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March 30, 2009
House of the Day: 135 Clinton Street
The four-story house at 135 Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights hit the market in January with an asking price of $4 million; after two months with no takers, the price was reduced earlier this month to $3,750,000. It's a beautiful place that, according to the listing, recently underwent a major renovation that restored the historic details of the house while creating a very nicely done modern kitchen. The price isn't unusual for the neighborhood, but perhaps the fact that this house is only 30 feet deep is holding it back. Other theories?
135 Clinton Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
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Comments
Maybe New York just ran out of millionaires over the weekend?
Posted by: the chicken at March 30, 2009 1:23 PM
Looks like a great house to me. The beauty of these earlier houses is that they do not have that subway-car feel that the long, narrow, later Victorians have.
Perfectly nice and a good location (though I know the hip crowd disdains the Heights).
New income taxes are going to hit the rich hard. If I were in that high tax bracket and looking for a house, I would give another look at the burbs, especially Conn. and NJ.
Posted by: sam at March 30, 2009 1:25 PM
my theories? location (clinton and livingston? eh) and, duh, the price in this market.
Posted by: Ringo at March 30, 2009 1:28 PM
One theory - it is on one of the busier through streets in the Heights. It is very nice. But wealthy perfectionists may prefer a house on a side street.
Posted by: etson at March 30, 2009 1:34 PM
Clinton and Livingston is actually a great location. Nothing wrong with it. The problem is with the location of the economy.
Posted by: sam at March 30, 2009 1:35 PM
At a seemingly 3500 sq feet including basement 3.75 still seems quite high on a $/sq foot basis. Nice renovation though.
Posted by: DeLepp at March 30, 2009 1:35 PM
"The problem is with the location of the economy."B
You're dead on Sam.
This is a beautiful house, the reno. is great. The depth wouldn't bother me b/c you're getting lots of light since there are no windowless center rooms to contend with.
Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 30, 2009 1:51 PM
One of the giant 26 footers on that block with 5 floors (incl a doctor's office that paid good rent) went for about 3MM 2 years ago; it was an incredible building.
Call me at 2MM.
Posted by: thwackamole1 at March 30, 2009 1:52 PM
I'd want a garage for that kind of dough! Parking the heights is horrible and the nearset lot is over on state and court.
Posted by: james_bong at March 30, 2009 1:58 PM
I have to say the kitchen leaves me cold. For close to $4 million, I'd want a breakfast room attached to the kitchen, not to eat right there in the middle of the food prep.
The deorating isn't up to snuff either.
Posted by: FloatingWorld at March 30, 2009 1:59 PM
Parking in the Heights is the area's chief drawback. And it is a major one. Prices will not keep pace with historic highs because there is no place to keep the family car. True that public transportation is excellent in the area, but you need a car too. That's just life. The loss of the Love Lane garage and the two service stations on Atlantic Avenue, have been a net negative for the area. Others will disagree and argue that people have no business owning cars. But it just doesn't work that way when you have kids and obligations beyond the reach of the subway lines.
Posted by: sam at March 30, 2009 2:10 PM
Sweet looking house but what is that a 60' deep lot?
Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 30, 2009 2:26 PM
Yes, not to get OT too much, but I get annoyed at the "people have no business owning cars in NYC" attitude. Some people (me) need a car for physical reasons or whatever nobody's business reasons. So far, it's still legal.
Posted by: Nomi at March 30, 2009 2:26 PM
Sam has a good point.
Losing the Love Lane garage was a huge hit for the area.
Although, this place is actually pretty close to the Court an State garage.
But in general these types of buildings generally do gear more toward the family with money. And it is true that while the city is a "non driving" city and the Heights is great for subways, the odds of a family buying a $4mil home not having/needing a car is pretty slim.
For perspective, the house on the corner of Clinton and State, with the 2 parking spots on State, just went into contract at right around 3 mil. That is a 5 story, 23 wide, with a sliver of a backyard, super deep on 3 floors, deck on the 3rd, etc. It needed a lot of cosmetic work, but it is a much bigger building with 2 spots.
I'd say Clinton/Livingston goes for $2.5 sometime this summer...
Posted by: christopher at March 30, 2009 2:27 PM
Y'all are missing the most important issue: the house still has a working dumbwaiter! That serves all 4 floors! That is awesome.
Posted by: Rehab at March 30, 2009 2:33 PM
"kids + dumbwaiter = 911"
why? because parents could use them to stash their kids after infanticide?
Posted by: cmu at March 30, 2009 3:00 PM
Low Wall Street bonuses = very few multi-million dollar sales.
It's a nice a house, but after the market fully adjusts a year or two from now, I doubt this house will sell for over two and half million.
Posted by: IronBalls at March 30, 2009 3:40 PM
This home is worth 2.5MM tops!!!
Posted by: Watermellon at March 30, 2009 4:05 PM
Beautiful. And did you notice it has a dressing room with tub in the center, as per BRG's request? Next Brownstoner party will be on the third floor there.
Posted by: mopar at March 30, 2009 4:12 PM
i like this block and the house. it meets my required, bath on every floor rule, so i think the layout is great. of course it's not in my price range but very lovely. agree with THL about lots of light, it's a good amount of space. also agree with sam, about dumb waiter - that spells trouble with little ones. i think this price is very high.
Posted by: bkny at March 30, 2009 4:25 PM
worse than dumb waiters are laundry chutes. I once lived in a house with one. Oy! It's like an ER admission chute.
I like the floorplan very much. It is a nice, genteel family house.
Posted by: sam at March 30, 2009 4:34 PM
The dumbwaiter sounds great. My house growing up had a laundry chute and my 4 siblings and I used to invite the neighborhood children to go down it before my mother got home from work. One kid bunched himself up and got stuck. We called the woman next door who came over with this impossibly tiny hammer to bust him out, I guess. We just started laughing at the kid and he relaxed and went right on through. The chute only went through one floor, though.
Posted by: Bessie at March 30, 2009 6:36 PM
Oh, my mom's house has a laundry shoot. Three floors. We were already too big to try and fit down it when we moved in, but it was still the best.
I definitely agree about the light advantages of a brownstone that's not very deep, especially when you're talking about a wide one like this.
Posted by: Nomi at March 30, 2009 9:25 PM
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