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March 9, 2009

House of the Day: 18 Willow Place

It's looking like the folks who bought the 2,600-square-foot brick house at 18 Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights for $2,500,000 in 2006 aren't going to make a whole lot of money, considering that they did a renovation and have relisted it at $2,850,000, not a lay-up price by any means. While the renovation looks thorough and conscientious, it's not a look we like: A traditional style without any of the charm that an older space would have. Still, it's sure to appeal to buyers who don't want to scrimp on modern conveniences.
18 Willow Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

Looks like an extremely well done renovation. I love that kitchen and the yard is fantastic. I say it goes for 10-12% off ask or even better.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 9, 2009 1:19 PM

Great location!

Posted by: wasder at March 9, 2009 1:22 PM

Gorgeous. I love everything except the blue tile in the bathroom and the bathroom sinks. The kitchen is true house porn at its best.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at March 9, 2009 1:27 PM

$1100 psf still sounds expensive for what's going on in the world for Brooklyn. Even this area.

Posted by: 11217 at March 9, 2009 1:27 PM

Id pay 2mil for that backyard alone with that outside grill
ok - I won't but still - I think they did a really nice renovation
I say it goes 5% off ask - am being bullish - but I still think if there are people out there who can actually AFFORD 2.8 million - they can still afford 2.7mil

Posted by: gemini10 at March 9, 2009 1:28 PM

That being said, I think someone will fall in love with it and buy it.

Posted by: 11217 at March 9, 2009 1:29 PM

As an aside, why did they feel the need to switch out the stools in photos 3 & 4? hmmm.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at March 9, 2009 1:30 PM

...and the art work on the wall.

I was wondering the same thing Snappy.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 9, 2009 1:33 PM

The laptop and block of knives also disappear from the photo. Last minute staging I suppose?

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at March 9, 2009 1:36 PM

Such a charmless facade, such a narrow house, and such a shallow yard. Seems like the current owners overpaid back in 2006.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 9, 2009 1:37 PM

It's like one of those games where you circle the differences.

How many differences can you spot? Chairs only count as 1.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 9, 2009 1:40 PM

I've seen this place --it's v nice, but somehow heartless and ill-proportioned. It's too big for the kidless couple, too small for the yuppies with kids. At least, so methinks; I could be wrong.

Posted by: Whuh at March 9, 2009 1:44 PM

Stools--it's also 3 vs. 4. Maybe they wanted to show that 4 can sit comfortably...

Posted by: tinarina at March 9, 2009 1:45 PM

I love Willowtown even tho everyone says it's too rumbling down there due to IRT and that "people" will be coming down there to use the park (in 2035?)

40 Joralemon has been on the market for a long time. Smaller but sweeter, and I think you could get it for under $2mm. www.40joralemon.com. Makes this a tough sell imo

Posted by: Ringo at March 9, 2009 1:48 PM

Ho-hum....nothing extraordinary.

I would never ever put the cooktop at the edge of the counter. A little kid can grab the handle of a pot / pan, and oopsy not only is dinner all over the floor but child has burns.
God, I hate bad / thoughtless design.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 9, 2009 1:49 PM

"It's like one of those games where you circle the differences."

THL, I'm immediately contacting Floyd NY to ensure they have no less than two games of Photo Hunt on the bar for our March 19 gathering!

Agree with Snark, re: the boring facade, but I think the inside looks beautiful. $2.85MM beautiful? I don't think so.

Posted by: Biff Champion at March 9, 2009 1:53 PM

Nice place. I like the brightness and the feel of the rooms. I think the price is high for a smallish house in a bad market, though. Even if it is Brooklyn Heights.

Regarding facade, why are the windows and doors misaligned on this house and the one next to it? Did the house settle in this crooked manner? I've noticed the same thing with a similar row of houses on Joralemon.

Posted by: bk14 at March 9, 2009 1:53 PM

how is this house not big enough for a family Whuh? it's got a great layout with the family room and kitchen together.

Posted by: wine lover at March 9, 2009 1:55 PM

I will put an offer on that place for 1 million rite now... CASH... That is my next home, if it comes down to my price.. And if I get it I will be inviting all you guys to come for the house warming party...

Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at March 9, 2009 1:56 PM

it's nice but boring, it looks like a pottery barn catalog and that's not a compliment

Posted by: sender9999 at March 9, 2009 2:00 PM

Hoboken, if you promise to cook up some salmon on that outdoor grill, I'll be over and I'll even bring you a house plant :)

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at March 9, 2009 2:04 PM

BRG, what's on earth is the diff between a cooktop "at the edge of the counter" and a range? If you leave a kid that age alone in the kitchen...

Posted by: cmu at March 9, 2009 2:07 PM

sender, yes boring indeed.
Take out the furniture and the finishes remind me of a newly built suburban 'McMansion' void of character.

CMU - As a newly designed kitchen, they should have thought about the location of the cooktop. An adult could be standing right there and a child can still have an accident.
Heck, even an adult can scold themselves on an oversized pot on that cooktop as they're walking by.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 9, 2009 2:15 PM

I don't understand the cooktop issue. Its no more harmful placed on that island than were it on the other counter. Same height, same distance from the edge.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 9, 2009 2:19 PM

BRG - I am constantly scolding myself in the kitchen. Mostly for not cooking enough.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 9, 2009 2:21 PM

Wine Lover, you may be right; it was a feel, more than actual proportions. The stair cuts through the middle somewhat awkwardly, instead of hugging a wall. Dunno...anyone see Verandah?

Posted by: Whuh at March 9, 2009 2:23 PM

Here you go snark, here's an 'A'

I would never design a kitchen with a cooktop / range so close to an edge like this one. It's a hazard in my book. Plus, it's nice to have surfaces on both sides of the cooktop, for ingredients, plating, etc.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 9, 2009 2:27 PM

Every cooktop/range usually comes to the "edge" of a counter. What are you talking about BRG?????

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 9, 2009 2:32 PM

OH, for crying out loud!

DIBS, not the front of the counter.
But in this case the side of the island; the short side...where one will be walking by to get to the the doors leading to the outside.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 9, 2009 2:43 PM

I've been in it. Very nice; they maximized the width by using a fairly nice center stair.
Owned by an Ibanker; I assume he got canned, or their two kids outgrew it.

I thought he paid too much back in 2006, and the BQE noise can get a little annoying in summer.

If and when the park is built, it will be really nice. Until then, it is a jewelbox.

Posted by: thwackamole1 at March 9, 2009 2:44 PM

I don't think its any more dangerous. It might not be the best layout with space to the left of it but I think you're making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 9, 2009 2:47 PM

INSERTSNAPPY, Wife is great at cooking salmon... No problem...

Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at March 9, 2009 3:01 PM

Yes, DIBS, that's what boggles my mind. For a newly designed kitchen 'It might not be the best layout'...now cough up close to 3M for not a great layout.

My other issue with the kitchen is the cooking area is by the doors to the outside and not on the other side; the stair side. It would have been nice to have a seating area by those lovely glass doors.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 9, 2009 3:02 PM

I think BRG is right, DIBS.

You pass the cooktop every time you go to the refrigerator or the patio. And it's on the island that makes this an eat-in kitchen. And it's also right between the path from the sink to the refrigerator. It's an accident waiting to happen. Plus, it's really inconvenient.

Posted by: new2 at March 9, 2009 3:03 PM

I didn't just mean the 'cooking' area is on the doors side, but meant the entire 'working' kitchen is on the side of the doors; except the frig. This kitchen is just very badly laid out from a design stand point. Actually very badly laid out.
It's irking me now.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 9, 2009 3:08 PM

Nice house and yes that is a top renovation... well except for the out of place and cheap looking bathroom. The house does appear too sterile almost like a hospital operating room...zero soul but maybe adding some bright colors and stripping some of the woodwork can change that. What do you think BRG? Oh and that facade with it's single door entry is not too far from a Fedders at least in design:(

No this is not likely to sell near $2.8m even in BH given the current economic climate. Yep in hindsight (20/20) that 2006 purchase price was excessive to say the least. Will need a minimum $350K off in our estimation i.e. 2006 price.

Posted by: pierre de taille at March 9, 2009 3:14 PM

I see your point, BRG. Never would have noticed it myself. But I think it was done that way cuz of the hood. If they put the stove up against the wall, the hood would look terrible. No doubt it looks better in the center, and the duct is a straight run to the rear garden. That's the only thing I can see that makes sense.

Posted by: denton at March 9, 2009 3:18 PM

The hood must not vent. The floor joists above would run crosswise and there'd be no place to run the piping.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 9, 2009 3:40 PM

I'm with BRG on this one. I'm picturing burning my ponytail as I do some dishes. My husband tries to squeeze past my big behind and knocks a pot of sauce off the stove.

Not good

Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 9, 2009 3:46 PM

so many real estate sites have listings that misspell the word "dining". for 2.8 mil i'd at least run it through a spell check first.

Posted by: Danny Noonan at March 9, 2009 4:15 PM

A few houses of similar size sold in the fruit streets over the summmer in the range of $2.7 million. Perhaps not as newly/poshly renovated but more curb appeal and higher basements. Appraisers are currently discounting those sales by 10%-15%. It looks like the seller spent top dollar on the renovation and in this environment a seller is not going to come close to recovering those costs.

Right now there is nearly zero inventory in the Heights townhouse market which I think on balance is a negative for the seller's pricing power. See Ringo's comment on 40 Joralemon, around the corner.

I'm continually amazed by the people who carp about a house of this size (in general) being too small for a single-family. Sure it would nice to have 4 full floors of 25x40 or 45 to yourself, but the reality is most people with houses of that size rent out the garden floor and end up with +/- 3000 sf. I do think the second bedroom of this house is unnecessarily large (14x14) for what it is, but that's dictated by the house width. If you took a 3 floors of a 20x45 house, you'd end up with about the same overall area as this house, but with a potentially better layout.

Posted by: NorthHeights at March 9, 2009 4:28 PM

How do folks know that the seller did the renovation? He bought it in 2006, but it had previously sold for $1.4 million in 2004. I would have thought that the reno (or at least part of it) happened between 2004 and 2006, to justify the $1 million price bump (or was that purely a function of the bubble). In any event, take the 2004 price, add the value of the renovation, and I think you have an estimate of where this thing could end up.

Posted by: aishling at March 9, 2009 5:06 PM

Good point although I don't think the seller is going to get above what he paid even if he spent $0 on renovation

Posted by: NorthHeights at March 9, 2009 5:19 PM

?"I'm picturing burning my ponytail as I do some dishes. My husband tries to squeeze past my big behind and knocks a pot of sauce off the stove." THL

*I'm* picturing this scenario. Would give Rose Mary Woods a run for her money!

Posted by: cmu at March 9, 2009 5:41 PM

My guess is that the house is worth about 1.6 million. Nobody really knows in this frozen market, so I could be low of course.

1.6 million is still a lot of money even though it sounds crazy compared to what they're asking, I know.

Posted by: IronBalls at March 9, 2009 9:11 PM

"A few houses of similar size sold in the fruit streets over the summmer in the range of $2.7 million."

They were 20' footers. No renovation, but larger and wider.

Posted by: bk14 at March 9, 2009 11:18 PM

http://realestate.nytimes.com/sales/detail/253-NS80902636/11201-BROOKLYN-NY-USA/2250000-2500000-price/SINGLE-FAMILY-type/PRICE-HIGH-sort/56-960574--253-NS80902636-ls/2-t

40 Joralemon listing on NY Times.com. THIS is a nice house.

Posted by: muttdogz at March 10, 2009 11:57 AM

« Co-op of the Day: 422 State Street, #9 StreetLevel: Comic Book Shop Opens on Bergen »

March 9, 2009

House of the Day: 18 Willow Place

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