Renovated Bed Stuy Queen Anne Brownstone With Mantel, Mini Splits Asks $2.495 Million

by Susan De Vries

06/30/2021 4 minute 0

In a row of narrow and ornate 1880s brownstones with impressive Queen Anne facades, this renovated Bed Stuy two-family offers up a few period details as well as modern amenities such as updated kitchens and baths. The house, at 478 Greene Avenue, is set up as an owner’s triplex with a garden apartment that hasn’t been occupied since its recent reno, according to the listing.

While some of the houses on this stretch of Greene Avenue between Bedford and Nostrand avenues were designed by Brooklyn’s Amzi Hill, that doesn’t seem to be the case for this row. Plans filed in 1886 for 12 three-story and basement brownstone houses — each 16.85 feet wide by 45 feet long — on the south side of Greene Avenue seem to indicate that developer Thomas H. Brush and architect Frederick E. Lockwood were responsible for the Queen Anne row. According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the cost of the entire project was estimated at $78,000.

A coat of white paint now covers the exterior of No. 478, but the original details, seen in the historic tax photo, are still visible. These include an exotic cornice and a projecting bay on the upper stories with its arched windows, iron railing and bits of ornament, including small faces.

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The pier mirror and bench that likely graced a niche in the foyer is gone, but the triplex still has some original details, including door and window trim, moldings, wainscoting and a mantel. The parlor level has pocket doors separating the living and dining space from the kitchen at the rear. The oak floors throughout are new.

That kitchen has a massive marble-topped island along with a bank of gray cabinets and a glass door providing access to a terrace. There is also a powder room on this floor.

Five bedrooms are spread across the two upper floors, with a full bath on each floor. A laundry room is tucked into a closet off a rear-facing bedroom on the second floor that is set up as a family room.

The street-facing bedroom on the third floor has the only mantel in the house and it also has wall moldings, glass doors leading out to a Juliet balcony, and a walk-in closet.

There aren’t any listing photos of the garden studio apartment but the floor plan shows it has an open plan living and dining room with kitchen at the rear.

In the paved rear yard, a wood-slatted pergola with built-in benches coordinates with the horizontal fence that rings the space.

Updates to the house include new electric and plumbing, noise-blocking windows, a hardwired alarm system and mini splits in each room, according to the listing.

The house last sold in 2014, before this most recent renovation, for $1.05 million. Listed with Douglas (Doug) Bowen of Douglas Elliman, it is now priced at $2.495 million. Worth the ask?

[Listing: 478 Greene Avenue | Broker: Douglas Elliman] GMAP