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
It’s in contract.
Montrose;
I never said that the sagging bay window is a structural issue (serious or otherwise). Nevertheless, it needs to be taken care of.
I really don’t have a quarrel with anything you’ve written. Though it is not my cup of tea, I can appreciate that there is a significant market that values the architectural details of this house, as well as the neighborhood.
My only issue is the price! Let’s look at it another way. What would a similiar-style of brownstone house in this location go for if it was in tip-top condition (new wiring, kitchen, bathrooms, sagging bay remedied, plaster repaired, etc.) $900K?? How much would it take to bring this house into this shape? Wine Lover said $300K (assuming contractor) and RH said $200K, using some of her/his “sweat equity”. So, let’s split the difference and say $250K (ASSUMING there are no structural issues with this house). Well, that gets us to $650K. Now, what is the cost of either: a) renting a place while this house is being done-over or b) living in a construction zone for 6 months. Let’s put it at $25K.
Now we’re at $625K (once again, assuming that there is no structural issue).
Get this baby down to a reasonable price, and we’re talking!!
Montrose;
I never said that the sagging bay window is a structural issue (serious or otherwise). Nevertheless, it needs to be taken care of.
I really don’t have a quarrel with anything you’ve written. Though it is not my cup of tea, I can appreciate that there is a significant market that values the architectural details of this house, as well as the neighborhood.
My only issue is the price! Let’s look at it another way. What would a similiar-style of brownstone house in this location go for if it was in tip-top condition (new wiring, kitchen, bathrooms, sagging bay remedied, plaster repaired, etc.) $900K?? How much would it take to bring this house into this shape? Wine Lover said $300K (assuming contractor) and RH said $200K, using some of her/his “sweat equity”. So, let’s split the difference and say $250K (ASSUMING there are no structural issues with this house). Well, that gets us to $650K. Now, what is the cost of either: a) renting a place while this house is being done-over or b) living in a construction zone for 6 months. Let’s put it at $25K.
Now we’re at $625K (once again, assuming that there is no structural issue).
Get this baby down to a reasonable price, and we’re talking!!
BoerumHill,
Bedford Corners, or Bedford, is the historic name of the community that existed roughly around where Fulton and Bedford intersect. It was an important crossroad town in the early to mid 1700’s, and played a role in the Battle of Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War. Skipping ahead a couple of centuries, it is now used to describe the area from about Bedford to Throop, Putnam to Fulton, as per a long overdue historic district designation. It centers around the A train stop at Nostrand and Fulton St. Parts of the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District abut the eastern end of Bedford, at Throop, but for most people, Stuy Hts refers to the blocks nearer to Lewis and Stuyvesant Avenue, a few blocks east of Throop.
For those of us who have lived in, or love, greater Bedford Stuyvesant, the Bedford Corners area is just as, or even more beautiful than Stuyvesant Hts, and contains an enormous wealth of fine architecture by important architects. Both areas were upper middle class enclaves in their day. When people starting “discovering” Bed Stuy, they tended to go to the Heights, and prices there have always been higher than for comparable buildings in Bed Corners.
Personally, I love both areas, and although I lived in what will be Bedford Corners Historic District for 17 years, I have only begun to explore the more eastern parts of Bed Stuy in the last year, thanks mostly to our own reader Amzi Hill, who knows that area extremely well. The Bedford Corners side of town has always had a rougher reputation, but I never had any problems, and I lived there through some rough times. Of course, like many neighborhoods, you have blocks that are better than others, both architecturally, and quality of life-wise.
The north eastern end of BS, where it connects with Bushwick and Williamsburg is not as architecturally significant, and was always a more working class area, even a hundred years ago. I would have thought that it would be the last part of BS to begin to gentrify, but because of its closeness to Williamsburg, and relative closeness to Pratt, it is also changing.
However, if you want primo brownstone architecture, either Bedford Corners, Stuyvesant Hts, and some of the areas in between and east of SH, are all great. If you have a car, you should check the area out. It is huge. Amzi and I will resume giving walking tours in the spring.
Benson, if one likes old houses, and falls in love with the many, many details of the house, and is realistic about what needs to be done, then they will gladly pony up and pay a reasonable price for it, get their architect and contractor on board, and go to it. A sagging bay window, as Dave said, is not a serious structural issue. Rewiring is par for the course in houses that have not been updated, ever, and would need to be done whatever the cost of the house, ditto for bathrooms and kitchens.
For an old house lover, what we/they see is the first quality features of the house, which contrary to wine lover’s assertions, do NOT need a gut rehab, that’s absurd. Nor would it take a year. I would love to be able to prove it, but I’m sure someone will soon. Any property on this block will be highly prized as the economy recovers. It’s a beautiful block, around the corner from the subway and banking, etc.
It won’t be $300k even with electrical & plumbing and new baths & kitchens. If there’s some serious structural issues, then maybe. The sagging bay window is not a serious structural issue.
Yeah, me too AND you would never have heard me saying this 2 years ago; I was so burnt out by how the house ate my life, but I guess you forget the hassle when it is done and you are enjoying it. In fact, people on Brownstoner kindly talked me in off the ledge a few times.
Yeah, I know this block. This house will totally go for upper 600’s. Macon has good brownstones and the folks are invested in this street. If brownstones on Macon can go for 550K at auction, I believe they’ll get more than that when listed.
My house needed all of the above. We’ve gotten away with less than $200k. BUT!!! We did a bunch of it ourselves. While living there. And pay no attention to what I said above about our apartment not being finished after 5 years. The shoe cobbler’s children never have shoes. The rest of the house is finished.