House of the Day: 544 Washington Avenue
This brownstone at 544 Washington Avenue just came onto our radar screen. It’s being marketed by a firm we hadn’t heard of before—Harmony City—but, unlike some smaller agencies, appears to have a good grasp on the basics of marketing a property on the web. As for the house, it’s a 17-footer but has an ample…

This brownstone at 544 Washington Avenue just came onto our radar screen. It’s being marketed by a firm we hadn’t heard of before—Harmony City—but, unlike some smaller agencies, appears to have a good grasp on the basics of marketing a property on the web. As for the house, it’s a 17-footer but has an ample extension, bringing the overall square footage to over 4,000. It’s currently configured in the most sellable configuration—owner’s triplex over garden rental. As for the interior, there are signs of a few details left on the parlor floor (mostly original door moldings) but for the most part the house has been given a middle-of-the-road contemporary makeover at some point that’s not likely to knock anyone’s socks off. The location is convenient, just steps from the C train at Washington, but a little hectic. The empty lot next door is also a big question mark. So what about the $1,785,000 asking price? Seems a good 10 percent overpriced to us.
544 Washington Avenue [Harmony City] GMAP P*Shark
Parking from the ZION church on Sundays is horrendous. They double parked and triple parked.
In 2 years the area will be improved quite drastically, with all those new condos (especially the new glass building on Clinton Ave and Atlantic) and the train being next door…
Watch, after 2-3 coffee-shop/restaurants opening on Fulton Street, this area will actually be very nice with its three lined streets and close to Parks. Who would have guess that 10years ago, Fulton Street in Fort Greene would become what it is today?
An upper triplex or duplex is always better because the layout and light is better on the upper floors.
If you have a lower duplex and rentals above, then you have the tenants marching up the stairs and the stairwells are wasted space.
If you have a top triplex, then the best plan is to have a deck and access to the garden from the parlor floor.
You still have to share the gardne but that’s way better than losing precious space inside the house.
I prefer lower duplex with two rentals above. I lived in a triplex above a garden and never felt like garden was “mine”. Plus, that top floor is really too far up for me. Maybe if I were still in my 20s…s
i would say triplex or quad over garden rental is best, then second is owner garden parlor duplex with 2 rentals above, then maybe double duplex. but really it boils down to how much space you need and how much rental income to help with the mortgage.
Grubby neighborhood
Grubby neighborhood
B’stoner’s original post states that the owner’s triplex over garden rental is “the most sellable configuration” – just curious, does everyone believe that to be true? More so than a double duplex, for example?
In the words of the immortal
Bette Davis:
“What a dump”