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May 29, 2008
Wide Brownstones
Looking to (hopefully) purchase a brownstone that's a bit wider than the usual 20-22 ft. Are there any brownstones in Park Slope that are 30 foot-wide or bigger? Has anyone seen any in the past four years or so?
I'm having trouble finding them.
Comments
fake post
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 6:00 PM
Wow. Rough crowd. Um -- no. Not a fake post. I've talked to almost every company's brokers and they say they're few and far between -- but I have yet to see any come on the market, save for a few SROs and some in some pretty crappy neighborhoods.
I'm just wondering if there's a way of searching on the internet/property shark for a brownstone that's NOT some kind of bowling-alley-like living arrangement. That's all.
I'm not a broker, I'm not trying to set up the sale of a house and I'm not doing this because I've got nothing else to do with my time. i just thought that if there's anywhere where people might offer up any insight on this subject matter it would be here.
Posted by: mr30seconds at May 29, 2008 7:07 PM
20-22 feet is wide for a brownstone and trust me, it's not like living in a bowling alley.
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 7:48 PM
yup.
definitely a fake post.
go buy jennifer connelly's mansion on ppw. it's 8 million bucks. should be big enough to make up for your clearly tiny penis.
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 8:05 PM
Hey there--
Most brownstone Brooklyn townhouses are from the late-Victorian era (1860-1880 or so) and were spec houses done on 20-ft lots. Earlier lots had been 25 feet wide in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but the lot sizes shrank to make building more financially lucrative. Even then, land was getting scarce and expensive.
I don't think you will find too many wide houses in Park Slope mainly because it came of age in the 1860s, when lots were already mostly standardized to 20 feet. Wider houses are slightly more common in Brooklyn Heights, which is older.
That said, with some vision and a good architect, you can maximize the space in a brownstone. I don't think a wider house has to be the answer. Good luck.
Posted by: tinarina at May 29, 2008 8:54 PM
Just buy two or three of those narrow little twenty footers and combine them into a REAL house :-)
Why, you'd even have room for a bowling alley.
And a three car garage
Over the swimming pool
Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 29, 2008 8:55 PM
If you're looking for a feeling of width, go for house with a center staircase. The difference is huge.
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 9:32 PM
368 and 370 Park Place are both for sale. Put them together, and, voila, you've got a 36' wide house.
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 9:33 PM
I live in a 22 foot wide brownstone and it is exactly like a bowling alley. Why is this a fake post?
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 10:46 PM
It's not a fake post. Just somebody unfamiliar with the Park Slope brownstone housing market. Get over it.
OP, if you want a wide large house you should look at the freestanding Victorian, Edwardian and Craftsmen houses in Brooklyn. Prospect Park South; Midwood; Ditmas; PLG; Bay Ridge.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 1:14 AM
Contra these haters, there are a _few_ 28 or 30 foot wide townhouses in so-called Brownstone Brooklyn, if that's a good-enough proxy for Park Slope. 1:14 AM is right, though, that the Victorian and Edwardian neighborhoods are a far better bet for large houses. There also are lovely large houses in Bay Ridge, and I think also in the various neighborhoods closer to the ocean. I am not as familiar with those neighborhoods.
Closer to downtown, I can think of one on State Street one door down from the tiny 12 footer that Mary Stuart Masterson was supposedly in contract to buy, and there is are a couple in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. I think there is also a a house over 25' wide on Hoyt just down and across from the Brooklyn Inn, but I am just guessing on width there. It might only be 25' but it has a center colonial style entrance which may be what you are seeking stylistically.
There's also that lovely corner house at Sackett and Hoyt -- I think the lot be L shaped, but it's probably more what you have in mind.
Of course, none of those are for sale, but at least you know that they do exist.
If you are willing to do without a yard, look for a corner building that is over 20 feet wide and reorient the entryway to the side street and voila, you would have a very wide (but shallow) house. Or combine the two houses on Park Place like the earlier poster suggested.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 9:56 AM
Yep, every time I walk past that State Street place (which is basically twice a day) I drool a little just thinking about how many classic motor scooters I could fit in the apparently unused garage and STILL have room in that 30 foot wide (at least) house for a tenant apartment.
Posted by: johnife at May 30, 2008 10:34 AM
Thanks for the help, guys. Yeah, 1:14 and 9:56, I've looked over in Bay Ridge, Midwood and along Atlantic Ave and although some of the houses are more house-like, there are issues with neighborhoods, distance to trains etc, that the family doesn't want to deal with.
Problem is, I really, really like the Slope and CG, FG and CH areas. You're definitely right about the standard being 20 feet, 8:54.
I'm going to look into Sackett and Hoyt, too. Haven't heard of that one yet.
9:33 don't think I seriously haven't thought of buying both and doing that. The only thing stopping me is that I can afford only one of them.
The center stair is another thing I'm trying to look for as a concession -- but they're hard to find, too. Not going to surprise anyone here, but the housing market just sucks right now. And now is supposed to be the "busy" season.
Thanks again for the help, guys and gals. I've got some looking to do. I will try and re-align my search for corners (three exposures might help make it less claustrophobic) and two less expensive houses together.
Mr30S
Posted by: mr30seconds at May 30, 2008 12:53 PM
Mr30S: there will be fewer and fewer houses on the market for a while yet. Two reasons, one, the market is slower and sellers with the really great houses will wait until they can get more money. Secondly, the new homeowners who have spent so much money and time and sweat equity fixing up these houses will not be selling anytime soon. About 75% of our brownstone block are people who bought houses in the last 5 years and they won't sell for another 10 years at least.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 2:02 PM
this one was brought up a little while ago:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/03/house_of_the_da_473.php
you now get half a felled tree in the front tho.
Posted by: Karka at May 30, 2008 5:57 PM
There are quite a few 25 footers on 1st and 2nd Place in Carroll Gardens, although don't know how often they come on the market. And, there are a group of 28 or 30 footers (don't know how wide) on 2nd Place between Clinton and Henry. I don't know if many of those are used as single families, but they are some of the widest brownstone buildings I've seen in brownstone brooklyn. Very rarely those wide ones are for sale, and are scooped up in a minute, usually even before being advertised.
Posted by: guest at May 31, 2008 10:32 AM
Park slope has some 30 footers on carroll st president btw 7th ave and the park
Posted by: guest at May 31, 2008 1:39 PM
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