Real Estate

Estate Condition Clinton Hill Anglo-Italianate With Adjacent Garden Lot Asks $2.498 Million

This Anglo-Italianate in the Clinton Hill Historic District might be a project for a buyer who wants to create a modern interior without removing loads of original details.

by Susan De Vries

11/15/2021 5 minute 0

This Anglo-Italianate in Clinton Hill is not for the faint of heart. While there are some marble mantels and moldings to be seen, much of the interior of the 14-foot-wide row house on Cambridge Place looks like a renovation job interrupted. While narrow, the house benefits from an adjacent garden that is being sold together with the house, although the two are priced separately.

It’s located in the Clinton Hill Historic District; the designation report attributes 43 Cambridge Place to builder William Montgomery and dates it to circa 1867. The three-story stucco-fronted brick house with its wooden porch, segmental-arched windows and bracketed cornice is one of a row that once included six identical houses. At the time of designation, the report declared No. 43 in the best shape of the row, despite the loss of its original wooden porch posts, seen intact in the historic tax photo. The tax photo also shows neighboring No. 45 still standing next door. It was already demolished by the time of the designation in 1981 and the lot in use as a garden.

Researching the few blocks of Cambridge Place during the 1860s when the houses were built can be a bit of a challenge as at the time the street had three separate names, some in use simultaneously. The use of both Ryerson and Trotter on the street caused some confusion amongst residents as well, leading to agitation for a street name change. The frustration of one home buyer who wrote to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1869 may sound familiar to some real estate hunters in his description of moving to Brooklyn with “visions of brownstone-fronts” but dealing with a budget that meant a brick front on Ryerson Street. Frustration ensued when the buyer realized the purchased house might actually be on “vulgar Trotter.” That same year property owners on the street put their vote behind a name change to the loftier Cambridge Place.

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The single-family hasn’t changed hands since 1974, although it’s unclear exactly when someone was last in residence. A crumbling kitchen is on the garden level, while above are front and rear parlors; two floors of bedroom space are on top. There’s no sign of an original stair, and in its place is a metal spiral stair connecting all floors and, presumably, making the movement of large furniture a bit tricky.

Two marble mantels are shown in the listing photos, although one has lost its center ornament, and most of the floors appear to be covered in layers of linoleum, so this might be a project for a buyer who wants to create a modern interior without removing loads of original details. The listing accurately notes “bring your architect or contractor.”

One of those mantels is in a second floor bedroom that does still have plaster walls and some detailing on the ceiling. In many of the other rooms, the plaster has been removed from walls and ceilings.

The only bathroom is a full bath on the top floor, although the floor plan also indicates a sink in one of the bedrooms. If still there, it might be a marble original. There are bits of wainscoting and early 20th century tile on the walls of the full bath, along with a claw foot tub.

The house has its own rear garden and the adjacent empty lot has also been used as a garden. A single-story brick wall includes an arched opening with a gate that provides access to the garden beyond. The lot is priced separately at $999,000. With Landmarks approval, the extra space could allow for an extra-wide house, parking or a spectacular garden for someone with a green thumb.

Listed with Gregory Smith of Corcoran, the house and lot together are priced at $2.498 million while the house by itself is set at $1.499 million. Worth the ask?

[Listing: 43 Cambridge Place | Broker: Corcoran] GMAP