House of the Day: 231 Bergen Street
Hope springs eternal. Granted the developer who bought this place in February ’06 has done a masterful job of squeezing every last square inch of usable space out of this four-story brick house on Bergen between Bond and Nevins, but we’d like some of what he was smoking when he set the asking price of…
Hope springs eternal. Granted the developer who bought this place in February ’06 has done a masterful job of squeezing every last square inch of usable space out of this four-story brick house on Bergen between Bond and Nevins, but we’d like some of what he was smoking when he set the asking price of $3,900,000 (or $3,600,000, depending on whether you believe the NYT listing or the listing on the Cobble Heights site). This doesn’t seem even remotely likely for this location, especially when every ounce of character has been wrung out of this place, starting with the institutional-feeling garden. If modern’s what you want, why not take the most expensive State Street Town for a million bucks less?
231 Bergen Street [Cobble Heights] GMAP P*Shark
FYI.
*Prior to this renovation the house was a rental in poor shape, the owner was in a nursing home. All of the detail had been stripped.
*The new owner has increased the size of this house from 2,880sqft. to approx. 4,500 by digging out the cellar and adding extensions.
*The whole ceiling on the garden level was raised, borrowing ceiling height from the parlor floor. Hence the high stoop.
*The whole house is for sale for $3,600,000 because it is less expensive for the owner to sell them off as a group instead of individually
……and why shouldn’t he since the condo plans are not yet approved and the construction is finished. Sell and move onto the next thing…..always my motto.
I live in a very similar house to this a few blocks away. While these houses had rich detail when they were built – the were not working class (who has a single family 4,000 sf working class house?) – the neighborhood took a serious beating for several years and most of the houses were chopped up and the detail destroyed. That, 12:25, is why detail is so revered – because it is rare.
I love the renovations….. Not every brownstone has to be packed with details especially if they were in bad shape to begin with
i am perplexed– the brownstone next door to this house was up for sale for $1.6 million as of last summer/early fall (also by cobble heights). while the two rental units in that building needed some work, the owner’s duplex was in pristine (and well-preserved) condition. i get that 231 was a major reno, but the price seems outlandish.
i will also say that as someone who lives a few doors down, the reno on this took forever and was a noisy eyesore.
i’m tired of the “detail” argument on this site…for the most part, Brooklyn housing was always working class housing – basic materials, nothing special. a modern interpretation of should be applauded…not everyone wants to live in the “Victorian” era…protect the integrity of the outside but make the inside fit for the 21st century.
Some smaller developers are going to get hurt in this market. They are few and far between compared to the poor people who are being evicted in our areas because of shady lenders who quickly move to get people out because they fall behind on their mtge payments. Don’t think I’m kidding either. In Bed-Stuy this is epidemic. And it’s not related to the problems with the bad lending practices. This is all about scam artists getting old people to take on high interest loans to fix up their houses and then the work doesn’t get done and they get screwed out of their houses. And then all of a sudden there is a nice guy with a wad of cash outside their door offering them more than the bank for their home. I think brownstoner should look in to that horror story. Not just portray the silly part of the market, where one guys puts in tile we don’t all happen to like. There are sad cases like this and you can find them if you call PACC or Tish James’ office. This is just a funny story so we can all feel good about our fantasy renovations we have all done on our kitchens and baths.
* could buy
opppps…. ;-(
I got to stop hitt’n The Stoner stoned….
Sorry dudes…. 🙂
I just love Brownstone Brooklyn. It’s so vast and encompasses so many varied communities that potential buyers can always do cost comparison analyses between different neighborhoods. For this price you good buy 4 to 5 brownstones in Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights North and PLG or 2 in Fort Greene or 3 in Clinton Hill. I find Brownstone Brooklyn fascinating because it’s all about the arbitrage. You can get in rich and stay rich or your can get well to done and become filthy rich!
This listing just shows the madness is in its last throes. “It’s different here,” all right. But how different?