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December 1, 2009

House of the Day: 19 Cheever Place

19-Cheever-Place-1109.jpg
19 Cheever Place was on the market briefly this summer with a local broker before making the leap to Corcoran back in October. The Cobble Hill two-family house is missing a cornice but the interior has some nice original detail as well as an attractively renovated kitchen. The asking price is $2,275,000. What do you make of that?
19 Cheever Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark





Posted by Brownstoner at 1:16 PM | Comments (24)
Categories: Cobble Hill, HOTD

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Comments

I love the kitchen and the garden, and I generally like the layout of all four floors (even without an en suite master bath). And I love Cheever Place. I'm not sure I like the open floorplan on the Parlor Floor though, but I suspect it would grow on me. Parlor Floor 1/2 bath and deck (with a gas hook-up for the grill) are great. I'm not sure about the asking price.

Posted by: CGar at December 1, 2009 1:27 PM

the statue in the picture on the right is giving me heartburn

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at December 1, 2009 1:30 PM

Me, too, *rob*, but I'd ask the owners to take it when they go.

Posted by: CGar at December 1, 2009 1:34 PM

this is cobble hill we're talking about. Not going to get a move-in nice house (3000sq ft)for less than $2m.

Posted by: Petebklyn at December 1, 2009 1:37 PM

I'd rather have the cabin from Seinfeld that contained the love letters George's fiance's father exchanged with John Cheever. Actually I would rather have this house.

Posted by: Brokedeveloper at December 1, 2009 1:40 PM

You have to walk up to the second floor to get to the owner's unit (which is only a triplex if you count the attic, which has no windows except for the skylights). I'm sure it's a nice house, but not nearly as nice a layout as more classically proportioned houses that go for about the same as the asking price.

Posted by: NorthHeights at December 1, 2009 1:40 PM

Tacky! Open plan, down lights, cherry floors, statue, fake old furniture. Of course, some of these items are easily remedied.

Posted by: mopar at December 1, 2009 1:41 PM

nice width, nice location, nice kitchen/deck/parlor, but...
egregious listing on sq ftage: propshark says it 2528, which looks about right to me but hey why not round up to say approx 3000? it's not like there's a law or something. subtract the garden rental and you have a 1900 sq ft 3 bedroom home (not to mention low ceiling on top floor).

Posted by: antidope at December 1, 2009 1:44 PM

what this house really has going for it is its location. The house itself has had a mediocre rehab. I hate those split unit a.c.s that hang on the wall. They look cheap and announce to all that the owner did not have enough money to install real central air.
A small house like this should be a one-family. That little garden apartment is just sad.
$300,000 or so will get you real central air, a new cornice and a facade re-painting. The kitchen looks good.
This house is a bit of a project and its small. I say two million, only because of Cheever Place.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at December 1, 2009 1:46 PM

Pete, I agree, but $2.275 is still quite a distance from $2 million.

NorthHeights, I'd much prefer an Owner's Triplex that you enter on the Parlor Floor than have tenants living above me and having to wall off the "common" stairwell so the tenant can get to their apartment.

Posted by: CGar at December 1, 2009 1:53 PM

"I hate those split unit a.c.s that hang on the wall. They look cheap"

Thank you Minard!
Listen up, you zillionaires, that are shopping for multi-million dollar houses.
Wall mounted A.C. units are an unacceptable design element!

Posted by: Expert Textpert at December 1, 2009 2:07 PM

Absolutely, Expert Textpert!

Posted by: mopar at December 1, 2009 2:14 PM

Hmmmm... love the open floorplan (coming from the view of a loft owner you understand), the original details, the kitchen/bath/deck/backyard combo and the wbf. Do not like the top floor, the lack of ensuite master, the A/C units or the location (It seems one would have to really, really love Cobble Hill to cheerfully relocate this far from a subway or a park, and this close to the BQE).

That's my take and I'm probably stickin' to it.

Posted by: Nokilissa at December 1, 2009 2:25 PM

Minard agree this house is all about it's location. The split system AC is way too cheap looking but that can be fixed with a victorian design wood and metal cover. Installing a real central air means soffits in an already low ceiling house not to mention another $120K.
You don't believe in painting brick do you? Criminal in our opinion:) That facade needs to be stripped and power-washed to original brick which can then be beautifully repointed....roughly $40K.

That kitchen except for it's windows is not impressive at all sorry Mr B...very mediocre for this price range.

Mopar you don't like the open Palor plan ? Prefer isolated kitchen and dining rooms ?..honest questions we are starting a renovation and the place is already opened up.

Posted by: pierre de taille at December 1, 2009 3:27 PM

pierre, there is more wrong with the facade tham merely the paint. The parlor floor window openings look altered to me, they look shortened and they are missing lintels. The door looks off too. This would be a lovely restoration project. But to do the front facade properly would take more than 40K, that is why I just figured re-painitng. Most people do not feel a need any longer to really restore the exterior of their houses. A shame. I guess it is the cost of everything else. I hate the idea of wooden cabinets for the split units. Really bad. You do not need to lower the ceilings to install central air. There are very nice new systems with flex tubing that take the place of the clunky ducts used in new construction. I like this house a lot, it is not too huge but rather a nice size and the street is very secluded and quiet. I do think the sale price should be reduced to reflect the work that needs to be done.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at December 1, 2009 3:53 PM

Pierre, I do not like open floor plans. I think kitchens look very ugly in living rooms. And in the case of small apartments, it is nice to have kitchen doors that close, so the smells don't get into the other rooms.

I like the 1920s floor plans the best. They usually have a large-ish kitchen with two doors and relate well to the living room and dining room, so everything flows and there are plenty of windows.

Another problem with the open floor plans, at least in the burbs, is you get vestigial living rooms and dining rooms that nobody uses.

Posted by: mopar at December 1, 2009 3:57 PM

"Most people do not feel a need any longer to really restore the exterior of their houses. A shame. I guess it is the cost of everything else"
Amen to that Minard. Facade work can be cost prohibitive especially on a landmark block. Do you know the name or have any reference for the flexible duct system you describe for central air?
Thanks mopar but it's funny how you think everything flows in a 1920's floor plan...trop drole :)) To us such plans feel very restrictive in a brownstone where you only have windows in the front and back (except for a corner house). But it's all about personal taste right?
Placing pocket doors between the kitchen and dining / living area should be a good compromise that way you can open up the space as needed...hey a good suction hood over the stove range helps to keep smells at a minimum.

Posted by: pierre de taille at December 1, 2009 4:20 PM

MOPAR!! I emailed you about Bell House.

Posted by: CGar at December 1, 2009 4:21 PM

What I meant about the stairs in this house is this:
You climb the stoop, you go through the front door, then you have to climb up the stairs (right picture above) to go to the second floor, just to get into the owner's unit.

They label it as the "parlor floor" but it's not the same as a traditional townhouse layout where you just climb the stoop to get to the parlor floor.

It's a walk-up apartment in your own house. That's why I don't think it's as valulable as other houses at the same asking price.

Posted by: NorthHeights at December 1, 2009 4:56 PM

nh is right. the remuddled configuration of this house is very bad.
the more i look at it the more problems i see. it needs a lot of work.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at December 1, 2009 5:41 PM

Wait a sec, Minard, a brownstone does NOT have a 1920s floor plan! LOL.

Minard, if you like the brownstones that turn the rear parlor into a kitchen, check out the house that belongs to ex-eic of Cookie mag Pilar Guzman in "Restoring a House in the City." Gorgeous! BBW built a kitchen island out of reclaimed wood and lined the existing cabinets opposite the fireplace with subway tile and black grout. Looks amazing. (Of course photos left out fridge.) I'm sure it cost a small fortune.

The first-floor apartment is also genius with its placement of the kitchen running along the side wall, so as to free up both the rear and front rooms to use as bedroom and LR/DR. I think it's even smarter than the bigger parlor kitchen.

They do kind of end up with lots of vestigial parlors though. Funny.

Posted by: mopar at December 1, 2009 7:31 PM

Cgar, checking email!

Posted by: mopar at December 1, 2009 7:32 PM

Now that you mention it, our place has a fairly typical brownstone setup. The kitchen is in the rear of the first floor, as you would expect. Family dining room used to be in the front, of course, but we're using that as a business. Plan to make the half double parlor into the dining room -- it's on a different floor. There was a dumbwaiter, but it was turned into a closet.

Now, I don't know what kind of problems we will run into with this setup, but the kitchen is gigantic -- 15 x 12. It can easily accommodate a kitchen table and more. So I figure if we have parties, people can gather round there for the cooking part or whatever. Then we'll all decamp to the dining room, where hopefully the food will not be ruined by the trip up the stairs. And of course we'll have our breakfast and such in the kitchen. LOL -- when we have a floor and walls.

Posted by: mopar at December 1, 2009 7:37 PM

Always question when the Cocorean group uses words like "original detail" it usually means it is so antique and old that it has never been updated since the early 1900's. I don't think now is the time that people have soo much money to through away on pet projects like this. During the housing bubble you would have found plenty of loonies for something like this because the banks gave loans to anyone with a pulse. Now, try walking into a bank and asking for a loan for something like this!

Posted by: hannible at December 2, 2009 6:11 AM

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