Condo/Co-op of the Day Cobble Hill

Lavish Cobble Hill Two-Bedroom With Plasterwork, High Ceilings Asks $1.95 Million

In a grand 1850s Italianate, the parlor-floor apartment boasts a lofted office, two bathrooms, and a terrace.

living room with plasterwork, ceiling medallion, high ceilings

Photo via Compass

by Susan De Vries

10/08/2025 0

For those who want to lounge in dramatic surroundings including high ceilings, pierced plaster moldings, and arched openings, this Cobble Hill unit is generous in detail. The grand decor comes in a smaller package: It is a two-bedroom with a private entrance, petite kitchen, and one closet occupying the parlor floor of 199 Clinton Street in the Cobble Hill Historic District. In addition to the splendid historic features, there is a lofted office, in-unit laundry, and two dedicated storage spaces in the building.

The designation report dates the house, one of a row of four brick Italianate dwellings, to circa 1856 to 1857 with a Samuel Richard St. John behind the development. Historic maps show the row isn’t yet there in 1855, but by 1869 the block front has been filled out. A dentist, and relative of St. John’s, was living in the house in the late 1850s. After the dentist died, St. John advertised the dwelling for sale or rent in 1869. The brick house “with heavy brown stone trimmings” was pitched as perfect for the home and office of a doctor or dentist.

When the house was auctioned off in 1894, a more thorough description noted it had 16 rooms, just two marble mantels, and “ornamented parlors.” There were also bathrooms, two office spaces, and a rear extension. Not surprisingly, in the early 20th century there were ads for furnished rooms in the house. A 1933 i-card records the house as having four apartments and includes sketches of the floor plans for each floor.

Of those in the row built by St. John, No. 199 has the advantage of a corner location, so there are rooms with two exposures and a secondary entrance on Pacific Street. Access to this unit, one of five in the building, is via that Pacific Street entrance.

A small rounded vestibule has arched and curved doors leading to the former parlors. One is now the largest bedroom while the other is the living room for the apartment. The living room has the intricate plasterwork, an Italianate niche fitted with a mirror, wood floors, and windows on two exposures. The room is large enough to fit a dining area.

A folding door leads to the compact kitchen. It has light wood cabinets, a terra-cotta-colored tile backsplash, and green walls. The white appliances include a dishwasher.

Also off the living room is the smaller bedroom, which is shown set up as an office. It too has the double exposures, and one of the floor-to-ceiling windows provides access to the terrace. A painted border of ivy adorns the walls of the bedroom and extends onto the ceiling to meet the ceiling medallion.

The main bedroom is a bit larger than the living room and has the same exuberant detail. The color scheme is Tiffany blue with the plasterwork picked out in a lighter blue. The windows are plentiful and there is room for a seating area in addition to a king-sized bed. The en suite bath has a shower fitted into a quirky, angled space. There is also a bit of a seaside theme with green waves painted on the walls and a shell-shaped pedestal sink.

The other bathroom is reached via a small hallway off the living room that also leads to the windowed and lofted office and a closet with the in-unit laundry. The decor of the bathroom continues the ivy theme with a border tile above the white subway wall tile. The vanity is painted green and white and has a flower-adorned sink.

Maintenance for the unit is $1,252 a month. The listing notes the building mortgage has been paid off.

Compass’ Paul Murphy has the listing and the two-bedroom is priced at $1.95 million. Worth the ask?

[Listing: 199 Clinton Street, Unit 2 | Broker: Compass] GMAP