House of the Day: Greenpoint's Guernsey Inn For Sale
The hotel gods of North Brooklyn giveth and they taketh away. Only a year and a half after purchasing the property for $695,000, the group behind the Guernsey Inn at 158 Guernsey Street in Greenpoint have put the four-story building back on the market for $1,195,000. We’ve never been inside, but it sounds like this…

The hotel gods of North Brooklyn giveth and they taketh away. Only a year and a half after purchasing the property for $695,000, the group behind the Guernsey Inn at 158 Guernsey Street in Greenpoint have put the four-story building back on the market for $1,195,000. We’ve never been inside, but it sounds like this was really more of a monthly boarding house than a place for tourists and out-of-town parents to crash for a couple of nights. Anyone know the story behind the sale? For the curious, there’s an open house on Sunday from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
158 Guernsey Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Photo by A Test of Will
So, 5:41 – does THIS house have a CO to allow boarders? I’m sure if your house is legit, this one must be too. Don’t get out of your armchair – I’m just asking.
G TRAIN THAT NEVER RUNS? PLEASE
I COMMUTED TO THE EAST SIDE FOR 4 YEARS ON THE G AND GOT THERE IN 18mins FROM LORIMER DAILY.
WHAT THE L IS BETTER THAN THAT; TO GET TO MIDTOWN?
YOU JOKERS HAVE NOT EVEN CAUGHT THE G LATELY. LIKE SAYING THE J M Z IS ALL GUNSHOT MURDERS.
I LIKE THIS HOUSE. I MEAN A GARDEN ‘PATCH’, NICE.
5:41 is fresh out of Xanax.
that house siding is totally painted/treated cedar for sure. ive touched it.
and that location isnt anywhere near the oilspill and hello, its a single family for 3/4 of the cost of one in williamsburg proper, park slope or even clinton hill. most larger row homes in that area are around $1.3-4m. i think its totally well priced for a single or two family. looks like city taxes it as two family. some old weird boarder c of o isnt a big deal, use it if you want. whatever. why do people get so exercised about greenpoint? and prices? let the market prevail. its so much safer and better schools than anywhere else in brooklyn. and totally not ghetto! that said that neighborhood is too homogenous for me!!! ha ha
I was thinking unpainted, 5:40. I love the weathered to grey, unpainted wood shingles or siding. It can be made to look modern and chic too, with sparkling white windowframes, modern light fixtures and doorknobs, etc. I like that contrast.
TO ALL YOU ARMCHAIR CRITICS:
Even though a Certificate of Occupancy isn’t “on file”, it can be found at the Department of Buildings record room at 210 Joralemon. Our 4-family has one there, but has not yet been scanned asa pdf into the DOB (and thus PropertyShark) website.
Also, as Property Shark states:
“The building class is assigned by the Department of Finance (DOF) as part of the property tax assessment project. It does not determine the legal use of the building.
If the tax class does not match the current use of the building, there are two possible causes: the building has been illegally modified, or the building was legally modified but the DOF has not properly recorded the change. In the latter case, usually the only effect will be that the property taxes will be incorrectly calculated.”
My 4-family is actually being taxed as a 5-6 family because of its old use.
GOT IT?!
Do you mean cedar instead of artificial, or cedar instead of another wood? On the first, cost and maintenance – wood needs to be painted every 5 to 10 years; aluminum, vinyl and stucco don’t rot (everything under it might, but the exterior looks fine!).
As for wood choices, a lot of people do use cedar. Usually its painted (in keeping with the Victorian originals) rather than left to weather. I’ve watched a bunch of houses in Greenpoint and Williamsburg get resided in the past few years, and almost all used cedar. I can only think of two others that left the cedar unfinished – the rest were painted. It is the best wood for this use – painted or not.
To word it better I mean THIS one is cedar siding, a good choice, and it’s making me wonder why more rowhouses don’t choose cedar.
I’d buy it as a single-family too.
Why don’t people use cedar siding? The facades are not huge on these rowhouses; it’s not like paying for siding on a huge freestanding Victorian.