Condo of the Day: 916 8th Avenue
It’s hard to tell too much about this two-bedroom condo at 916 8th Avenue in Park Slope from the dark photos in the Craiglist listing. It looks like the basic details have been kept intact and at least the developer hasn’t wasted everyone’s money by putting in a fancy bathroom. We can’t be sure, but it looks like the oroginal floor was kept; not so sure about the wall and window moldings. Anyway, they’re asking $845,000 for this 977-square-foot place, which seems quite steep. There’s also mention of a private garden, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given that the photos show that this is clearly not on the parlor or ground floors. Whatevs. Anyone checked it out in person?
$845000 2BR/2BA Condo w/GARDEN! [Craigslist] GMAP P*Shark
pine of today is not same as pine of 100 years ago. several diff kinds of pine including pumpkin pine were used then. nothing like 2007 pine
The price was just a bit high and the bedrooms were too small. The only apt that made a little sence was the top floor apt that had the roof rights. It had a lot of potential….
Agree with bronwstone dreamin… Kinda wanna take it one step further having grown up in a one (and willing to risk the wrath of all the fanatics out there!) While I appreciate the workmanship inherent in an unstripped brownstone, I never really felt any other allure living in one. The narrow rooms combined with dark interior room just aren’t suited for the way we live now (or rather the way I prefer to live…)
Also despite the crappy pix, moldings clearly not original.
i don’t agree that they are as cheap as you suggest. i think the price might be a but high, but i rather liked them.
great location, great neighborhood, great old building.
compared to what’s out there, i’d give em a 7.
it’s kind of what i thought…it’s isn’t that the original floors are so nice, it’s that the nice replacements are REALLY expensive…certainly makes the originals floors seem pretty nice all of a sudden…thanks for the input.
this is a building that was redone, cheaply, all condos. New floors, much shinier than the pics show. horrendous kitchens, small baths, small rooms with awkward closets. its amazing how non-chalant most of these developers seem to be, i guess they assume (often correctly) that buyers are desperate and will put up with cheapness. the condos at 659 carroll are MUCH nicer, but a bit more psf. these 8th avenue things are WAY overpriced, but presumably will sell near asking, as the open house i was at was packed.
The spirit of the 11:34 comment is totally valid. There definitely are some details from the past, especially in these non-brownstone places, that aren’t worth worrying about. It is worth pointing out, however, that the pine used in the floors 100 years ago, was generally better than the kind you would get today. The grains are nicer. I had the norwegian woods guys over at my place evaluating our crappy (in my opinion) pine floors, and he thought they were worth keeping, unless we wanted to buy some really expensive oak or walnut.
One upside of old wood over 100 years old is it’s less appealing to termites. Termites prefer newer wood. And yes, the old wood is better because it came from old-growth trees unlike young pine trees that supply the wood today. And old wood floors can be easily sanded and refinished, to look new. One tip for repairing damaged spots – pull the old wood from the floors of the closets. Use that wood to replace damaged floor boards in the visible areas of the floors. And use the mismatched new wood on the closet floors where nobody is going to see it.
all you preservationists..i have a question. if the “original” floors are crappy materials, like pine or poplar, for instance, do we really care? Was the Pine from 100 years ago somehow better than superior materials of today? Not a comment of these floors, in particular – just a general question. sometimes i think i miss the point on what is really of value, other than nostalgia, regarding “original detail.”