Real Estate: January 2005 Archives

Happened upon an open house in Carroll Gardens (south) today.  The two-family duplex on Huntington (between Court and Smith) seemed nice enough, despite being in viewing distance of the crumbling end of Smith Street by the Smith-9th subway stop.  The garden-level studio apartment was the length of the building and had a new kitchen and what looked like a marble fireplace. The exposed brick added some character, but it didn't have any spectacular details like fancy molding, and many of the renovated parts felt on the low-end of a Home Depot renovation. The small finished basement below had maybe a six-foot ceiling(!!!), which screamed claustrophobia, but there was a washer and dryer. Upstairs in the main unit, also with exposed brick, the first floor had a large living room/kitchen with fireplace and bathroom with W/D. An open staircase led to what I call 2.5 bedrooms (although they were all separate rooms, the last one was itsy-bitsy) and another bath, with hardwood floors on all levels. Outside, a decent yard with a deck on the garden and second floor added a nice touch. "Perhaps one day I will be able to afford a brownstone," I wistfully thought. However my open-house fantasy turned to dust when I saw the asking price of 1.3 million. And there were people at least feigning interest!  As of Sunday night, the listing was on the open house section of Awaye Realty's page ... but the "view" link for more info goes to the wrong place.  Can't you do better than that for 1.3 million?

UPDATE: Here's some photos from Craigslist.