House of the Day: 1375 Dean Street
Calling all history buffs! After narrowly escaping destruction when LPC designated it an individual landmark in record time last October, the Civil War-era woodframe house at 1375 Dean Street is in need of some serious love.
Photo by Gregg Snodgrass for PropertyShark
Calling all history buffs! After narrowly escaping destruction when LPC designated it an individual landmark in record time last October, the Civil War-era woodframe house at 1375 Dean Street is in need of some serious love. Recognized by LPC as “one of last vestiges of the suburban past in the northwestern section of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood,” the George B. and Susan Elkins House, as it is known, is back on the market for $875,000 $799,000, a year after the stymied developer paid $800,000 for it. There aren’t enough interior photos to get a good enough feel to comment accurately on the $875,000 asking price, but we suspect this is going to have to be a labor of love not of profit anyway. The one-family wood-frame house is 40 feet wide and sits on a lot that’s 50-by-114 feet. There’s some original detail left (“The house has retained many of its historic features and characteristics, and remains a unique surviving example of a type of house that is believed to have all but vanished from northwestern Crown Heights,” according to LPC) and what a great front porch and yard combo this could be! Not only is the house an individual landmark, but it’s within the Crown Heights North Historic District boundaries, so whoever buys this place will have to work closely with the Landmarks Preservation Commission on the exterior. Maybe Adrian Grenier‘s looking for another project.
1375 Dean Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Landmark Status for Elkins House [LPC]
Dark and musty and devoid of most of its architectural details in a not so safe neighborhood. I’ll pass.
Montrose Morris and Armchair,
I don’t hate landmarking but I do hate last-minute emergency landmarking. I know we all hate developers here, but it’s ridiculous that someone should take a bath on a legitimately purchased property because the preservationists suddenly realized, “Oh, shit! We never got around to landmarking that thing!”
I know, the landmarking is legal, and if a developer doen’t want this to happen to him, then he shouldn’t buy old buildings whose razing people might object to. But “It’s OK to do it because it’s legal and we can get away with it” apparently isn’t good enough for the developer, so why should it be good enough for preservationists? Because their cause is morally superior?
Hi Lois,
That is terrible — the house was vandalized recently? And people stole bannisters, mantles, etc. — what, to sell them to salvage yards? Restorers beware — those may be hot pocket doors!
If I had the money I’de be right there. Hope someone will come up with it!
Hi folks, I am the agent for the property. It definitely needs a lot of work. I don’t think as much as 1 mil but you’re definitely looking at $500k. The home was unfortunately vandalized and is now missing a lot of the details (mantles, banisters, etc) that existed when I first saw it. I think the price is right for the condition , size, and rarity. A few houses down on the opposite side of the street are two beautiful homes that are miniature versions of 1375. The potential is awesome. Someone call me!! 🙂
Lois Thompson 718-210-4034.
Thanks Montrose. Your post was extremely helpful.
What does all of that transferring of FAR business mean in plain layman’s English?
In answer to your question, 2:37, I honestly don’t know. I’ve never been inside. If they ever do an open house, I’ll be there, just to satisfy my curiosity, and do some theoretical restoration. I guess it would depend on what fire damage there is, and I’m sure you would have to totally rewire and upgrade the plumbing, in addition to cosmetic changes, new kitchen, bathrooms, etc, etc. It was a rooming house for many years, I can only imagine the worst. Since it is a landmark, the exterior would have to have serious work, and all would be aimed at restoring the original facade. I don’t know if there are any old photos earlier than the 1940’s tax photos. I don’t know what the back yard looks like, but that probably needs a lot of work too.
Long story long, it’s a 152 year old house which probably has been neglected for at least half its life, so somewhere between $700K and a million probably is a good guesstimate. On the plus side, houses of that style and era had large, gracious rooms, and were not overly ornate, as a later Victorian might be, so a modern open plan incorporating whatever historic detail is left would be in character, and one could have a beautiful house.
I’m always bullish on the neighborhood, but I live several blocks away and don’t pass that way all that often, so I don’t know the particulars. I have walked down there at night a couple of times and didn’t feel unsafe, but I feel safe in most of CH, and for the record, I am a middle aged woman. Kingston Ave is still kind of seedy, but this part of it is not bad, and is slowly getting better. Brooklyn Ave is totally residential and just fine. One could catch the C train at Kingston and Fulton, or walk much farther to the A at Nostrand and Fulton. Dean Street is on a bus route – the B65 coming from downtown, and so usually has traffic and pedestrians, but is still a quiet block.
Wow. I hope the right person gets ahold of this and takes the time to make it the gem it could be.
FWIW, I looked at and offered on a similar property in another landmarked district in Brooklyn – frame, (semi-)detached, around 2300 square feet, some original details, no systems updated since about 1960, needed total mechanical and cosmetic overhaul including a possible structural issue with one wall. Not counting the structural issue, I got back-of-envelope estimates in the $750K to $1 mil range for doing a historically sensitive rehab job.
I walk by this house several times a week and day dream about sitting on that porch if it were restorored. I had no idea it was landmarked. None of the other houses on the block are like this one (although still nice) so it really stands out. If there were a DIY purchaser, you could probably restore a great deal of it without spending the bank but it needs some LOVE…
http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Repository/getimage.dll?path=BEG/1870/07/20/4/Img/Ar0040001.png
Mr. Elkins had some major debt.