors in the same way as some of what I am going to call mansions on Garfield and Montgomery.

The house looks relatively nice (I'm going to assume that the pictures don't do the wood justice) and I am not particularly impressed by the parlor floor... The truth is that most of the parlor floors in the brownstones in the neighborhood (at least on this block of 1st street) are/were comparable before somebody moved in and renovated the charm and history out of it.

One caveat: It's right across the street from the poly prep lower school, so there's a lot of kid activity and noise from the playground.

Nonetheless, even in this economic climate, the house is cheap. I wouldn't sell it for less than 4/5m.

Posted by: SJ at October 27, 2008 3:17 PM

SJ...then you should buy it at the current ask of $2.9MM and then flip it for $4/5 MM!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 3:22 PM

I often hear Bloomberg's house referred to as a mansion, and it is an attached house.

I do not agree that mansion means free-standing only. If it does, we should change our opinion of that as this country hopefully becomes a little less decadent.

Posted by: 11217 at October 27, 2008 3:22 PM

I love the woodwork although that white paint isn't working against it.

Not sure I'd want to add windows unless I owned that side lot.

Posted by: Ringo at October 27, 2008 3:31 PM

The playground at poly prep is in the back of the building (mansion?)that it is housed in. My kids went there when they were little. I was thinking that this would be a great location for a family with children since the school, which I think is one of the very nicest in Brooklyn, if not the whole city, is just down the block.
This crowd is pretty tough on properties in Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights.
Senator Schumer lives aroud the corner. This is a nice block. I think the price is reasonable.


Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 3:32 PM

I think by $4/5m, SJ means $800k.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at October 27, 2008 3:33 PM

'since the school, which I think is one of the very nicest in Brooklyn, if not the whole city, is just down the block.'

I wouldn't go as far as saying that's the nicest house in the whole city. Have you been to Manhattan? It's over the bridge.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 27, 2008 3:36 PM

HOBOKENROCKS is going to pick this up for $600k in three months.

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 3:37 PM

The Hulbert Mansion that was once the woodward park school and is now poly is definitely a mansion.

Posted by: SJ at October 27, 2008 3:38 PM

"Senator Schumer lives aroud the corner"

That should lop off at least 20%.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at October 27, 2008 3:39 PM

Hey Baygirl, I meant the school is one of the finest in the city, and I stand by that. The mansion that the school is in is one of the nicest in Park Slope. It was built by a paper baron, the school has preserved a lot of the interiors. It is a great school if you can get in that is.
I'm not going to argue with you about houses since I know that you think if it ain't the Breakers, it ain't up to snuff.

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 3:41 PM

Yes Snark...you should only expect to get a premium if a cop lives next door. And you might even then be able to drink together on your stoops without fear of a ticket.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 3:42 PM

We have issues with the good senator? do tell?

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 3:47 PM

OK, so we agree its not a mansion but it is a nice house. All those in favor say aye

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 3:47 PM

"Aye". And can we agree that this home, while freestanding, is also not a mansion?

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/10/brooklyns_own_t.php#comments

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 3:50 PM

Mansions - Biltmore, etc.
Mini Mansions - Litchfield, Poly, etc.
McMansions - insert your own definations

House featured here is a Townhouse with details.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 27, 2008 3:51 PM

Aye!
It is a nice house with mansion-like characteristics.


Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 3:51 PM

bayridgegirl = Paris Hilton under cover.


Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 3:53 PM

It does have a grand piano at least.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 3:54 PM

It has a music room, so therefore it's a mansion.

Mansion is where the heart is.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 27, 2008 3:56 PM

Can we now discuss for the next 30 posts if that really is a grand piano or if it's in fact a baby grand?

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 3:57 PM

And San Quentin is where the (Charles) Manson is.

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 3:58 PM

FYI: this house has been on the market since June. The original listing price was $3.489 million. As per Streeteasy:


06/11/2008-Listed in StreetEasy by Elliman at $3,489,000
10/06/2008-Price decreased to $3,289,000
10/22/2008-Price decreased to $2,989,000

Posted by: nyc87 at October 27, 2008 3:59 PM

There are grand pianos and there are concert grands.
This is a mini-grand.

San Simeon has an organ the size of a brownstone, oops, damn, I take that back! A pipe organ, a pipe organ!


Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 4:01 PM

I think you're right Biff. Please strike my earlier comments from the record m'lord.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 4:01 PM

While I was almost drawn in by bayridgegirl's certitude, the only thing that saved me was that she is wrong.

Homes like Biltmore, most of the historic homes in Newport, Monticello etc... are referred to as estates rather than mansions.

So, these should be placed on top of the list, the "mini" in front of mansion removed and the rest is fine.

Posted by: SJ at October 27, 2008 4:02 PM

You know what's better than roses on your piano don't you???

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 4:04 PM

Personally, I only think it's worth the price if they agree to include the file cabinets. My particular favorite being the "calico" one.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at October 27, 2008 4:07 PM

And oversized, tasteless and architecturally insignificant pianos are McGrand Pianos.

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 4:08 PM

An estate is extent of land of the mansion, or manor house, (and can include the house), but it is not the house itself.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 4:08 PM

tell us DIBS

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 4:09 PM

"Tulips" on your organ!!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 4:12 PM

There you go! I knew this whole organ thing would get out of hand.

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 4:15 PM

groan

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 4:15 PM

you started it sam!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 4:16 PM

I meant that as a dissatisfied groan, not a satisfied one.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 4:16 PM

It's the only organ joke I had.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2008 4:17 PM

The DOW is inching ever closer to 8000!
Congrats DOW8000, you nailed it!


Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 4:17 PM

"you should only expect to get a premium if a cop lives next door."

[enter hot cop, stage right]

Posted by: SnarkSlope at October 27, 2008 4:49 PM

I step away for an hour and this is what I come back to.

Estates
Pianos
Organs

If you buy the lot next door to this house also, does it make it an estate?

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 27, 2008 4:49 PM

SnarkSlope, that line killed me in the Tiki Bar thread. Can you please try to work it into every thread today. It's hilarious!

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 27, 2008 4:53 PM

BRG - as long as you can ride your horse there it qualifies as an estate.

Posted by: dittoburg at October 27, 2008 5:06 PM

It's long and there's grass. So I think the horse is a go. There's also a nice fence for some steeplechase, so it's definitely an estate.

Posted by: SJ at October 27, 2008 5:14 PM

As long as you're dead, it's an estate.
This is a very large and rather pretentious house. As I am rather large and pretentious myself, I naturally love it.

Posted by: sam at October 27, 2008 6:32 PM

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