Top 5 Stories on Brownstoner This Week: Families Squeeze Together in Brooklyn

The National’s Aaron Dessner Puts Ditmas Park House on Market for $2.35 Million
The shingle house at 236 Stratford Road in Ditmas Park has a porch swing, two-car garage and recording studio. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about it is the identity of the seller, The National’s guitarist Aaron Dessner.

Clinton Hill Wreck Sells for $2.9 Million, Will Become Luxury Apartments
One of Clinton Hill’s most notable eyesores — a landmarked but completely messed up prominent corner property at 109 Gates Avenue — has sold and will be fixed up soon. The unnamed buyer paid $2,900,000 at auction, beating out Sterling Town Equities’ bid of $2,100,000, we hear from a Brownstoner reader who lives in the area.

Citing Stresses of City, Beloved Bakers the Robicellis Leave Brooklyn for Baltimore
Allison and Matt Robicelli, lifelong Brooklynites known for their creative cupcakes (chicken and waffles, anyone?) and Cronut-level novelties like Nutellasagna, are closing up their Bay Ridge shop and moving their family to Baltimore.

Tough Choices in Brooklyn as Families of Means Squeeze Together
The Gilmores, a family of five, all sleep together in one bed in their one-bedroom apartment in South Slope. It’s a queen-size bunk bed — two kids on top, two adults and a baby on the bottom — and they had it custom made. It’s not that they couldn’t afford to live in a bigger apartment, according to The New York Times. But they opted to stay put because of close social ties in the area.

A History of Brooklyn’s Extravagant, Soon-to-Be-Restored Paramount Theatre
The Brooklyn Paramount Theatre was one of Brooklyn’s famed movie palaces. Like most of the great movie palaces built in the 1920s and ’30s, the Paramount was ornate and over the top. It’s now on its way to being restored, but it was almost lost forever. Here’s a look at its early days.