Brooklyn Brownstone Bargains

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I got a fascinating flyer in the mail from the Corcoran Group. The center spread showed a collection of brownstone facades representing 3- and 4-family building sales in Brooklyn for the second quarter of 2010 (presumably a third-quarter flyer, for the period ending September 30, is coming soon). Surrounding a map of Brownstone Brooklyn and grouped by neighborhoods, there were 33 sales (not all by Corcoran) in that three-month period: 2 in Prospect Heights, 2 in Gowanus, 2 in Clinton Hill, 3 in Boerum Hill, 3 in Cobble Hill, 5 in Fort Greene, 7 in Carroll Gardens, and 8 in Park Slope.

The priciest of these were upwards of $2million, but my bottom-fishing eye sought out the least expensive properties. My mind began buzzing with questions: How long was this on the market? What was the original listing price? What condition was it in, and on how lousy a block?

Some answers:

78 Adelphi Street in Fort Greene, right, fetched $574,000. Originally listed at 669K, with a not-enormous 22′x35′ footprint, and described as a ‘shell,’ it was snapped up within 4 months on the market. Its dire condition + it’s location — between Park and Myrtle Avenues, a few houses from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — are why it sold as (relatively) cheaply as it did.

112 Ryerson Street in Clinton Hill, below, is a 20′x40′ house that brought $1,000 above its asking price of 699K, after just a couple of months on the market. Also between Park and Myrtle Avenues but not on top of the BQE,  it looks to be a solid building with good rental potential, at least.

455 Union Street in Carroll Gardens, below, was advertised as a ‘handyman’s special.’ A small three-family (17×38) near Bond Street, it sold for $700,000 after almost a year on the market, and no wonder: the original asking price was an over-reaching 950K.

It’s the old lesson: if a house is priced right, it sells, even in this down market.

Heirloom Bulbs for Old Houses

THERE WERE GARDENERS here before us — way before us — and they cultivated a much wider assortment of plants than we can find today in most of our nurseries and garden catalogues. In 1886, the D.M.Ferry company offered 135 varieties of hyacinth. How many are there today in our common bulb catalogues? Just a few.

I’d never really given it much thought until I ran across the website of Old House Gardens, a small company that sells antique heirloom bulbs. It was founded by landscape historian Scott Hurst, who in 1983 bought a derelict Queen Anne house in Ann Arbor. Discovering forgotten peonies and tiger lilies in his backyard, he realized that many bulb varieties, growing in old gardens and graveyards across America, were in danger of becoming extinct.

‘Black Beauty’ lily, left

Unlike most of the bulbs we order from catalogues and plant at this time of year, 99% of which are from the Netherlands, many of the historic bulbs sold by Old House Gardens are native and regional, from small growers in 14 states and their own urban micro-farms in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Some date back hundreds of years, and there are many good reasons to grow them.

They’re:

• tough and vigorous — they’re survivors, after all
• unusual, offering colors, forms, and special qualities unmatched by newer bulbs
• bred for gardens, rather than in greenhouses for pot and cut-flower production like most modern bulbs 
• graceful and wildflowery — many of them are once-wild plants (no longer wild-collected, of course) or just a generation removed
• fragrant, adding another sensual dimension to your garden
• regionally adapted, thriving in difficult climates where many modern bulbs fail
• period appropriate to Colonial, Victorian, Arts and Crafts and other styles of old houses
• rare, endangered, and in need of our help, since the only way to preserve these living artifacts and their genetic resources is to grow them

Beyond all that, they’re gorgeous. For lots more info, to order a print catalogue, or sign up for a free e-mail newsletter from Old House Gardens, go here.

‘Cloth of Gold’ crocus, above

Second Fall

IT’S MY SECOND AUTUMN IN EAST HAMPTON, and life is good. I’ve planted a few more shrubs, done a bit of fall clean-up. Things are shaping up, landscape-wise, though I’ve been a little lax on the photos. How many times can I show pictures of the same property? Actually, though, I saw a shot of how the roadside area, which is where I’ve been working lately, looked a year ago, and there is an enormous difference. How quickly one forgets.

<-Dump find

What else have I been up to, for continuity’s sake? I was in Philadelphia last weekend, getting a trinity house ready for a renter. I’ve been eating vegan for the past 2 weeks, trying to stave off meds for high blood pressure/cholesterol, and I’m getting used to it (just made a yummy tofu/spinach frittata). I’ve written several magazine articles, two for Garden Design‘s Nov/Dec issue  (one on the new Brooklyn Bridge Park) and two for Hamptons Cottages & Gardens‘ holiday issue. I spent yesterday in Bridgehampton with my friend Diana White, who sells extraordinary vintage furniture from Biedermeier to Art Deco to Steampunk, helping her with a photo shoot for the website Vintage and Modern.

Home #1

And now, to shake things up a little, I’m entering the ranks of those who “divide their time” between two homes. I’ve signed a lease on a 1-bedroom garden floor-through in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and just 3-1/2 weeks from now, I’ll be busy getting set up there and settling in for much of the winter — I guess. I’m really not sure where I’ll be when or how I’ll decide when it’s time to stay and when it’s time to go. It should be the easiest move ever, since all the stuff I’ll need for that apartment has been in storage for the past year-and-a-half. It’ll be delivered, and all I’ll have to do is unpack.

Consequently, I was very taken with a column in last Sunday’s New York Times, called “Home is Where the Stuff Is.” Boy, did it resonate, especially this passage, in which the author, Thomas Bellers, describes his feelings on returning home to New Orleans after a summer in Sag Harbor and seeing

“a million details of my life as it had been three and a half months earlier. Pocket change on a mantel, two cans of dog treats for the neighbor’s dog, a three-taper candlestick with wax melted over some Mardi Gras beads…

Nevertheless, I greeted these objects with ambivalence. Part of me felt exhausted by their presence. They exerted a kind of lunar pull, tugging me out of the present and into the past. It was like seeing an old friend after a long interval and being overcome with the sickening feeling that one of you has changed beyond recognition, that the old magic is gone.”

Is that how I’m going to feel, unpacking 35 boxes of books I didn’t look at before I moved? Clothing I haven’t needed? Pottery and dishes I easily replaced at yard sales? Music I’ve re-bought on iTunes?

The thing I’m most looking forward to re-acquainting myself with is my super-comfortable Englander mattress. Experientially, there’s more: Seeing friends I haven’t succeeded in luring out to the Hamptons. Volunteering at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Taking a few catch-up swing dance lessons. And coming back here, with the distance that I expect will make me appreciate country life all the more.

Below: Roadside with evergreens in place.  On my way to a ‘tapestry hedge,’ I hope, planning to fill in with looser, deciduous flowering shrubs.

Rent My Philadelphia Garden Apartment

FIRST DIBS, DEAR READERS. This 1-bedroom garden apartment, available for rent as of January 1, has not even made it to Craigslist yet. It’s in one of my two Philadelphia buildings — the one in Queen Village, which is probably the best neighborhood in the city after Rittenhouse Square and Society Hill.

It’s convenient to Center City and the bars, stores, and restaurants of South Street, yet far enough away to be quiet and peaceful.

The building, on a lovely residential street, dates from 1810. There’s a private entrance (red door on left, top) and a 300-square-foot outdoor space that’s not exactly a garden — a concrete patio, more like (think containers!)

The apartment was totally renovated in 2006. It has central air, a washer-dryer, and a walk-in closet, rarities for those of us used to New York City apartment living.

The bedroom, below, is huge, with two windows and a French door leading to the garden.

The rent:$1,150/month, plus heat. For more info: caramia447@gmail.com

Prospect Heights 1BR $2100/mo.

NOTE: This is NOT my new pied-a-terre, and the apartment is no longer available. This post is for voyeuristic and informational purposes only.

MY COUCH-SURFING DAYS WILL SOON BE OVER. I’m on the verge of signing a lease for a garden floor-through in Prospect Heights. As of November 1st, I’ll be able to say the words “pied-a-terre” even more often. I’m fantasizing how I’ll place my furniture, and my new landlords are being kind enough to allow me to choose paint colors. It’s premature to say any more.

I found my apartment-to-be on Craigslist (“by owner”), and though the pickings in Prospect Heights, my target neighborhood, are fairly slim, and there is a sad preponderance of bad renovations, there is one other listing I want to share with you. It was rented in a flash. I’m posting these pictures purely as an example of what’s available on the Brooklyn rental market for lovers of old houses who are prepared to do a diligent search.

It’s a top floor (long climb, bright) on Sterling Place, very near the Brooklyn Museum. The terracotta color of the building, top, and arched windows on the ground floor make me think Renaissance Revival, though most of the neighborhood dates from the 1890s, three decades past that style’s heyday. The apartment has TWO working fireplaces (one is rare enough — this is the outstanding feature, as far as I’m concerned) and the mantels and moldings are the original dark woodwork. Pity about the kitchen in the middle, but what can you do — it’s gotta go somewhere.

Pretty swell, don’t ya think? No wonder the landlord had people fighting over this one.