House of the Day: 318 Westminster Road
A reader flagged this Ditmas Park lovely for us, noting that the price had recently been raised from $1,295,000 to $1,495,000 (what slowdown?). Although it’s a legal two family, there are currently five tenants in there now. Judging from the (incredibly dark and small) photos on the Kestyn site, subdividing the space has not had…
A reader flagged this Ditmas Park lovely for us, noting that the price had recently been raised from $1,295,000 to $1,495,000 (what slowdown?). Although it’s a legal two family, there are currently five tenants in there now. Judging from the (incredibly dark and small) photos on the Kestyn site, subdividing the space has not had an adverse impact on the architectural integrity of the house. It’s nice and big, too: 5,000 square feet on a 50-by-100-foot lot. Our tipster’s idea? Two families should team up and buy it together. For the curious, there’s gonna be an open house on Sunday from 12 to 4.
318 Westminster Road [Kestyn] GMAP P*Shark
there will always be this tension here–and it is a class tension. there are some people who grew up in ny and would love nothing more than to own but cant afford more than 300-400 thousand dollars. this means that professionals with two children (let’s say two high school teachers w/ MAs in their early thirties) can only hope for a small apartment–not even a newer one in the absolute worse part of BS. So these people have a tough time hearing about 100-200 thousand dollar renovations of 750-1 mil. dollar homes. Or, of denegrating siding as if it is beyond reason. This is a beautiful home even with its gauche siding.
Brownstone Brooklyn used to be code for “upscale, Manhattanized Brooklyn.” And that’s what this site has been about, primarily. I don’t see a lot of discussion pertaining specifically to the renovation/upkeep/maintenance of brownstones. I hear a lot of chit chat about quality of life, amentities, schools, dropping a lot of dough on new kitchens and baths. Well, all of that now pertains to the greater Ditmas Park area.
I agree with Bob. There’s lots of vinyl siding not because it’s as good as wood shingles a protectant, but because it’s cheaper to install.
Are you kidding, 7:31? The oldest houses in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan are wood frame houses. Like the ones from the 1700’s and early 1800’s. You know, um, that are over 200 years old if you can do the math. Obviously frame houses can stand the test of time just fine. I don’t own a wood frame house, but I’m really really tiring of hearing over and over again on this site, the dumb belief wood frame houses aren’t sturdy enough. I can tell you I’ve had way way better soundproofing in apartments in historic wood houses I lived in, in other cities, than I have in these old brownstone buildings. It’s often possible to hear people talking, not yelling, talking, through the EXTERIOR adjoining walls in a brownstone building. It’s crazy.
I don’t know that vinyl siding has all that much value as a protectant–doesn’t it trap moisture and promote rotting of the wood underneath?
Because there are over 3000 of these frame huts in Brooklyn. The are from Caton Avenue to Avenue H, Coney Island Avenue to Ocean Avenue, plus the continguous Brooklyn College neighborhood (South Midwood), constitute the largest surviving body of freestanding Victorian frame houses in the country… That’s a lot of housing stock (not to mention private driveways and garages). And, architecturally speaking, most of them kick ass on your average boring brownstoer.
i thought this blog was about brownstones..why even bother to discuss this frame hut
whatever
3:07 – what you say about vinyl vs. brick or stucco is certainly true. But for the current asking price, I would expect nothing less tha a pricey cedar shingle job. Maybe the current owner thinks that the siding increases the value of his/her home… Truth is, for people with the bucks to buy a home in this price range in this neighborhood, anything other than shingle is a huge turn off. Now if the house was priced at $999K… Maybe a new deep-pocketed purchaser would be willing to lay out the cash to bring this place back up to scratch. These nasty McMansion renos will never command big price tags in a neighborhood that is desirable primarily for the Victorian charm of its homes.