House of the Day: 1816 Glenwood Road
Overall, this house at 1816 Glenwood Road in Fiske Terrace is very nice for all your standard Victorian Flatbush reasons (porch, lawn, charming architecture, etc.) so maybe it’s a little nit-picky to say that the renovation feels a touch contractor-y. Thankfully most of the things that rub us the wrong way—like the kitchen floor, the…
Overall, this house at 1816 Glenwood Road in Fiske Terrace is very nice for all your standard Victorian Flatbush reasons (porch, lawn, charming architecture, etc.) so maybe it’s a little nit-picky to say that the renovation feels a touch contractor-y. Thankfully most of the things that rub us the wrong way—like the kitchen floor, the floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace, the faux retro ceiling fixtures—are easily, and inexpensively fixed. (In contrast, the design choices in the bathroom look quite nice.) All that stuff pales in comparison to the original parquet floors and the generous scale of all the rooms so we’re sure some buyer will fall in love. Whether they will be willing to write a check for $1,300,000 is another question.
1816 Glenwood Road [Mary Kay Gallagher] GMAP P*Shark
Those casement windows on the top of top story of the front of the house are so cute.
siIluvBK,
As a former (and very happy) Victorian Flatbush homeowner – I agree with your post 100 percent! If you have the time and money and love to nest, yet can’t imagine leaving NYC, nothing beats this area… If you don’t have the money and DIY isn’t your favorite hobby, I’d say stick to a building with a super!
Having lived in a Victorian in Fiske Terrace for a couple of years,I would say this is a great buy,the tranquality and the beauty that this area conveys can not be found anywhere in Brooklyn. If you enjoy peace, space, gardening, entertaining and if you work from home or just spend a great deal of your time home, and if you love decorating and have the money to do so these houses are enjoyable. If not these beautiful and spacious homes become monsters that you dread coming home to after a while. Lot’s of maintenance!Life can be complicated already! Overall, one must be fully prepared and equipped to live in these houses. If you have kids, get a nanny, a cleaning lady, a gardener….so you can fully enjoy these houses and your LIFE!
Archi: It’s true that one tends to find things when one isn’t looking for them but I have been to salvage warehouses and antique stores with literally hundreds of windows from the 1880’s through the 1920’s. Naturally you would need to have them retrofitted to fit, finding an exact fit to your sash would be hard. But you know there are also many stained glass studios, making new stained glasswork in Brooklyn. They do a lot of work for the churches and their work is A-one.
I like this house as is. I would have to look at that fire place closer to really make it out because the house is late and has that touch of arts and crafts that can result in quirky details. But putting aside stained glass and mantles, it has a two-car garage!! I am, I admit it, green with envy.
Sam – I lived in this neighborhood for years and I can’t tell you how difficult it was (eventually impossible) to find a stained glass window of the period and a stylistic match which would fit the original window frames… I wanted to install one in a bathroom reno. No luck.
Crappy vintage glass is very easy to find – this stuff is far harder to find, and even harder to find an easy fit.
Glenwood is a little further away from the train and the Cortelyou strip than I prefer but still a reasonable walk in cold weather. I don’t see anything wrong with the renovation except for the fireplace. IMHO, unless you are a chef/caterer or the mother of 18 kids and counting, why do you need a stove with 22 burners, 10 ovens and a refrigerator the size of three coffins? I think that kitchen reno’s have become a status symbol and are a big waste of resources. This one seems fine though. Also, while I think that brownstones are beautiful, I prefer these freestanding homes which are much more open and filled with light.
I think this is a very reasonable alternative to moving to the suburbs. Kids can play in a nice yard on a swing set or go to a local park. The schools are pretty good over there too. Don’t know about the 1.3 million price. Would probably sell for just under 1 million.
Even with the mediocre kitchen, I still find this house so much more appealing, inside and out… For the money I’d save, I’d do the kitchens and baths… Although Fiske Terrace benefits from landmarking and West Midwood suffers from a lack of it….
vintage stained glass is the easiest thing to find and have installed. Ditto for mantles.
At some point, a sheet rock wall was installed to cut the main staircase off from the sitting room (I would bet at the same time the fireplace was replaced). If I bought this house, the first thing I’d do is take that wall down and open the staircase back onto the sitting room/foyer area. Not a hugely expensive operation, just a little messy. Easy to get original floorplan and restore.