House of the Day: 19 Garden Place
There’s not a bad thing to say about the charming Tudor house at 19 Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights. All the original detail is just as it should be, and the updated kitchen looks well done (except for our pet peeve—granite counters!) The biggest challenge to achieving the asking price of $3,995,000 will likely be…
There’s not a bad thing to say about the charming Tudor house at 19 Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights. All the original detail is just as it should be, and the updated kitchen looks well done (except for our pet peeve—granite counters!) The biggest challenge to achieving the asking price of $3,995,000 will likely be the somewhat diminutive size. While the listing doesn’t give a number, it can’t be much more than 2,000 square feet. Still, it’s on one of the quietest and most quaint blocks in The Heights and the architecture is a rarity, so anything’s possible.
19 Garden Place [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
I’ve visited this a few times.
Key points:
1) House is very narrow. 15 wide at the widest. Not a huge problem for the living room, but it makes the upstairs rooms quite narrow. Kitchen is perhaps 12′ wide. Granite counter is cracked; the rest of the kitchen has white ‘Euro’ style formica cabinets that perfectly express 1987 — not bad, just dated. No bathroom on the ‘parlor’ floor.
Downstairs is the giant cat scratching post room. Not really sure what you’d do with that sunken area, but there is no way that I’d pay 2k/foot for it. All bathrooms/other rooms down there are finished in the cheap brown tile/ formica that was also popular in 1987; the recessed lighting really adds to the vibe.
Upstairs, the main bedrooms have trashed w/w carpet. The california style closets are nice, and the giant walk-in closets lovely, but again, 2k/foot for a closet makes your closet worth perhaps 100k. I can buy a storage unit for that. It’s called a studio in ENY. Only one bedroom is full width, but the rest are ok. There are leaks in the bathroom.
Top floor has a large bedroom, with another 80s-inspired bathroom, as well as roof access. Would be perect for a teen.
The broker said you could rent it for 10-12k/year. I’d pay 1.5-2.0, but no more; the house is actually smaller than 2k worth of usable space (some of the 2k is in the utility rooms.
Overpriced, move along.
I think the beef with granite, which in my opinion is the best counter material, comes from folks who have invested in some faddish material such as poured concrete, 1950’s recycled formica, or in Mr. B’s case, marble slabs that were formally bathroom fixtures (!) and having made these embarrasing errors, are now disdaining the material of choice of sane home owners.
Actually honed granite shows stains more than regular granite. I love my granite countertops because of all the reasons Nokilisa mentioned but I think if I was doing a kitchen now, I would seriously look into Caesarstone/Silestone.
I thought granite had stain problems too unless you get it honed. I’m certainly no expert. My Pietra Cardoza looks good after a year. A couple of marks but nothing too bad. It has a beautiful grain running through it, not like speckled granite which I find way too busy even when it’s black.
Brownstoner never mentioned what his beef is with granite. I think he had reclaimed marble from a movie theater in his kitchen, btw sam, not the lovely thought of the Brownstoner clan chopping cilantro on a urinal.
nokilissa – you have me sold on granite. i have had granite in the past and i wanted something different. but i do remember when a friend came over to cook and asked me if i had a cutting board – and i was like no, i have granite – lol.
thanks for the reminder.
Forgot to say that granite is virtually indestructible. Can place boiling hot pans on it with impunity. Is very difficult to stain it, if sealed properly – and if you choose something in the black color family, won’t show anyway. Cannot cut or scratch it easily. It literally takes a hammer. This I know. (Okay, I’ll fess up… I was trying to open up the stems of some cherry blossom branches with a hammer and slipped off of the postage-stamp sized cutting board I was using for this purpose. Stupid, stupid, stupid. BUT, even with that, you can barely see the bruise).
Thank God Ditmas ‘ain’t’ Pawtucket or Brooklyn Heights. It is still relatively affordable. We also know how to do good Halloween party. In addition to many porch and block celebrations, we have two parades. There is one house that sets up an electric chair and guillotine every year on their lawn. Last year a kid at another house was buried under the leaves piled up by the porch and jumped out as we approached the door. He scared the crap out me. My kids of course found it very amusing. Even if I could afford the BH tudor, I am still partial to Ditmas. I didn’t have to go all the way to Pawtucket for a little grass.
“Pain to maintain” is the operative phrase here, FatLenny.
Marble stains like hell (one sloppy wine glass and you’re done), cracks, and isn’t particularly heat resistant.
Concrete is, as you pointed out, difficult to install and difficult once installed. It cracks, is difficult to seal, stains easily (oils, even water) and is dated.
Soapstone only comes in shades of green/gray, scratches easily and must be maintained yearly. It is also really expensive.
Brazilian Cherry & other gorgeous woods are my one temptation, but again, expensive, impractical and difficult to maintain. You also pretty much have to go with a white/light cabinetry if it is to look right. There is also the pesky little question about Brazilian deforestation and other “green” concerns.
So…
Granite, especially if not shiny, can be gorgeous. Comes in every conceivable color and takes virtually zero maintenance apart from an occasional polishing. Sealing it can be stretched to every two years easy. I know this.
Don’t know what Peitra Cardoza is, and hope I don’t regret my granite choice once googling it.