It's official, another project from Brooklyn's general contracting firm "Grand Renovation" has sold for $4M+. You may remember co-founder and President of Grand Renovation, Cousin John Buchbinder (AKA "The House Whisperer") from his renovation on the high profile, much published former house of Jenna Lyons at 178 Garfield Place in Park Slope. Cousin John has been the skipper on some of Brooklyn's best projects.
Jenna's house stunned everyone when it sold over asking price for $4M just over 3 years ago. Since then, even less stunning homes have traded over $4M on that block. So was it any surprise to see another stunner at 162 Bergen Street hit the market for $4.95M at the end of last summer and close for $4.375M not long after?
This 22' wide four-story brick building was a design-build project completely gut renovated from top to bottom in prime Boerum Hill in 2009. Modest & handsome federal brick on the outside belies the "rococo" renovation packed with bells & whistles on the inside...
Despite the moans and groans of people who couldn't even afford $2M purchases around here, no, the nearby Gowanus Housing projects ain't stopping the 4-millionaires from descending on this neighb'. As they didn't stop another high-profile sale one block away from fetching $8.8M a few months ago. As we've seen over & over, one man's "deal breaker" is another man's "I'll gladly pay 4 times more than you can afford for it." Before prices over here took off into the stratosphere, we got to check out 162 Bergen Street mid-renovation years ago back when we rented around the corner. It was the project where we first learned about the marvels of radiant floor heating while a high efficiency boiler roughly the size of a backpack was being installed in the basement.
But amazing mechanicals, while extremely comfortable and efficient, aren't what people come to see in a house like this. It's shiny pics of "original" details and staged rooms...
Blending old & new at this level in a house from the 1800's is no easy task. Original wide plank floors refinished and heated with radiant tubing, exposed brick in a double-height south-facing atrium that reaches some 20' high, 5-floor elevator installed, multi-zoned central A/C, soapstone counters, custom-made cherry wood cabinets that by themselves can cost more than many folks spend on their entire kitchens. All finishing touches which weren't designed by a developer to flip a property; they were tailored for the owner's own taste. But that doesn't stop the peanut gallery from having a field day on the gawdy plaster work, or the owner's decision to put an elevator in the building. Not everyone grasps why certain owners choose to put elevators in their homes. Good news is, when you have $2M+ for a shell and over $1M for a renovation, you can decide what you'd like to put in your house too! Cousin John points out that with a fully finished cellar and laundry space in the basement, an added bonus of the elevator is not hoofing down 4 flights of stairs from the bedroom (where most laundry is created) back downstairs where the laundry is. Others opt to put laundry on the top floor sometimes. Cousin John has since installed another elevator in one of his renovation projects in Prospect Heights.
You can't please all the people all the time, so not every renovation is going to appeal to everyone. However, when you're doing a design-build job for one client, there's only one person to please - the client. This isn't the way we would've done the bathroom, but it's certainly a nice one...
And luckily when it's our house, we get to pick out our own fixtures & finishes. Exposed beams on the garden floor are a nice look with the wide plank floors (and working fireplace!)...
Cousin John has made an Ikea kitchen look like a million bucks before, but the custom look here at 162 Bergen Street was a bit different...
The incredibly detailed plasterwork seen today in the house, with its signature gargoyle faces, mostly isn't original after all. Cousin John tells us that the house started out federal in the mid-1800's, and as Italianate became more the style in the early 1900's, more ornate plaster was added. However, after another ~100 years, "85% of the original plaster had to be removed. Our craftsmen then set about making new moulds for some of the pieces and re-imagining other plaster details to recreate the seamless appearance of an historic brownstone. The decorative painting of the plasterwork served to further highlight the marvelous intricacies of the work." Cousin John tells us, "Anything you can imagine and draw on paper, can be built in plaster." So this is really new plaster replicated to mimic the old in its shape and paint treatment...
And the custom-made moulds for the archway & doorframes...
Cousin John tells us, "This is the original ceiling medallion that was removed, stripped of all paint and reinstalled. It was comprised of 36 separate pieces and reassembled on site."
Cousin John is a fun guy, but when it comes to restoration details, he is no joke...
On the top floor, 5 new skylights bring sun into the north and south bedrooms, as well as the interior bath on this otherwise not-that-sunny tree-lined block. The skylights have remote controlled shades, open and close by remote control, and even have a rain sensor that closes them automatically if you leave them open on accident. Blue stone lines the front and back yards, with a fountain, winding path, and separate elevations in the rear...
Renovation work of this caliber doesn't come cheap, but it doesn't sell for cheap either on the open retail market. "Numbers don't lie - check the scoreboard."
Pro's: totally finished house with modern fixin's and original & restored details, several custom & unique touches, 22' wide, rare elevator, light years better than run of the mill reno's that trade for almost this high
Con's: certainly not for the faint of wallet, plethora of pictures still don't capture all the looks of this house, renovation isn't everyone's taste - especially the ornate plaster, gone already
Ideally: top notch flagship house over $4M and still less than half what a neighbor just paid. Not too shabby.
nice house!
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