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February 24, 2009

Clinton Avenue 'Haunted House' in Contract

405-Clinton-Avenue-022409.jpg
We have been, with good reason, on the edge of our seats wondering about the future of 405 Clinton Avenue, the turn-of-the-century William Tubby design that came on the market last September after many years of neglect. Given the shape of the house and the state of the market, the initial asking price was laughable at $3,995,000. By November the price had been reduced to $2,995,000, a price that still seemed unrealistic—one person we spoke to who toured the house told us that it couldn't be worth any more than $1,500,000. Now comes word, via a tipster, that the house, which was originally built by a former mayor of Brooklyn, has gone into contract at an all-cash price "significantly less than ask." If you know the price and care to drop us a line, please know that your anonymity will be protected!
Update: We just heard from someone familiar with the deal and, while we didn't get a contract price, we did learn that it is being purchased by a preservation-minded couple that plans to restore it and keep as many details as possible; they will live in the house and create one rental apartment. Great news!
Update II: Another tipster tells us that they buyer is a couple from Manhattan and that the purchase price was somewhere in the $1.7 to $1.8 million range.
405 Clinton Avenue [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
Clinton Avenue Haunted Mansion Now 25% Cheaper [Brownstoner]
House of the Day: 405 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
Serious Dumpster Action on Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:00 AM | Comments (43)
Categories: Properties

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Comments

This house would make a great location for a film version of A Meaningful Life by LJ Davis.

Posted by: dittoburg at February 24, 2009 9:14 AM

Dunno price, but there are people in front of it right now. I asked them if it had sold, but was too chicken to ask if they were the owners. Anyways, it is good, because Friday when I walked by and saw the door wide open I just assumed someone was stealing the copper pipes, which made me sad.

Posted by: Heather at February 24, 2009 9:23 AM

Heather,
Did they confirm that it had sold?

Posted by: brownstoner at February 24, 2009 9:27 AM

Yes, they confirmed it sold.

Posted by: Heather at February 24, 2009 9:35 AM

is this place really haunted?

*r*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at February 24, 2009 9:41 AM

This house is beautiful, though the cleanup /renovation process will make the Augean stables look like child's work

Posted by: Farkus at February 24, 2009 9:42 AM

And the $64,000 question remains.... "How much?"

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 24, 2009 9:44 AM

$63,999.95.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at February 24, 2009 9:45 AM

Sweet pad. How much reno does it need? Less than a mill?

Posted by: FatLenny at February 24, 2009 10:03 AM

For those interested - "L.J. Davis’s 1971 novel, A Meaningful Life, is a blistering black comedy about the American quest for redemption through real estate and a gritty picture of New York City in collapse. Just out of college, Lowell Lake, the Western-born hero of Davis’s novel, heads to New York, where he plans to make it big as a writer. Instead he finds a job as a technical editor, at which he toils away while passion leaks out of his marriage to a nice Jewish girl. Then Lowell discovers a beautiful crumbling mansion in a crime-ridden section of Brooklyn, and against all advice, not to mention his wife’s will, sinks his every penny into buying it. He quits his job, moves in, and spends day and night on demolition and construction. At last he has a mission: he will dig up the lost history of his house; he will restore it to its past grandeur."

Posted by: dittoburg at February 24, 2009 10:09 AM

When one hires a contractor, is it customary to tell them how much you paid for your house?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at February 24, 2009 10:10 AM

"When one hires a contractor, is it customary to tell them how much you paid for your house?"

Yes, the contractor demands to know because the more you paid, the more they will charge you.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at February 24, 2009 10:12 AM

Ah yes, the Barnum Clause. Thanks for reminding me, BRG.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at February 24, 2009 10:14 AM

This doesn't sound right.

Posted by: bk14 at February 24, 2009 10:14 AM

And then tell everyone on brownstoner and get told that you've been PWNED and your head will be bashed in the ghetto.

Asshats!!!!

Please Mr. Obama may I have some skittles?

Someday this war is gonna end.....

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 24, 2009 10:16 AM

"Yes, the contractor demands to know because the more you paid, the more they will charge you."

... that doesn't sound like a legal business practice to me.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at February 24, 2009 10:16 AM

and you're sounding a bit like rob today, cw!!! :)

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 24, 2009 10:18 AM

it's haunted by the ghosts of all the pomeranians the owner killed...

Posted by: boofer at February 24, 2009 10:20 AM

DIBS - because I expect people to have some kind of honesty and decency in their business practices? :)

Sure, there's some wiggle room in hourly charges based on what city you're in, and how good the contractor is, but putting in a granite countertop should be a comparable price per square foot whether you're in a 2 BR condo in Kensington, or an 8 BR mansion in Clinton Hill.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at February 24, 2009 10:24 AM

I hope the new owners are preservationists, and will keep as much of the original details as possible. I guess the best we can hope for is that the house is on the Clinton Hill House Tour sometime in the future. I really hope they don't chop it up too much, although I understand that that is probably way too much house for one family unless you have 12 kids and both sets of grandparents.

I'd love to get in there and take before pictures. Maybe they will let Jon or Kingston Lounge in there. It is, after all, more than just an old house. The historical provenance is quite impressive. Jon, if you set it up, I'll volunteer to take the pix.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at February 24, 2009 10:25 AM

cw...you should hear some of the stories about what people pay up in Greenwich, CT.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 24, 2009 10:26 AM

http://www.1010wins.com/pages/3650249.php?contentType=4&contentId=3347263

Nice little article about the previous owner..

Posted by: boofer at February 24, 2009 10:37 AM

The sales price is public record.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at February 24, 2009 10:38 AM

sorry hit post before I finished the thought...

So, even if you don't tell the contractor they're sure to look it up.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at February 24, 2009 10:40 AM

DIBS - I'm sure I'd be horrified.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at February 24, 2009 10:41 AM

lol...see boofers post...thats the guy. I was in this place with my contractor...what a dump.

Posted by: nybk01 at February 24, 2009 10:43 AM

Is the ladder on the roof landmarked? I hope they keep that.

Posted by: eh at February 24, 2009 10:50 AM

nybk01:
Those dogs used to live in that house. A different article said that he had recently moved them from his house in brooklyn to the trailer they were seized from. He probably had to get them out of there when he put the house up for sale. I bet the piss and crap everywhere is from them.

Posted by: boofer at February 24, 2009 10:52 AM

cwb, years back when I first moved to NYC, I arranged for quotes to have my apartment painted. They ranged from a few thousand dollars to almost $8K. And this was not a huge apartment. I told my friends back home and they were in disbelief. (I ended up having a couple of guys from the building's staff do it for a very reasonable amount - they did a great job).

Posted by: Biff Champion at February 24, 2009 10:53 AM

If I were the new owners, I think I'd be pretty upset at my potential contractor for gossiping about the sale price while the house is still in contract. If the house is in contract, and thus the sale is not completed (and a matter of public record), it's not very professional for a.) the broker to be blabbing to a contractor and b.) the contractor to be blabbing to another client.

Posted by: bk14 at February 24, 2009 10:55 AM

"it's not very professional for a.) the broker to be blabbing to a contractor"

Since when was "professionalism" ever assumed to be a required broker quality????

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 24, 2009 11:02 AM

Biff - Yeh, that's why it's important to hunt around a lot and use references to try to find guys who are qualified, talented, professional, and reasonable.

Not an easy thing to do, I understand. I'm planning on using this website extensively to search for contractors, should I ever buy a property in need of work. :)

Posted by: cwbuecheler at February 24, 2009 11:17 AM

nybk01,

Why do you mention that the previous owner was Chinese? Would you say a black man? a Jewish man? a white man?

Just wondering.

Posted by: rf at February 24, 2009 11:54 AM

and cwb, I forgot to mention, I had to supply all of the paint and supplies, which I believe is standard, and this was before the housing bubble, which probably encouraged contractors to jack up their estimates even more...

Good luck...use the Forum to find recommendations for reputable contractors.

Posted by: Biff Champion at February 24, 2009 11:56 AM

or just hire someone who likes to paint and or someone who needs the money. it doesnt take a genius or a gazillion dollars to paint a couple of walls.

*r*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at February 24, 2009 12:27 PM

The owner was given the property by the previous, for whom he was their caretaker. He is a very quiet man, given the rather nasty piece of NY Times article a few years back.

To the new owners:

Please, please, please restore it and not break it up into small units. It was the residence for the last Mayor of Brooklyn.

Posted by: gwbrubaker at February 24, 2009 12:29 PM

FYI - very very high end paint job. 'Park Avenue' 'Magazine' quality - typical 2-bedroom: 25K-35K

I am not kidding!
These guys are 'artists', they use the finest horse hair brushes. Meticulous as can be. After they're done with a wall, they go over every square inch with bright light to make sure it's all even. It's amazing to watch.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at February 24, 2009 12:30 PM

Yeah, but is that kind of paint job really necessary. Most old buildings are plaster and the walls aren't perfect. Unless you are doing faux painting, the only one that will notice is another painter. But it's Manhattan and the owners want bragging rights about how much they spent. Not any more. I bet those types of painting jobs are much fewer and these perfectionists will be hurting for work.

Posted by: Iknow at February 24, 2009 12:41 PM

Great, dittoberg! Yet another book I have to order. Still reading the Mitchell books you recommended-

Posted by: bxgrl at February 24, 2009 1:26 PM

I'm glad I can put you on to them. Let me know if you've got any good'uns to recommend.

Posted by: dittoburg at February 24, 2009 2:03 PM

So they are going to pay $1.8m for this place, put $1m - $2m into fixing it up, and they don't even get a carriage house with parking? Why is this building more desirable than the larger one farther down Clinton Avenue? For $2.8m - $3.8m I'd want a stable for my horses.

Posted by: DarkStar at February 24, 2009 5:01 PM

A Clinton Hill friend was inside the building a few months ago and says it's a complete wreck: collapsed ceilings; ruined floors; leaks everywhere. The new owners will need very very deep pockets. Agree with Dark Star that the reno will be probably cost as much as the purchase price (if it is indeed in the $1.8m range). Still there's another former wreck -- big freestanding mansion -- just that's being beautifully renovated so I guess there are still people out there who can take on these projects. Would certainly be a public service.

Posted by: 1929 at February 24, 2009 6:10 PM

There are precious few original details that can be salvaged owing to the extremely poor condition of the interior. One of the sole pieces of original detail that is in good enough condition for salvage is a magnificent mahogany (I think) staircase. Almost everything else has to go - this is a gut-job, rather than a restoration, which breaks my heart. I understand that everything from new furnaces to new wiring to new floors to a new roof is required to make the place habitable. I'm glad to hear the a preservation-minded couple are buying the place. Here's hoping their renovation (that's what it will be, since the house's condition is well past restoration) will be in harmony with the architecture.

Posted by: nellymikhaiel at February 24, 2009 10:47 PM

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