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House of the Day: 22 Sidney Place

Categories: Brooklyn Heights, HOTD

22-Sidney-Place-1109.jpg
This charming house at 22 Sidney Place in Brooklyn Heights just hit the market with a price tag of $2,750,000. The 17-foot-wide house has lots of original details and the modernized, ground-floor kitchen is also quite attractive. We're liking both the location and feel of the house. (They've also got our coffee table!) What do you make of the asking price?
22 Sidney Place [Kevin Carberry] GMAP P*Shark




By Brownstoner at November 18, 2009 1:11 PM | Comments (36)

36 Comments

By Boerumresident on November 18, 2009 1:16 PM

Nice house on a nice block. Although it is not a wide house, it appears to be well laid out. Unless they need to sell post haste, this will go for at or over ask.

By 11217 on November 18, 2009 1:20 PM

Looks very homey. Don't like the painted red woodwork, but otherwise it looks nice. The price doesn't seem bad either. Location is great.

By Brokedeveloper on November 18, 2009 1:23 PM

This may be the only time I say this on this board for a while, but I think this may go at or above ask.

I think brokers must have read that NYT's article about bidding wars, because ask prices are becoming more "reasonable".

This would have been $3m+ in 2007. Gut jobs on that block sold for $2.5m back then.

By infinitejester on November 18, 2009 1:24 PM

22 Sidney is for sale?? I seem to remember addressing a Christmas card for here last year.

By Minard Lafever on November 18, 2009 1:31 PM

Very nice.
With a little painting, it is in move-in condition.
Definitely a realistic asking price given the location.
It's not for someone who needs rental income to cover their monthly costs because the layout does not lend itself to that. But it is for someone who wants a genteel single-family home in Brooklyn Heights.

By Butterfly on November 18, 2009 1:38 PM

hot damn! i can smell the moth balls all the way from here! who decorated that place, sophia petrillo?

*rob*

By CarrollGardened on November 18, 2009 1:49 PM

I love this house. It's one of 3 identical houses on Sidney Place. I walk by them daily and peer into the reception rooms (Image 15), which are really beautiful, with lots of beautiful woodwork, all of which appears lost here behind paint and furniture. The pictures really don't do this house justice. I realize it's only 17 feet wide, but I'm surprised the asking price is so "reasonable". Yes, I realize that sounds utterly preposterous, but it seems that every house on Sidney Place goes for between $3.8 and $4 million - still. I agree with those who think this will go above ask. If I had that kind of money to spend on a house, I'd buy it without hestitation.

By DitmasSnark on November 18, 2009 1:49 PM

Given that he hates on kitchens all the time, Mr B actually likes this shabby one? Go figure.

By Maly on November 18, 2009 1:58 PM

It's the most satisfying kind of house: great house, great location, shabby decor. All it needs is a bit of shine and polish to look exactly the way the new owner wants. For the address ans size, it's well priced. Compare with the newish one on State street that was HOTD a few weeks ago. It's no contest which one I would buy if I had this kind of money.

By wasder on November 18, 2009 1:59 PM

I used to live next door at 20 Sidney Place and can testify to the nice location. Really enjoyed living on that quiet scenic block. Price seems reasonable enough given the location.

By CarrollGardened on November 18, 2009 2:01 PM

"Compare with the newish one on State street that was HOTD a few weeks ago. It's no contest which one I would buy if I had this kind of money."

Funny you say that, Maly. I believe I used Sidney Place as my point of comparison in the State Street thread as to where I'd rather spend my $3 million (if I had it that is).

By Minard Lafever on November 18, 2009 2:02 PM

Rob, I just spoke with Sophia Petrillo, she says you should get a full-time job and stop drinking so much beer.


By CarrollGardened on November 18, 2009 2:02 PM

"who decorated that place, sophia petrillo?"

ROFL, *rob*

By Maly on November 18, 2009 2:06 PM

Hey CG, even though I didn't remember your comment, I can now say I agree with you 100%!

By Minard Lafever on November 18, 2009 2:08 PM

Rob, Sophia sends her love anyway.
Says she is sending you a couple of cans of your favorite -chefboyardee ravioli.

By Petebklyn on November 18, 2009 2:09 PM

so besides from peeping toms in the neighborhood they have peeping cgars. But alas that used to be one of my favorite cheap things to do - walk around brooklyn hts and see into all the big beautiful parlors and imagine/dream to live there. With a nice rich banker to pay for it.

By Pigeon on November 18, 2009 2:11 PM

Great house.
Great location.
It's good to see an asking price that conforms with the new economy.

By CarrollGardened on November 18, 2009 2:20 PM

"Peeping CGar", lol, Pete. I'll have to register that name. I first started peering into houses when I lived in the West Village and "commuted" daily along West 10th, 11th and 12th Streets. You don't want a Peeping CGar, close your shutters.

By HmmWhichNeighborhood on November 18, 2009 2:28 PM

DitmasSnark, totally agree with you about the kitchen.

By jmcg on November 18, 2009 4:25 PM

I had a friend who lived in one of these triplet houses. They are not as wide as the earlier brownstones. However because there is no side hallway and stair, the back and front rooms on most floors are the full width of the house and are very spacious - almost square and very elegant in feeling. A very nice block as well.

By Petebklyn on November 18, 2009 4:37 PM

oops--posted this b4 in Belltell by mistake--
annoying the people that close drapes or blinds. People in the big brownstones don't usually do that. Seems condo people do. If don't want the windows just move into BellTell.
Surprised Nora wants more windows - usually celebs worry about that sort of thing....as if notice anytime walking by
Ledger's house (forgot the g-friends name, I know he is dead) all the shutters are always closed on all floors.

Posted by: Petebklyn at November 18, 2009

By grand army on November 18, 2009 4:46 PM

This is utterly charming. It's actually such a relief to see a house that hasn't been completely overdone but just allowed to age gracefully. I complete agree with Maly. Brilliant location -- just needs some updating.

By Montrose Morris on November 18, 2009 5:02 PM

CarGar, I do the same thing. I love walking the Hts at night looking at interiors. Rich people don't have curtains, for some reason.

Of course, I'm cool about it, because rich people also don't like strange black women peering in and pointing out their mouldings and woodwork, either. Go figure.

By pierre de taille on November 18, 2009 5:03 PM

Ok folks we hate to spoil the party but this place is just average except for the location. It is too narrow, the kitchen is dumpy, and the details are minimal. No bathroom photos makes us suspect circa 1978 styling...sorry we will take a nicer and much more charming home in Park Slope or Fort Greene any day for that kind of $$.

By DitmasSnark on November 18, 2009 5:06 PM

I'm with p de t.

By Montrose Morris on November 18, 2009 5:10 PM

Back to say, I love this place. The woodwork looks great painted, and I love the mixture of colors, with some walls neutral, some bright, same with the wood, some white, some colors. I also like the kitchen, it's very inviting and homey. Ok, some of the furnishing aren't my taste, but so what, I think they probably go in the moving van with the seller, and one can make it their own, including changing all of the painted surfaces.

This reminds me of a lot of homes shown in British home magazines. They always have that layered, lived here for ever, comfortable look that American decorators try to do, but most fail.

By pierre de taille on November 18, 2009 5:26 PM

MM serious question what is it about that kitchen? It is homey like grandma's place but for $2.75millions we expect more no? The woodwork and moldings are not uniform enough to us i.e the flow from painted to unpainted is not very attractive...sorry for being such a purist:)
This is a nice average house with a very high price location notwithstanding.

By drumskin on November 18, 2009 6:10 PM

"modernized kitchen" ???
this house is average, great location but needs tons of work
houses on this street that go for 3-4mm are 4000-6000 sqft not 3400 (one sold in october under $580/sqft - 47 sidney )
renovated

this house wont sell anywhere near ask (or above)- more like 1.9mm
no wonder you are broke,developer

By grand army on November 18, 2009 6:19 PM

Drumskin: It's Brooklyn Heights! Check your comps and I think you'll find this is not unrealistically priced for the neighborhood.

By NorthHeights on November 18, 2009 6:53 PM

Drumskin, I don't know the full story on 47 Sidney since I don't see a recorded deed, but even if did sell at $3.6M as you suppose, I wouldn't rush to a simplistic PSF calculation to decide that this house won't sell for more than $1.9M. As you yourself point out, the sizes of the houses are very different. You can't straightline the value based on size - the incremental value from an extra floor or a rear extension is not the same on a PSF basis as the basic footprint of a regular sized house. Also, the types of houses are different - 47 Sidney is a 3-family (maybe used as 2) versus this 1-family. In my experience, 1-families get a higher premium in Brooklyn Heights - most people who can afford a multi-million $ house aren't looking for the rental income and prefer no tenants. Sure, you can use the garden rental as a mother-in-law apartment, home office, etc. - but if you don't NEED the rental apt. to carry the mortgage, why bother getting a 6,000sf house when a 3,500-4,500sf house is perfectly adequate? And if you buy a house set up as 3-family (even if used as 1 or 2), you either need to put up with inconvenient stair layout, or pay some renovation costs to get the layout more amenable to single-family living. There are plenty of reasons why a bigger house on this block would sell for "only" $580/sf and this house could still get a much higher price on a PSF basis.

By Minard Lafever on November 18, 2009 7:56 PM

you can't compare Fort Greene to Brooklyn Heights. Sorry you just can't.

By marty362 on November 18, 2009 8:33 PM

Back in the 1930s, my mother worked as a nanny/mother's helper in the household of a German engineer and his family on Sidney Place. She remembered that the house next to the one she was living in was on the market at the time for $9,500. I asked her why she didn't buy it (I was very young), and she told me that the price was 'a fortune' in those days.

By heightslady on November 18, 2009 9:06 PM

if a rennovated house "fancy shmancy renovation" as it was called here, was sold on the same street for $5xx per ft - here iss the link

http://nymag.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/412876-multi-47-sidney-place-brooklyn-heights-brooklyn

i do not see this one selling for close to its ask but strange things do happen in this market


By Petebklyn on November 18, 2009 9:21 PM

I looked at pictures and don't see any problem with kitchen. Perhaps not magazine stylish trendy let me show off kitchen but more simple and nice. I think house looks great as is. This is a bargain...a real home which shows some history not some sterile renovation where everything looks staged ready for photo op.

By Nomi on November 19, 2009 12:14 AM

Yeah, really. What's wrong with the kitchen? It's homey and not dated. Much prefer it to a slick granite counter skating rink kitchen. Like this house very much.

My mom lived on Sidney Place in the early 1960s. She rented half a floor of a large brownstone for $80/month. She was making $100/week which was a bit of a milestone at the time. Wow, things were different back then! You could live in Brooklyn Heights and pay less that 25% of your income in rent. Ha.

By drumskin on November 24, 2009 9:55 PM

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/11/last_weeks_bigg_89.php

6100 sq ft went for 3.3mm renovated on sidney place

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