House of the Day: 51 South Elliott Place
This brick townhouse at 51 South Elliott Place in Fort Greene hit the market a couple of weeks ago with an asking price of $1,950,000. The four-story house is configured as a duplex and appears to benefit from an extension that not only makes the lower two floors larger but also provides the basis for…
This brick townhouse at 51 South Elliott Place in Fort Greene hit the market a couple of weeks ago with an asking price of $1,950,000. The four-story house is configured as a duplex and appears to benefit from an extension that not only makes the lower two floors larger but also provides the basis for a deck off the back of the upper duplex. Nice old floors and other original details also appear intact. Think the asking price is about right?
51 South Elliott Place [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
DIBS, I’m not sure if you are kidding. In case you are not:
DIBS #1: “Beautiful house. One nitpick….having to go out into the hallway to use the powder room, especially as the top duplex tenant arrives home!!!!!!” SO IT BEGINS
DIBS #2: “Snappy, floorplan does show a door out the kitchen on the parlour floor…assume there’s a staircase that’s not on the drawings.” ACCORDING TO YOU DIBS (SEE DIBS #4: “It’s not on the floorplan, ET so you can’t assume it’s there”), IT”S AGAINST YOUR RULES TO ASSUME. I THINK WE CAN ASSUME, THOUGH, THAT THERE IS AN ENTRY HALL ON THE PARLOR FLOOR, THE PHOTO OF THE EXTERIOR SHOWS A NICE DOUBLE DOOR BROWNSTONE ENTRANCE, YET IT IS NOT SHOWN ON THE FLOOR PLAN.
DIBS #3: On the “1st Floor”, ET…..look again. I LOOKED, YOU ARE WRONG, THERE IS A PARTITION SEPARATING THE PARLOR FLOOR ENTRANCE, IT’S THE BACK OF THE SMALL CLOSET ACROSS FROM THE POWDER ROOM. THIS IS THE CRUX OF WHAT YOU ARE MISSING DIBS.
DIBS #4: It’s not on the floorplan, ET so you can’t assume it’s there…just like the back stairs to the yard. That powder room door opens into the hallway…no wall. SEE DIBS#2, & DIBS #3
DIBS #5: On the floorplan it’s open to the hallway that surrounds the stairway. Unless you can produce a picture that shows otherwise, it is as the floorplan shows…open into the hallway. SEE DIBS #3 Similarly, the kitchen on the 2nd floor fas a hallway entrance as well. YEAH, BECAUSE IT’S A PRIVATE SPACE OF THE UPPER DUPLEX
DIBS #6: You can tell me what you think MIGHT be there but it is not according to the floorplan.
Wishing will not make it so. SEE DIBS #3 YOU ARE CORRECT SIR, WISHING WILL NOT MAKE IT SO!
DIBS #7: I know the first floor is the parlour floor, dummy. DUMMY? that’s what I’m talking about. There is a staircase there that is the access to the upper duplex. WRONG, THE LINE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRWAY (ON THE PARLOR FLOOR PLAN) INDICATES A SEPARATION OF THE UNITS, THOUGH IT IS NOT REALLY THERE AS A WALL, IT’S THERE TO INDICATE, AGAIN, THE SEPARATION OF THE UNITS. It’s contained within a clearly marked hallway and the bathroom door opens into the hallway. WRONG, THE STAIRWAY ON THE PARLOR FLOOR IS “CLEARLY MARKED” THOUGH, IT HAS ONE ARROW POINTING DOWN TO THE GROUND/GARDEN FLOOR. THE STEPS YOU SEE ON THE PARLOR FLOOR (ACROSS FROM THE POWDER ROOM AND NEXT TO THE SMALL CLOSET), GO DOWN TO THE GROUND/GARDEN FLOOR. THE STEPS UP TO THE UPPER UNIT ARE “NOT SHOWN”, THOUGH WE CAN ASSUME THEY ARE THERE, JUST AS THERE HAS TO BE STAIRS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR TO THE THIRD FLOOR EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE NOT SHOWN.
Unless you can show me a pic of something in front of the powder room doorway, there isn’t anything. SEE DIBS #3->HOW ABOUT THE DARK BLACK HORIZONTAL LINE THAT IS THE BACK OF THE SMALL CLOSET!
Those sliding doors are very common in that section of a hallway. they incorporated the powder room in there and that’s it. HUH? IRRELEVANT
DIBS #8: They enter through the parlor level and that’s where the powdre room sits…opening into the hallway. The stairs go BOTH up and down from there….no partition on the floorplan. SEE DIBS #3
DIBS #9: I’m NOT talking about how you enter or get from one floor to another…that’s pretty standard. You enter on the parlour floor and stairs go both up and down within the confines of a hallway.
That bathroom door opens into the hallway. RIGHT YOU ARE, THOUGH THE UPPER FLOOR NEIGHBORS WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE THROUGH ………. THE WALL THAT SEPARATES THE LOWER DUPLEX FROM THE ENTRY HALL.
DIBS #10: Look at the stoop on the outside of the building. You can’t miss it. SARCASM, I LIKE IT The floorplan in that respect is wrong. NOPE it opens onto the parlor floor (1st floor) and the powder room is on the same level….in the hallway. THE ENTRANCE TO THE LOWER DUPLEX IS UNDER THE STOOP, ENTRANCE TO UPPER DUPLEX IS ON PARLOR LEVEL.
Interestingly, there is no actual second floor entrance with a locking door, the outside entrance door at the top of the stoop is the actual locking entrance to the upper duplex.
THAT IS ALL
Aside from the floorplan that leaves many questions unanswered, there is another glaring problem with this property, namely what it faces: Brooklyn Technical High School. Some buyers might not want to face one of the largest school buildings in New York City with nearly 5,000 students. While the rest of the neighborhood is great, speaking as a Tech alumni, some buyers may not find being the school’s neighbor ideal.
Double duplex will appeal to a smaller buyer pool but the ones that want it (as I did when I bought) will really ONLY want that configuration. So its a smaller but potentially more committed buyer pool. This is a very nice house and a cool layout, with outdoor space for both duplexes (very rare I would say). Price seems a smidge high but well within the range of what I would expect this to sell for. Nice property.
Look at the stoop on the outside of the building. You can’t miss it. The floorplan in that respect is wrong. it opens onto the parlor floor (1st floor) and the powder room is on the same level….in the hallway.
location of today’s hotd is superior too but dont like double duplex layouts.
Amzi – yes I noticed no plaster cove moldings. Too bad, but I think overall I like it better than the house yesterday. That one had beautiful interiors, but the facade of today’s house is far superior.
I like the house… I lived on this block years ago when it was a bit crazy and still loved it… I wish this house had more wall/ceiling moldings..
I am not sure what the discussion is about anymore – you guys confused me – but nothing in the lower duplex seems accessible thru the parlor floor main doors. One you go up the stoop, you go up stairs to upper duplex.
If you enter the lower dublex from the entrance under the stoop (only way to enter it) and go up the stairs to the parlor floor, you will then face the bathroom with entrance to living room to your right.
Where is the confusion?
“They enter through the parlor level”
How??? Thru what door to the outside? I don’t see that on the plan?
That’s not shown, as the front portion of the stairs going up. that’s what I’m trying to tell you.
I give up.