House of the Day: 1232 Dean Street
This four-story house at 1232 Dean Street in Crown Heights just hit the market and, like so many houses in the area, has some killer architectural details. (In this case, it’s the wood paneling and built-ins that really impress.) Hopefully for the seller, this place will attract more interest than the next-door neighbor at 1230…
This four-story house at 1232 Dean Street in Crown Heights just hit the market and, like so many houses in the area, has some killer architectural details. (In this case, it’s the wood paneling and built-ins that really impress.) Hopefully for the seller, this place will attract more interest than the next-door neighbor at 1230 Dean Street, which we featured a year ago and is still on the market for $1,250,000. While we suspect there will be plenty of people who dig the house, we suspect that the price tag of $999,000 for a house in this neighborhood may be a tough sell in this economic environment.
1232 Dean Street [Halstead] GMAP P*Shark
I own a house on this block and agree that it is one of the best blocks in crown heights. We moved to carroll gardens after our first kid. The neighborhood is not as kid friendly as others…..But the block is great! I remember the summer of the black out, being pregnant and walking my 3 dogs at 4am! I was never scared and loved spying on the crack houses that used to be there..just walking by, not really spying!! Not anymore…..now it is a historic block!
The Childrens Museum is a couple blocks away…and the train is so close!
NOP, absolutely correct, as always. The former Christian Science church is now a Haitian 7th Day Adventist Church, the Presbyterians are still on Nostrand. The Methodist fortress is one of my favorites in all of New York. Have you ever seen the inside. It will make a believer out of anyone. One of the best, simple, soaring sacred spaces I have ever seen.
The B65 does run down the block, but that also makes it safer, with more official “eyes” and neighbors 24/7. They use the newer buses on this route, and they are very quiet. Whenever I rent a car overnight, I always park on this block. I have never had a problem, or a worry.
Thanks, Montrose!!
Will keep my eyes on this. At 800k, this baby is mine.
MM, then please hop over the backyard fence and come on over and help me restore that woodwork.
I wish, they had more pics, maybe I’ll go check it out.
Although my friends are efficient and organized, I did mean to point to their block association.
bayridgegirl this might be your house by January this house if still on the market might come down 100K and a 4% loan
The house does look nice, but it has clealy been chopped up a bit and there aren’t nearly enough photos to get a sense of the damage. The price seems awfully high in the current market–but i admit to not know the CH market that well, so perhaps I’m wrong.
Brownstoner:
Readers here would like to know a little about this block. I remember it from growing up around the corner during the 1950’s, so may be able to shed a little light.
There’s more architecture per pound here than on any block in Brooklyn, possibly New York!
It’s eclectic, polychromatic and — its genius! — includes three handsome churches: one with a campanile at Nostrand Avenue (I went to Sunday school there, back when it was Presbyterian; I don’t know if it still is); another at New York Avenue, a limestone beauty (now a Haitian denomination, I think, but back in the day, Christian Science, if I remember correctly); and, most magnificent of all, the Union Methodist across the avenue, a Romanesque-Revival pile in red brick that dominates the entire blockfront.
I remember this stretch of Dean as a shady, kid-friendly place, great for stoop and stick ball games under the trees. (Buses run on it now, apparently, which is too bad.) The stoops, especially, were great, just the spots to hang out, sip a lemonade, or take a nap. (To this day, when I visit Brooklyn, I want to curl up on all the brownstone steps!)
If this were a just world, this block would be Brooklyn’s best address, but its location in Crown Heights arbitrarily reduces its prices. It is, however, in the heart of the Crown Heights North Historic District, which assures its long-term architectural integrity.
Negotiate the price, buy, and sit and hold. Ten years from now everyone else will be scratching their heads wondering why they didn’t do the same.
Nostalgic on Park Avenue
Sam, when anyone wants to point to a quintessential Crown Heights block, they usually pick this one. It is deservedly landmarked, and is chock full of homes designed by some of Brooklyn’s best late 19th C. architects. Most of them were built as groups, and as you walk down the street, the details, materials and facades never get tiresome. The block is anchored by two amazing churches, both on this side of the block, one at NY Ave, one on Nostrand. In between are some great frame houses, the house next door, which was built in the 1920’s, and groups of fine Renaissance revival homes. I never get tired walking down this block, especially in spring or summer, it is just gorgeous.
That said, since I live right behind Dean, I can hear the sounds of renovation all the time, especially on weekends. There is a lot going on here, and this block has a very strong and active block association. I know several people who own homes here, and they are very organized and efficient.
I’m glad to see this house break with the recent over a million trend. In addition to the house next door still for sale, the house on the corner of Dean and NY was also listed by Corcoran, and wasn’t moving. $999K is hardly a sale price, however. The built-ins are great, I hope the rest of the house is as worthy. Everything on that block would have been, originally. Hopefully the details are still there, here, too.
This house is 5 blocks from the A at Nostrand, and is near banking and supermarkets at Restoration Plaza on Fulton. It is right smack in the middle of the block, and is quiet. With the market in flux now, I don’t see this price, I’m betting it will sit until it goes down considerably, to around $800 something. The people I see on this block are all holding on, renovating if they can, and waiting to see what’s going on, like everyone else.
The lack of a bathroom in the fourth floor apt is already very creative.