Real Estate

Kelley Mansion Breaks Bed Stuy Record With $6.275 Million Sale

The John C. Kelley mansion at 247 Hancock Street is one of Bed Stuy’s most prominent and notable buildings.

Photo by Edrei Rodriguez

by Cate Corcoran

09/06/2018 3 minute 0

Patience is a virtue. After going on the market in 2014 for $6 million, one of Bed Stuy’s most prominent and notable buildings, the John C. Kelley mansion at 247 Hancock Street, sold this morning for over ask and set a new record for the neighborhood.

The sale price was $6.275 million, Halstead agent Ban Leow told Brownstoner. The previous record holder was a lavishly renovated corner brownstone at 1 Verona Place, which closed for $3.3 million in 2017.

The seller, retired advertising executive Claudia Moran, who has lived in the Kelley mansion since the ’80s, always said she intended to sell to someone who would take care of the building and not tear it down. It was landmarked in 2015 as part of the Bedford Historic District.

The buyer is an LLC and chose to remain anonymous. Moran said she plans to retire to her native Jamaica.

The mansion was built in the 1880s by a wealthy inventor, John C. Kelley, an Irish immigrant who made a fortune with his invention of a water meter. It was designed by noted 19th century architect Montrose Morris, whose own house was across the street.

The block, between Marcy and Tompkins, is one of the most architecturally distinguished in Bed Stuy.

The huge palazzo-style brownstone has hosted a Sharon Stone film shoot and a visit from President Cleveland. In the 20th century, it became a boarding house until Moran restored it.

The style of the mansion is neo-Renaissance with Romanesque Revival features. It’s as wide as two regular townhouses and sits on an 81-foot-wide lot which, if the area weren’t landmarked, would make the property a prime target for an apartment house developer.