Real Estate

Five-Bedroom, Three-Bathroom Home With Details in Bed Stuy Asks $1.499 Million

A five-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse with original details in Bed Stuy is on the market for $1.499 million.

brooklyn homes for sale bed stuy 453 macdonough street

by Jim Rendon

04/10/2017 4 minute 0

This Romanesque Revival brownstone at 453 MacDonough Street in eastern Bed Stuy might need some work, but the basics are there for this to be a tremendous home. The parlor and garden floors are chock full of woodwork, including elaborate fretwork in the entry and over one of the doors, wainscoting, a large built-in in the rear parlor and at least one original mantel. The original inlaid and parquet wood floors look like they have survived the years in very good shape.

In the photos of what appear to be upstairs unit, the molding is all painted. The one kitchen that was photographed looks serviceable and may date from the 1990s — it has an abundance of cupboards, a tile floor, and what looks to be granite counters.

A glimpse of a bathroom in one of the photos shows it too has been updated and has vintage-style black and white tile. The popcorn ceiling in the front room on the garden level could certainly use a good skim coat.

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The mechanicals may need some attention — baseboard outlets show the house has not had a recent electrical upgrade — or at least not a comprehensive one.

The 2,571 square foot home is 42 feet deep but only 17.5 feet wide. As a result, the rooms at the front of the house are narrow — the parlor room is only 10 feet wide.

The listing encourages buyers to occupy the entire home or rent one unit. The floor plan shows two kitchens (one on the top floor, one on the garden floor), although the house may be a legal three family, according to PropertyShark.

It could be used as a duplex with a rental unit on the top floor, or a buyer may want to reconfigure as a one-family or as a duplex over a garden rental. It’s unclear if the house is a limestone or a brownstone painted white.

The house is about four blocks from the Utica Avenue A/C stop and close to shops and restaurants on Lewis and Malcolm X. MacDonough Street is one of the nicest streets in Stuyvesant Heights and eastern Bed Stuy, with block after block of well-kept brownstones and leafy mature trees lining each block.

The house had been in the same family since at least 1973, public records show. After a lis pendens, it sold in February from longtime owners (possibly an estate sale) to an LLC for $950,000.

Listed by Erik Serras of Ideal Properties, now the house is asking $1.499 million. Do you think that sounds about right for the location and condition? Like the house?

[Listing: 453 MacDonough Avenue | Broker: Ideal Properties] GMAP