First floor Living?
Just wondering what the pros/cons were of living on the 1st floor of a brownstone. The floor of the apartment is at stoop level, about six feet up from the sidewalk. There are bars on the windows for safety I guess, but I was wondering what you all thought about other issues that might come…
Just wondering what the pros/cons were of living on the 1st floor of a brownstone. The floor of the apartment is at stoop level, about six feet up from the sidewalk. There are bars on the windows for safety I guess, but I was wondering what you all thought about other issues that might come up– noise from the front door, mice/bugs b/c of proximity to basement etc? Is there anything we should keep in mind?
Regarding bars, I would ask yourself if someone could get into your front windows by going to the top of the stoop and climbing in. I few people on my block were broken into this way–the window was close enough to the stoop and had a ledge below the window that gave them a foothold.
Not all houses have this situation but take a look!
I live in a floor-through, parlor-level apartment in a center Slope brownstone and really like the level. Living on the parlor floor definitely heightens my social sense of living in a city– I like watching people come up and down the street and over the course of tending my window boxes and back garden, I’ve met most of my neighbors. You can’t beat the convenience for coming in/out, bringing garbage outside, accessing basement storage, and grabbing the mail.
My apartment has pocket shutters and I open and close the bottom halves based on the time of day and how much sun/privacy we want. Living on the shady side of the street, the parlor floor does not get as much light as the higher apartments (one tradeoff). I’ve never found the street noise/building noise to be bothersome (although our bedroom is in the back of the apartment).
Our windows do have bars. Before I moved in, I thought I would want them removed, but now I hardly notice them. And now I enjoy the sense of security, especially in the back since we have a deck off the parlor level. I’d say about half of the buildings on my block have parlor level bars and the other half do not.
Finally, if you’re worried about mice and bugs, it’s more important to look at how your building/neighboring buildings are maintained. We have not had any bugs and only 1 mouse in two years.
Missed the part about floor-thru unit, not a choice between living/renting a certain floor. You should be fine, bars or not, that’s just a personal choice.
To those who mentioned the climbing abilities of vermin – this may be true of mice and many insects, but water bugs (often called roaches – they are thumb sized and nasty) are basement lovers and the only species of rat in NYC stays at roughly ground level or below.
Fascinating right! Roof rats (climbers) were beaten out by Norway rats in NYC in the 1950’s and now roof rats mainly infest Los Angeles where roofs are generally about ten feet off the ground. Mice go up the walls happily, but many “mice” sightings within a few feet of the ground level are really baby rats. The grown-ups send the babies out of the walls/nests/sewers/other safe spots to test the waters.
But in any case, the parlor floor should be fine, and it sounds like the slope in general is not hard hit by rodents.
wannabe — yes, that’s parlor floor. Question: do the other brownstones on the block have bars? Not sure that bars are really necessary on the parlor floor in the Center Slope. You might consider taking them off.
take it
Thanks for all your thoughts! A few follow up pieces of info: this apartment we’re looking at is in central Park Slope; it might be “parlor” level, I’m not sure (new to brownstones), all I know is you walk up the stoop, go in the main entrance, and this apartment is the first floor on your right– the bottom of the window is at least 6 ft above the sidewalk; and yes, you can fit an A/C unit in the bars. Thanks!
You’re probably at greater risk for mice/bugs, but honestly, both can climb, so there’s a risk no matter what floor you’re on.
We currently live on the ground floor, and have yet to see anything other than a few small spiders. The dog would probably make quick work of any rodents (but so far no evidence of any).
mice live in walls and don’t really care what floor you are on.
I think street noise is actually accentuated when go higher.
Garden level gets the least. Parlor a little more.
Our first apartment was on the garden floor of a brownstone in the South Slope. I don’t recall having any problems and very much liked the private, under the stoop entrance.
We’ve had a single-family brownstone for many years and spend a lot of time on the garden floor, where the kitchen and dining room are located. I spend as much time in the ground floor dining room (which also has my computer and a sofa for reading) as I do in our back parlor family room. We also use the entrance under the stoop every day, reserving the main entrance for company. We’ve also never considered the ground floor window bars to be a problem.