House of the Day: 500 Marlborough Road
This new listing at 500 Marlborough Road in Ditmas Park West looks like a lay-up at $1,350,000. The three-story Victorian woodie is in excellent shape as far as the original architectural elements go. (Love those parquet floors!) The bathroom and kitchen also look like they’ve been recently redone in a way that fits with the…
This new listing at 500 Marlborough Road in Ditmas Park West looks like a lay-up at $1,350,000. The three-story Victorian woodie is in excellent shape as far as the original architectural elements go. (Love those parquet floors!) The bathroom and kitchen also look like they’ve been recently redone in a way that fits with the overall vibe of the house. There’s also a shared driveway, to boot. Other than the heating bills, what’s not to like? Is there anything negative we’ve glossed over?
500 Marlborough Road [Mary Kay Gallagher] GMAP P*Shark
“Lay-up.?”
Sounds more like a fade-away jumper with the clock ticking down.
Not the prettiest block.
The lots are mostly 40′ wide so it has a “cramped” look that kinda belies what you’d want moving to DP.
The exterior looks like it need significant work to match the interior.(Did I see a fire-escape on the right side?)
Not bad but the price is full-retail.
Many other American cities may not have “brownstones”, that is row houses faced in brown sandstone, but many cities certainly have nighborhoods of row houses, or townhouses, or whatever the local name for these are. Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Wash DC, San Francisco, just to name a few of the larger cities. I’m sure there are many more. We got the idea from many different European models that have worked in cities for centuries.
Row houses are an efficient use of urban space, and may be formulaic, but certainly can be beautiful. That doesn’t take anything away from the beauty of a freestanding Victorian frame. I’ve always wanted a huge old white elephant Queen Anne. Impossibly expensive to buy and keep up, at this time and place for me, so I’m glad I have my limestone. They are all wonderful, historic houses made in a day when craftsmanship was de regueur for the rich, certainly, but also the not so rich too. Thank goodness there are so many left of both kinds of houses, and they are all getting the appreciation and attention they deserve, and hopefully the preservation attention needed so that we have them in the future.
Preservationista
Also, can we get a cite on this “largest collection of Victorian homes in the U.S” statistic (and not a cite to another blog)? This flyer for a tour of the area with Brooklyn’s official historian says it has “one of the largest,” which seems both vague and more accurate: http://www.ohny.org/programs/OHNY_06Program_Event_Guide.pdf
Wait, are you saying this house is worth $1.35 million or are you saying it’s worth $1.15 million? (“Houses in decent shape do not sell for less than 1.1-1.2 million in this neighborhood anymore.”) There’s a huge difference between those numbers.
$1.15 million is not “a little less” than what the owner of this house is asking for. It’s a lot less — 15% less. That’s what this thread is about: is $1.35 million a “layup” in this market or is it a sign of an owner who doesn’t understand that the days of steady, year-over-year price appreciation are over?
Also, the record setting MKG house did go for closer to the 2 million mark – $1.9.
There’s a big market for homes in decent to good condition in the 1.2-1.5 range. Comps for this sort of house in Brooklyn outside the neighborhood are pretty much non-existent. There’s always going to be more competition in slightly lower price brackets – more eligible buyers. Which is why this house on Marlborough will eventually sell.
More expensive properties in Victorian Flatbush don’t sell for what they might be considered to be worth, comparatively speaking. Which is why the owner of the 1.9 beauty that sold in the spring wound up with a relative bargain, despite setting a local sales record.
Truly grand, 8-12 bedroom homes seem to sit on the market for awhile, regardless of condition. Takes a very special buyer – one with deep pockets and a true appreciation for the architecture.
Erin Joslyn
Anon 5:48 AM
1)The house you linked to on MKG is Contract Pending. It was listed like last month and just received an offer. So it would seem to be a fair reflection of the current market in the area and not the market in march as you so “patiently” have explained.
2) As for the fsbo E.21st? Don’t know the property, but i do know that houses on that side of Ocean Ave have gone at a discount in the past owing to a couple more blocks to the subway.
Anyway, I’m not a broker pimping anything. But I do own a house in Ditmas Park. And its really nice. Thanks.
“This thread is about sour grapes. The brownstone crowd hates it when their thunder gets stolen, and that’s happening now with increasing regularity as more attention is focused on Victorian Flatbush.
That’s what this conversation is really about.”
I think that you forget that many people moved to Brownstones long before they were from your perspective purchased to satisfy some snobby dream. Many people grew up in these homes or moved here because they got priced out Manhattan or another BK neighborhood. Do you really think that Brownstone owners don’t love the Ditmas houses? Many of them are owned be x-Brownstone dwellers. I don’t think that most people who live in Brownstones would say that it is their dream home. It’s what we have a lot of- to live in. They obviously have become increasingly attractive for the quality of their construction in a time when building just keeps getting more and more substandard. And as they get older the idea of preserving something historic gives an unpredicted purpose to owning a home that not that many years ago nobody wanted.
I love victorian houses, and in reality they are more unique than row houses since they all differ in size and shape so greatly. But since brownstones like the ones here in Brooklyn aren’t as ubiquitous throughout the country, they do possess their own unique charm.