HOTD: Gardener's Delight in Center Slope
Regular readers know we almost always go with a photo of the exterior when it comes to the House of the Day, but today we couldn’t help ourselves. While the facade of this charming brownstone is classic Park Slope, the rear garden on the 150-foot lot is positively rural! The current owner’s color palette may…
Regular readers know we almost always go with a photo of the exterior when it comes to the House of the Day, but today we couldn’t help ourselves. While the facade of this charming brownstone is classic Park Slope, the rear garden on the 150-foot lot is positively rural! The current owner’s color palette may not be our fave and there are a few touches that scream “Eighties”, but the historic character of the house appears to be fairly intact. We wish we could see a few more photos of interior details, though, to be sure. We’re hoping that the Slopers out there will be able to clue us in to some recent comparable sales in the Center Slope to put this $2.65 million price tag in perspective.
179 Garfield Place Townhouse [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP
This is well priced for the neighborhood I understand a house at 226 Garfield went for approx 2.5 and the garden and kitchen were not near as nice… Understand the conservatory is wonderful
That was my point. If the kitchen is designed well, it should hold up to time. As for materials, just think of how beautiful an old and worn marble countertop looks now (the type you can find in an old French restaurant, for example). I agree that some elements will not survive with time. For example, IMHO, I think polished granite is overdone and will be out of date (or already is). But honed stone countertops — whether in granite, marble, or some other stone — has a timeless look. As for stainless steel appliances, all I can say is that appliances have a useful life of, say, 10-15 years. So if they become dated, they are easily replaced with something else.
Again, my main point is that good design should last. Have you ever seen an Eichler kitchen designed in the 1950s-60s? Still looks good today. A nicely designed kitchen is laid out well and is tastefully done.
interesting point but what materials then will be timeless in the kitchen if you get the design part right? a friend gave me a kitchen design book from the 70’s as a joke for ideas on materials and design- as most can remember some of those rooms were so dark and depressing- there were some good things about the 70’s but I don’t think kitchen design was one of them- the more the kitchen flows with the rest of the house and has light i think that’s a timeless element right there.
good design may be timeless – but every new overpriced condo development
has same ‘new’ look that reeks of the era we are in currently and that look will be soon be considered the avocado green and harvest gold.
I’m bored with it already.
The best ones may survive and called retro by your kids – but not many.
Stainless steel is standard in commercial kitchens — we’ll ALWAYS be used to seeing it…
Good design is timeless regardless of when constructed. If you do a tastefully designed kitchen with granite and stanless steel, it will still be nice in 20-30 years and may be a “classic” look by then. And you’ll see programs on HGTV (e.g., This Old House) where they try to restore their “2000s kitchen” back to its original look. By 2030, so many people would have “modernized” their kitchens, that all the granite and stanless steel would have been ripped out. So keep your 2000s classic kitchen (as long as it is nicely designed to begin with!)
All the houses on this block – garfield/carroll between 6th and 7th aves. – have these double-sized yards, and from what I’ve heard some of the nicest gardens in the slope. there was an article in the Times several years ago about how many of the yards have openings in the back fences so that kids can play in each others’ yard.
I hope all the folks today that think that stainless steel appliances, granite counters and maple cabinets ( and variations) mean upscale taste realize that in few
years their kitchens with be screaming “2000’s kitch”.