House of the Day: 291 State Street
There’s certainly something to the broker’s description of 291 State Street in Boerum Hill as being a “time capsule.” In addition to the requisite moldings and other details, the 3,024-square-foot brownstone is furnished (and wallpapered!) straight out of the high Victorian era. This place also has the distinction of abutting the 14 new townhouses that…
There’s certainly something to the broker’s description of 291 State Street in Boerum Hill as being a “time capsule.” In addition to the requisite moldings and other details, the 3,024-square-foot brownstone is furnished (and wallpapered!) straight out of the high Victorian era. This place also has the distinction of abutting the 14 new townhouses that were recently built on State Street. Asking price: $2,100,000. Would have been a lay-up a year ago, still not insane today.
291 State Street [CBHK] GMAP P*Shark
Actually it’s the next block West (the cathedral block) that is always a contender for Greenest Block.
Nearly all the houses on this block are landmarked (except, of course, the 14 Townhouses) and many of them are 25 footers. Not sure whether this one is that wide though, might only be the ones on the South side of the street.
Of course it’s Boerum Hill by virtually any definition of that made-up neighborhood name. I live three blocks further West and the convenience of having the Smith Street bar area, virtually every subway line, Atlantic Center and downtown shopping, and BAM essentially on your doorstep just can’t be beat.
Sam is just a typical meathead… This is boerum hill. ANd right near everything its a great location.
Huh. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But I remember looking at a house on this street, or perhaps a block east, and thinking it not great. There was a big parking lot on the North side, and it had a slight industrial and trash-strewn down town feel for sure. The house was lovely, but half of the block was not. It was a deal breaker. But this was perhaps a year and 1/2 ago, so it may have changed. Or I might be a block off.
Nokki,
You better tell that to the National Guard then:
http://www.ngb.army.mil/news/archives/2008/12/120908-Guardsmen.aspx
Neighborhood boundaries are a little like language and figures of speech. Even if “wrong”, the more they get used erroneously, the greater the chance it will be eventually considered “right”.
An example that comes immediately to mind, and used to drive me nuts, was people saying to “hone in”, undoubtedly because they misheard or misunderstood to “home in”. But you can now find “hone in” right alongside “home in” in some on-line dictionaries.
I agree with Bolder. This is a really great location actually. I have a friend who lives a block from here and yes this stretch of State wins greenest block all the time. There is an amazing coffee shop/cafe on the corner of State and Hoyt that rocks and the transport options are great. I think this is actually a very fair price for this house.
Sam — Having lived in this neighborhood since 1997, as far as I know this block (and all the State Street blocks east of Smith) is defintiely Boerum Hill (although not in the landmarked district), and this block has a really outstanding number of nice houses on it. I have never heard anyone disagree about that. (Query whether the boundary with downtown Brooklyn is Schermerhorn or Livingston, but those types of boundaries are gray areas anyway.)
What disheveled tenements are you talking about? There is the one house on the other side of the street up near the hotel that seems to be perpetually being renovated, but these are all grand houses. Although I think the 14 townhouses are too narrow and not to my taste (and certainly not for the price they were asking), obviously a subtantial nnumber of people disagreed. Maybe on Schermerhorn you could point to that one SRO hotel on the next block across from the Renaissance apartment building, but that’s pretty distant from this block.
The downside to this block is that it is a block away from criminal court, so you very occasionally run into people who have been released on bail (or ROR) looking for bus/subway fare, and what I belive is related, more often window smashings at night of cars parked on this block.
The downside to this house is facing right back at the new building on Schermerhorn (and the new buiilding across the street on Schermerhorn as well). OTOH, maybe all the windows on the new building will reflect some light onto the north facing yard and cheer it up.
Well, Biff – if Sam knows so much than why does he clearly not know the borders of said area?
“but do we really think that someone sho spends two million dollars on a house is going to be using the subway much?”
Yes.
I believe and see MANY of my neighbors (who own multi-million dollar homes) ride the subway each and every day.
I don’t need to speculate, I see it on a daily basis.