House of the Day: 40 St. Marks Avenue
After purchasing the brownstone at 40 St. Marks Avenue in Park Slope for $900,000 in 2003, the current owners set about doing a renovation that looks to be quite tastefully modern. We’re not sure how much original detail they had to work with, but a couple of marble fireplaces are about all we can spot…
After purchasing the brownstone at 40 St. Marks Avenue in Park Slope for $900,000 in 2003, the current owners set about doing a renovation that looks to be quite tastefully modern. We’re not sure how much original detail they had to work with, but a couple of marble fireplaces are about all we can spot now. Still, it looks like a quality job, so we suspect they’ll be plenty of interested parties. Whether they’ll be able to swallow $2,195,000 for a house between 5th and 6th Avenues remains to be seen.
40 St. Marks Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
$1.5mm
It will get ask or close to it. I live in a house close to 7th – but this is truly move-in!!! Can’t find anything like that (unless you are buying in Novo/Argyle/Crapo).
Cute house, if a bit narrow.
Very nice reno.
Too close to AY.
$1.6mm.
That really is a pathetically tiny back yard. Ugh.
As with almost all real estate blurbs, it is so poorly written and annoying I just couldn’t resist this time:
Absolutely no detail was overlooked or spared being ripped out of the modern (as opposed to “ancientâ€) renovation of this classic (oh…maybe it IS “ancientâ€) Park Slope townhouse. On the parlor floor, with soaring jet-propelled 12″ (that’s one foot) ceilings, oak flooring (WOW!), a wood-burning fireplace (Yeah! Smoke backdraft!), and a “wall of windows†overlooking the secluded (uh…?) and serene (peaceful whirring white noise of the neighbors window air conditioners as they hum away and the neighbors peek out at you), Ipe-enclosed outdoor dining area, you’ll find the living room, dining area, kitchen and half bath. “Honey…I can’t find the living room, dining area, kitchen or half bath! Oh…no…Sorry… I just found them!â€
The stunning (as in cattle prod?) kitchen features custom-designed walnut cabinetry (you mean those aren’t KitchenMaid from Home Depot?), Italian limestone countertops (Fabrique au Mexique?), Bosch dishwasher, Wolf cooktop, Sub Zero refrigerator, Gaggenau double-oven, and Vola fixtures (no additional comment needed).
On the second floor of the house (of the house?…I forgot we were talking about a house so had to be reminded) are two spacious bedrooms (one is not a legal bedroom and neither room is that spacious) and a full bath. Off the back bedroom, currently being used as a den and office and guest room and floor pilates area and library and keeping room, is a lovely deck (lovely, I say). The front bedroom has two generous closets (they give to the Met and to GMHC) and a wood-burning fireplace (more smoke and will suck air right out of the house in winter).
The entire third floor is an enormous master suite (ginormous!) with a wood-burning fireplace (ibid), two skylights (WOW!), custom ash (Must have ASH!) built-in closets, and bamboo flooring (sustainably harvested 12,000 miles away). The five-piece master bath (no bidet…they’re counting the his-and-his sinks as two “pieces†out of the five…Hhhh…that’s like counting all the lids in a cookware set to up the number…misleading…) is the epitome of luxury (I’ve seen better) with an extra-deep Kohler cast iron whirlpool tub, custom Wenge cabinetry, marble flooring ready to be ruined by pee or cracked by a dropped bottle or somesuch, and Italian ceramic tile (Wow! Italian AGAIN!).
In the fully-finished English basement (“Englishâ€? It’s a basement, okay?) you’ll “find†the laundry area (i.e. “roomâ€), complete with “a†Kenmore Elite (“Platinum Classâ€, Business First!) front-loading washer and dryer. (if it’s so hot, why no photos?)
A legal two-family (it’s not a “legal†two family because it needs a second kitchen, hello!), the house is currently configured as a single family home . Best of all (better than the house itself), the house is just a few blocks from Prospect Park, a short walk to all the trains at Atlantic Avenue, and steps from the restaurants and shops of 5th Avenue and tiresome real estate verbiage.
[Now…does anyone know what the issues are around renovating a C. of O. two –family into a one-family with only one kitchen without changing the C. of O. to a one-family? Does it create problems for the bank writing the mortgage? Do they want to see a second kitchen? Or do they only want to see a second kitchen if you request the mortgage on a two-family basis?]
prospect park is nice and all but i just take my kids to jj byrne and they’re just fine. concrete builds character.
“Th broker is kinda cute, no?”
That’s what I thought too….if only she got rid of that demonic and insincere smile that seems to be de rigueur for broker pics.
Any buyer with small children will tell you being closer to the park is way better than having to walk long ave. blocks to get there 1 or more times a day. I know most of you hate children and people who have them, but it’s the way it is. Trust me I’ve lived closer to 5th and closer to the park and I know the difference. I think the CPW comparison is a good one. Some people may prefer being near restaurants and shops, but properties on the park or on a park block will always command higher prices. Just look at comps people– it’s the truth.
I thought all the douche bags were in Vinegar Hill?