House of the Day: 41 Joralemon Street
This charming Greek Revival townhouse at 41 Joralemon appears to be an interesting chance to get into the Heights for under $3 million. While we were bummed to see the dining room stripped of its mantel, the legal two-family certainly isn’t lacking for old-world charm. For under $900 a square foot, this presents decent value…
This charming Greek Revival townhouse at 41 Joralemon appears to be an interesting chance to get into the Heights for under $3 million. While we were bummed to see the dining room stripped of its mantel, the legal two-family certainly isn’t lacking for old-world charm. For under $900 a square foot, this presents decent value we’d think. Anything we’re missing?
41 Joralemon [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
I wanted BH, wife PS. She won.
I like BH more because it felt more urban, larger bldgs, more transportation alternatives, more cab friendly, more established feel to it, less boho. Wife wanted less urban feel, more open space, more park, more boho, etc. I guess opposites attract.
BTW, the PS co-op we bought years ago had an excellent water view of the NY harbor from our roof deck, albeit from a distance. That was nice. But, we gave that up for a bstone & garden, ah well.
My commute to Wall St. from PS is 30 minutes door-to-door. From BH, it’d probably be 15 minutes by train (or 40 minutes by walking over Bklyn Bridge!).
My overall take is that BH is indeed tonier than PS. I make no pretense on that score. And it’s proximity to Manhattan is also a big driver of price. But, over the years, I have come to appreciate my wife’s insistence on PS, as PS has sort of grown into a more mature neighborhood.
I work on Wall St, both geographically and career-wise, and have no shame in stating the location of my residence. Most people get it – that my home is valued around $2mm-$3mm and in the money-economy that is a statement unto itself (like it or not).
Perhaps some day, if I ever make it to the next rung on the career ladder, I’ll have to move to BH, though more than likely, in that event I will be required to move to UES to avoid total embarrassment.
This site is very funny. BLAH Blah. My hood is better than yours blah blah, are you all 12 years old? And the constant babble about houses that most of you have never seen except on some web site is really the worst kind of drivel. Me I like to watch car wrecks that is why I visit…
My commute from Williamsburg to Midtown takes about 25 minutes – door-to-door. However, I live near the Bedford L stop, and I would push your Grandma out of my way to get on the subway!
The reason why this house and the one next door (the red federal to the left, #39) take so long to sell is because of the substantial noise from the SUBWAY which runs directly underneath the buildings. #39 was on and off the market for two years also — it also spent some time as a rental when it did not sell — and was listed at $2.5. It finally sold for $2.4 after a year. The buyer, however, who viewed it on a Sunday and bought in on the Monday, closing in January of this year STILL has not moved in and there seems to be a significant amount of work going on in the house, which seems unusual given that it was in thoroughly decent shape. This house is in equal condition, bar paint and plaster, to #39 and is probably not selling because it is overpriced given the noise from the BQE and the subway. Does anyone know of any structural damage caused to these houses at this end of Joralemon because of the subway? I would be interested to find out. Certainly, the noise is unmistakable, whereas the BQE noise is not bad at all. The other detractor seems to be the BBpark allowing Joralemon St to be an access street: although no vehicular traffic is CURRENTLY (we all know how these things change…) allowed, there will be foot traffic. I do not know how charming this street will become if hundreds of people are swarming through on any given weekend. I personally think these houses possess a “buyer beware” aspect to them. There has to be a reason why these two houses next door to one another have spent four years between them on and off the market and NOT selling. My money would be on structural damage, or the potential for it, due to the subway. It is a shame, however, because they are very pretty to look at, just maybe not to live in.
All this bitching has missed the single most important thing that distinguishes BH from PS and that is the private schools. People pay up for their kids to be able to walk to St. Ann’s or Packer. Until PS has a school that has the reputation of St. Ann’s or Packer, rightly or wrongly, BH will always trade at a premium. And by reputation, I mean reputation, not whether or not a school is actually “better”.
Most of the BQE in the Heights is UNDER the Promenade and you can barely hear the traffic when you sitting on top of it, so can’t imagine it bad INSIDE a house. Just ‘cuz you see BQE on the map doesn’t mean that semi trucks are driving by your bedroom window.
And as far as commute, if you work in lower Manhattan, you just hop on one of the trains at Borough Hall, and your in Wall Street area in minutes.
ok, I disagree that BH does not feel like Brooklyn! I agree it is posh, too posh perhaps, but it is still very relaxed, people are on a first name basis, and they take it easy…
Commute- I live in BH, I work sometimes in wall street– my commute door to door is 15 minutes, one stop on the 2/3. I like that.
Water is awesome- love. it. have enough park formy taste in dumbo.
Downsides to BH- the restaurants are not good, Montague lacks character, and sometimes it is too close to Manhattan for my taste…
Downsides to PS- It is just a little “too PS” for me… everyone seems too much on the same page..
If I ever left BH, it will be for Cobbile Hill, Fort Greene or Clinton Hill… but not PS.
This really is a great thread. PS and BH are so different I really don’t see the reason for even trying to compare them. Average prices, mean little, get back to me when a PS brownstone sells for $8.5 million.
holy cow. reactions on this site are like bees swarming to honey. everyone tries to prove the other person wrong or they try to nail you to the wall with the slightest comments. this house WAS on the market about 4 years ago, also with corcoran, and it was listed at around 1 or 1.5. so what that the person stated 2MM, the point is that the price has gone up and didn’t sell when the market was HOT. It was a nice house, I remember seeing it, maybe they did some work. the worst parts are: the constant humming from the BQE; the subway rumbling below and the upcoming traffic on joralemon for the only entrance to the bridge park. geez people, lighten up