Real Estate

East Flatbush House With English Basement Studio, Clawfoot Tub, Central Air Asks $1.485 Million

“Here’s a bargain,” the ads proclaimed for this house back in 1899 while touting its modern features like gas fixtures, wood trim, a built-in buffet and a furnace.

by Susan De Vries

01/12/2022 4 minute 0

“Here’s a bargain,” the ads proclaimed for this house back in 1899 while touting its modern features like gas fixtures, wood trim, a built-in buffet and a furnace. The single-family row house at 23 Fairview Place in East Flatbush has lost some of those original details but is in move-in condition and has other features that might be compelling to a contemporary buyer, like central air and well-appointed flexible art studio space in the above-grade English basement.

That 1899 ad was placed by the Craigen Construction Company, which developed a stretch of the block-long street with buff brick and brownstone single-family homes available for $4,000. The most distinctive element on the facade might be those touches of brownstone, used in horizontal bands across the pale brick and as rough cut lintels above the doors and windows. No. 23 still has those details in place along with a full height angled bay and an ornamented metal cornice. While the stoop steps have been altered and the original double door replaced, it looks like some of the original ironwork remains.

On the interior, there is a fairly open first floor with living, dining, kitchen and a full bath. Upstairs are two large bedrooms, both with en suite baths, and a smaller bedroom that could work as windowed office space.

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There’s no longer a built-in buffet on the first floor, but there are wood floors, picture rails and arched openings in the living and dining rooms.

The renovated kitchen has windows on two exposures and a glass door leading out to a rear deck. It also has white subway tile, sage green cabinets and updated appliances.

Wood floors and picture rails are repeated in the bedrooms above while the bathrooms have been renovated with white fixtures and tile. One includes a claw foot tub and a vintage-inspired shower enclosure. There isn’t laundry on this level, but there are two hook-ups in the English basement.

That basement is accessible via entrances at the front and rear and has been set up as a flexible art studio or workshop space that could also work as a family room or guest suite. The renovated space includes a kitchenette with blue cabinets, butcher block countertop and a dishwasher. There is another full bath, this one with a shower, making a total of four full baths in the house.

The enclosed, brick-paved rear yard includes some planting beds with trees and shrubbery. The small deck off the kitchen has room for dining.

Located in an area zoned for commercial use, the residential property at one time apparently hosted religious gatherings and looked quite different when it last changed hands for $575,000 in 2015, old listings show.

Featured as an Open House Pick in November when it was asking $1.595 million, the house was taken off the market and put back up with new photos, a new broker and a new price. Now listed with Donald P. Brennan, Jr. of Engel and Volkers, the house is priced at $1.485 million. What do you think?

[Listing: 23 Fairview Place | Broker: Engel and Volkers] GMAP