House of the Day: 87 Macon Street
A housekeeper might be in tall order, but the old bones of this house at 87 Macon Street in Bed Stuy are pretty sweet if you can look past the clutter. The painted brownstone is divided up into a double-duplex configuration and has a two-story extension off the rear. It was originally listed back in…
A housekeeper might be in tall order, but the old bones of this house at 87 Macon Street in Bed Stuy are pretty sweet if you can look past the clutter. The painted brownstone is divided up into a double-duplex configuration and has a two-story extension off the rear. It was originally listed back in November at $849,000 but recently was reduced to $750,000. Getting warm or a ways to go?
87 Macon Street [Fillmore] GMAP P*Shark
I know exactly what’s under that fake 1970s wood panelling in the kitchen too. Possibly a layer of vinyl fake tile and then the original tongue and groove beadboard wainscotting, probably in the original dark finish. Except it will be ruined with black glue and mold (?) from the fake panelling. They might even have ripped it out along the outside wall to put in insulation. Or not. We’re trying to restore ours right now.
The old sink vent should be right along the right side of the fireplace and runs up every floor to the roof.
See if you have the old lead waste lines and whether you have wood floors in the baths or they put down tile.
Also, anyone check the CofO? If it’s a one family and they have three kitchens, that’s a snafu.
WOW, this has the original built-in range. I have never seen one of those before. I’m dying. And they’re not kidding about the five working fireplaces — if you can arrange some coal delivery.
People need to chill out about the cost of repairs. We also needed a full electrical upgrade from the one that had been done circa 1900, and we also had/have structural issues with about a quarter of the beams and joists in the back needing replacement and sistering and parts of the house are about 1 inch off. It cost $15,000 for the electrical upgrade and $2,000 for the structural stuff plus a bunch of related things such as regrading the cement, etc. That’s nothing!
If anyone is seriously interested in this house, feel free to email me at moparbrownstoner at gmail if they want me to tag along on a walk-through. I would love to see it. Re the structural stuff — 3 inches is a lot. Look to see if the stairs are pulling away from the wall. If the banister doesn’t meet the newel post, then you have settling and the steps could work loose — or they could be fine. Another issue is the floor in the back of the house can drop and break. (Not difficult to repair.) I don’t know anything about fire damage, though.
I highly recommend calling Dennis Kanalis at Guerrero’s Inc. on Wyckoff Ave. at 718- 497-2244 in Bushwick. They’ll take a look, tell you what’s wrong, and give you an estimate. Their prices are very reasonable, and they’re licensed and will file anything that needs to be filed. If the job is too small for them, they’ll recommend an experienced worker who can do the work following their precise instructions.
Also, I recently came across the web site of Gavin Young Maloney, an architect who used to advertise on this site and who restores houses to their original condition. This looks like a perfect job for him. Check out his web site, it’s incredible. http://www.gavinyoungmaloney.com
LOL, rh.
D, how do you keep your ice fixtures from melting?
I redid my house (3 out of 4 floors) replacing kitchens, bathrooms, electric, most plumbing, I replaced front doors, did hallways including new staircases, repairing plaster molding, `added some structural support beams, leveled floors, replaced floors, fixed roof, gutters, put cement floors in cellar, added new closets in cellar and all new windows in the house. I added a lot of salvage – fireplaces, beveled glass, added moldings to hallway etc. Then added crown moldings to all apartments, fixed walls, painted etc. Ii also fixed masonry outside, removed dead trees, and made a patio. I spent 220,000 in total. I spent money on ice fixtures and materials — tenants got nice kitchens and bathrooms– got labor pretty cheap – had some problems because of that. I did not have to do anything too intense regarding supporting walls or rebuilding extensions. Dont know what the structural problems are with this place but the deal is that you need to find out first and that would have to be central to your bidding.
Hey, hey, Benson, I said LESS THAN $200k! Actually, we’re probably around $160k ish. That includes structural damage, but hubby is a structural engineer.
Montrose –
Thank you so much! Great stuff.
“structural issues” seems to be the new “asbestos”. Lots of B’stoners love the “fear” words. Neither is as big a deal as being made. Unless you have the DOB asses the situation.
Benson, if you look at my first post, I said the house should go for something in the 6’s. We’re not all that far apart, here, although I would bet more on high 6’s, not low.