House of the Day: Delightful in Ditmas
Slipping in under the million dollar mark, this 1904 Victorian in Ditmas park grabbed our attention. We bet it shows particularly well this time of year with the lovely porch and verdant front and back yards. While some of the paint colors are a little much for our taste, there’s plenty of well-preserved original detail…
Slipping in under the million dollar mark, this 1904 Victorian in Ditmas park grabbed our attention. We bet it shows particularly well this time of year with the lovely porch and verdant front and back yards. While some of the paint colors are a little much for our taste, there’s plenty of well-preserved original detail intact and the exterior proportions are quite pleasing as well. There’s also a two-car garage, a finished basement and a recently renovated office space. We don’t know the area well enough to have too strong an opinion, but the view of the street looks very nice. If you’re looking in the Victorian Flatbush area, we’d say this place definitely deserves a look.
E 19th Street [Corcoran] GMAP
As a general rule of thumb, for all of you looking for a house in Victorian Flatbush – corner lots almost never have a backyard. The lot sizes are all pretty much the same (there are some notable exceptions in Prospect Park South), so if you are looking for a large yard, go with the smaller house (5 bedrooms). Some 7 bedrooms have decent sized yards, too. The garages also vary in size. Some lots have very large garages which eat up all the available backyard space.
Thanks for checking it out, Brownstoner. Good to hear from the voice of reason.
Corcoran had the house on East 19th. It looks great from the outside – I hear it is a really first class renovation – the kind Ditmas Park needs to see a lot more of in the future. A few years back developers were doing some really shoddy (and horrific) things to some of these homes – ripping out all period features, sheetrock everywhere, cheapest kitchens they could find….
The house on East 19th was falling down – literally. It was in fact, condemned and auctioned. Some smart, sensitive developer seems to have done justice do it, mercifully. I heard it was a crack den for awhile, but who knows. It has always had lovely bones. I made some inquiries regarding buying it myself when it was in that state, but the developer beat me to it.
What needs to be remembered about Bev. Square West (and Ditmas Park West and Bev. Square West, Midwood Park, etc…) is that unlike PPS and the actual Ditmas Park, it is NOT a landmarked area, and really heinous things can be done to these homes. This must be stopped at all cost. All of these neighborhoods must apply and fight for landmark status. There are some particularly sad things going on in Ditmas Park West – a pair of houses on Ditmas near Stratford recently had the fronts smashed down and horrible brick facades with teeny modern windows replaced the original designs. I cry every time I walk by.
The boy and I went and saw this at the open house last weekend and it was alright. There is NO backyard and no A/C. Really, there is no yard period and it needs work, but the area is lovely and I would hardly call Foster “commercial”. We also tried to go to another open house for a really renovated house in the area, on E 19th, and it was, we are assuming, already sold. There was no realtor to show it. It was really lovely. A neighborhood lady said that it was really falling apart a few years ago – couldn’t tell now. All of the homes would require knocking down several walls to get a decent sized kitchen.
The “track” houses along Marlborough have been selling in the $700-$850k range over the past 18 months. They sell for about $200k less than their counterparts on the opposite sides of the street. I don’t think this is true for Marlborough in Prospect Park South, where the enormous backyards provide a good buffer against train noise. A few houses on Buckingham do suffer terribly from train noise, though.
What are the bungalows that are not along the tracks going for, I wonder? Have any sold recently? I’m a big fan of the A&C style, and I think paying for an architecturally interesting home, even if it is a bit smaller, is worth it. I much prefer this bungalow to some of the charmless Victorian barns I’ve seen in this area.
Inside is not a total nightmare … just not so nice to justify the price given the size of the house and the very much less than ideal location. And, the subway was VERY loud.
Even if the inside is a nightmare, that arts and crafts bungalow has a beautiful exterior. I have walked past it dozens of times. Note the graceful sloping window casements. A shame to hear that the inside has gone to wrack and ruin. Perhaps the owner will lower the price to reflect the actual condition and someone with a real affection for the asthetic it so beatuifully expresses will bring it back to its former glory. It deserves it.
Yes, you’re right – it is on Ditmas and East 16th Street. Again, I don’t know what all this kvetching about the cross streets in Ditmas Park is about. These streets are certainly busier than the side streets, but they are hardly freeways or commercial drags. I would certainly rather live in close proximity to Newkirk, Foster or Ditmas than say Coney Island Avenue or 4th Avenue for that matter…
First of all, Foster is a fairly commercial street. I would not want to live on that corner.
Also, I have been to that Warren Lewis house on 16th street and it is really the worst !!!
It is on the corner of Ditmas Avenue, which has a lot of traffic and you can hear it in the house. The back of the house is on the subway so whenever a train goes by, it is extremely loud.
The house is also not that nice. Among other things, the kitchen looks as though it was not touched in about 30-40 years. There is this crazy attic room which they are counting as one of the bedrooms which one cannot stand in when you walk up and then when you are there, there is a hole in the middle of the floor where the stairs are which a small child (or even adult) could fall into and get injured.
Basically, the pictures were VERY misleading and the price is way off considering what I mentioned and the fact that the place is very small by Ditmas Park standards. Actually, you couldn’t pay me to live there, but that is just me.
Has anyone been to the Open House for the recently renovated home on East 19th in Beverly Square East. It was literally falling down and few years ago. It looks really nice from the Corcoran pictures… A first class renovation, or no?
Warren Lewis has a Ditmas Park house (in landmarked Ditmas Park) listed at $965K. It’s on Marlborough and 16th I think… It’s one of about ten really gorgeous Arts and Crafts bungalows, most of which are pretty well preserved. This house has great exterior detail. I’ve often admired it. A little small by Ditmas Park standards – 4 bedrooms. You might be able to make the attic into something. Judging from the interior pix, it appears to have some intact detail. It’s really a cute and architectural distinctive home. However, it probably needs updating (kitchens and baths) just guessing, and it does back on to the (sunken) subway tracks. I’ve never been in a “track” house, so I don’t know how noisy it really is. There is a cute back garden though, despite this…