Real Estate

Clinton Hill Béton Coignet Cast Stone Townhouse With Bay Windows, Fireplaces Asks $3.5 Million

This late 19th century house has some nice original detail and a good deal of space besides, though it looks like it could use some polishing.

Brooklyn Homes for Sale in Clinton Hill at 538 Clinton Avenue

by Chris Erikson

04/05/2017 3 minute 0

Here’s a Clinton Hill house with a good deal of detail inside and out — and some interesting history. Located at the neighborhood’s southern edge, at 538 Clinton Avenue, off Atlantic Avenue, it’s one of a group of three with a mansard roof, bay window, and carved detail out front.

The house is Neo-Grec with some Second Empire touches and dates to 1872. While it looks like limestone, it is actually Béton Coignet cast stone — concrete. Brownstoner author Suzanne Spellen dug into the history of the row in a Building of the Day post. The interior looks like it could use some polishing, but it has some impressive original details and plenty of space — 4,620 square feet, according to PropertyShark.

The house measures 22 feet wide and 45 feet deep, with a lower duplex that the listing claims runs 2,600 square feet. There are two rental apartments above. Presumably each is a floor-through, but there’s no floor plan, so we’re short on details where layout’s concerned.

Features include parquet, herringbone, and other original wood floors, several working fireplaces, crown moldings, pocket doors with an arched door frame, stained glass and original woodwork.

The haphazard photos don’t telegraph the message that the house has been painstakingly maintained, and it’s likely there’s some work to do for an owner-occupant who wants to bring that duplex up to its full potential — though exactly how much is an open question.

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The rentals look to be in decent enough shape, underneath the clutter (and behind the actual tenants pictured, not something we see every day).

There’s an actual yard in back, which is to say one with grass; note the brick barbecue pit in the rear.

Listed by Angela Peterkin and Chamaine Johnson of AP Realty Group, the house is asking $3.5 million. What’s your take on it?

[Listing: 538 Clinton Avenue | Broker: AP Realty Group] GMAP