Real Estate

Pocket-Size Bed Stuy House With Mantel, Charming Details, Outdoor Space Asks $5,500

It’s got a mixture of historical details and modern updates, four bedrooms and two bathrooms, spread over 1,750 square feet.

by Stephen Zacks

06/27/2019 0

This petite 19th century Bed Stuy single-family row house was most likely imagined for a traditional extended-family household, but 401a Monroe Street could easily become flexible co-housing for two households or four roommates.

The three-story house comprises four bedrooms and two bathrooms spread over 1,750 square feet. It’s set up with a parlor floor — including living room, dining room and kitchen — sandwiched between two bedroom floors. Two families could each occupy a wing and share the parlor floor, as could four roommates.

As well, a family could occupy the whole house and/or rent out the garden floor on AirBnB, the listing seems to hint. “The first level of this house can be strategically used as a mother in law or guest suite as it has its own private garden entrance,” according to the listing.

Perhaps the owner (who bought it in 2015 for $950,000) could be persuaded to rent the digs partly or fully furnished with the perfectly well-suited decor.

Original details include an incised stone mantel in the parlor, pocket doors, tin ceilings, wainscoting, and late-Victorian door and window surrounds with neo-Classical dentil molding. The house dates from 1891, according to the listing, and we believe it.

Updates include an owner-built window seat with storage in the living room, an island in the kitchen clad with reclaimed wood, and shelves throughout painted to match the trim. The new kitchen and baths are simple and unfussy.

The kitchen has white and birch plywood-faced cabinets, wood counters, white subway tile, a dishwasher and garbage disposal. Bathrooms have white subway tile walls, pedestal sinks and tubs, including one clawfoot tub.

The small backyard is entirely covered in wood, with a horizontal fence, and is accessible via a rear bedroom on the garden floor, as is the house’s washer and dryer. The finished cellar could be used as a studio, playroom, office or for storage, according to the listing.

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The facade of 401a Monroe Street is red brick with rusticated brownstone trim. It is located in the middle of Bed Stuy across the street from a school and down the block from a playground. It’s close to shops and restaurants in Stuy Heights but about 9 blocks from the G at Bedford-Nostrand, the C train at Kingston-Throop or the J/Z at Gates — pick your poison.

Now it’s asking $5,500 a month, or slightly more than $1,800 per floor. Split four ways, it comes to $1,375 each. Claire McFeely of Compass is handling the listing. Is it a good option?

[Listing: 401a Monroe Street | Broker: Compass] GMAP