Diversions: Bath, New York For $90 a Foot
To provide you with one of those “What the Hell am I doing in New York” moments, we thought we’d show you what $490,000 buys you in the middle of nowhere (okay, upstate actually). In Bath, NY, you get 5,600 square feet of Greek Revival goodness set on 21 acres dotted with 150-year-old spruce and…
To provide you with one of those “What the Hell am I doing in New York” moments, we thought we’d show you what $490,000 buys you in the middle of nowhere (okay, upstate actually). In Bath, NY, you get 5,600 square feet of Greek Revival goodness set on 21 acres dotted with 150-year-old spruce and maple trees. Most of us would be hard-pressed to earn a living up there but maybe some of you creative freelancers could take the plunge.
Bath Estate [Historic Properties] GMAP
Ditto regarding Albany which, lest we forget, is the capital of our great state and not exactly the end of the earth. Here’s a current listing for an 1848 townhouse in one of the downtown historic districts:
“Intact & Restored Early Victorian. Greek Revival Interior w/ Crown Italianate Molding, Recessed ceilings, Pocket doors, Wide plank floors, Classical American Empire pillar & scroll mahogany newel post. 5 matching black marble mantels. Elec all updated, most plumbing replaced. Extraordinary Views. 2 Story Carriage House.”
Asking price is $259,000. I know the owner and have been in the house. Really fab house and neighborhod. Certainly comparable or even better than the $5 million Greek Revival house featured on ‘Stoner this week.
I’m not sure what the point of the entry is. NY is expensive? Real estate outside NY is cheap? This is news?
While Bklyn may not be all that asthetically attractive as a whole, there are certainly some standout sections of brownstone nabes like Brooklyn Hts, Park Slope, etc. that make me think I’ve been transported to a quaint old section of a European city like London or Paris. Of course, that would be where the brownstones sell for +$2MM, so I concede that this part of Bklyn is not exactly affordable to the masses in quite the same way as a view of the Shenandoah Mtns would be availble to everyone, including those residing in the trailer park down the hill.
Seriously. Put the Kool-Aid down you swirly eyed zombies.
Brooklyn is nice, but there are much better housing values out there (the point of the entry). As much as I might find Paris and Rome and Capri beautiful, I am not moving to these places anytime soon. I speak english and I am an American citizen. Chicago or Albany or even Bath, NY are worth marvelling at the rock bottom real estate prices and asking oneself if they could be livable places.
Shenandoah Valley anon — are you saying you moved because you retired, or you made so much selling your house that you were able to retire? If the latter, that must have been some house.
Compensation levels in NY are significantly higher than compensation in chicago by any measure. Compensation for people buying brownstones in brooklyn heights or park slope for north of two million dollars are drastically higher than compensation levels for people buying in comparable neighborhoods in chicago. Obviously many jobs pay relatively similar in new york and chicago, but it is the wide gap at the upper end that contributes to the eye popping prices on brooklyn brownstones as compared to housing stock in chicago.
I vote for Paris!
I sold my place in Brooklyn 2 years ago for 25 times what I paid for it in 1984. I bought a very nice little house in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia–not far from where Brownstoner was vacationing last July. I miss NY, but when I’m indoors with WNYC streaming over the internet I could be back in Brooklyn, without the sirens and my downstairs neighbor playing his stereo too loud. It’s a tradeoff for sure and I wish I could have both, but on those days when I start to get depressed about it I walk outside and it’s so damn beautiful down here that it’s hard to stay blue…and oh yeah, I’ll never have to work for somebody else again…ever.
You’re right NewYork isn’t those most beautiful (not old enough and topography a bit flat) but most exciting city maybe and some of NYC most interesting and prettiest neighborhoods are
in Brownstone Brooklyn.