Flatlands

Flatlands Shingle-Style Charmer With Woodwork, Parking Asks $1.525 Million

This grand Edwardian boasts a wealth of space and plenty of details still intact, including moldings, pier mirrors, and stained glass.

by Susan De Vries

05/13/2024 0

The grandeur of this Shingle-style house is a surprise: On a corner, it boasts a wealth of space and plenty of details still intact, including wainscoting, moldings, pier mirrors, and stained glass. It has some exterior charm still visible as well, with multiple bay windows, a corner tower, gables, and a sleeping porch.

The wood-frame standalone at 1780 Brooklyn Avenue dates to the early 20th century when former farmland in Flatbush and Flatlands was being carved into suburban neighborhoods. Builder James Graham was active on this stretch of Brooklyn Avenue, and records show he acquired this lot from the Germania Real Estate and Improvement Company, developers of many micro nabes in the boroough, in 1899. Maps and conveyance records show that the structure was in place by at least 1904.

Today, views of the house are largely hidden by trees and there isn’t a circa 1940 tax photo digitized for the property. However, there is one for another house by Graham on the opposite corner, and it looks to be a near twin. The impressive Shingle-style details, which borrow architecturally from the Queen Anne style but with a bit less ornamentation, are visible in the historic photo, which includes a clear view of the corner tower with conical roof, the columned porches and, of course, the shingled facade.

An I-card from 1939 shows No. 1780 was a three-family and also notes that it had been one since 1919. The house is currently set up as a two-family with a duplex and a top-floor rental. Both units are spacious; the duplex include four bedrooms plus office spaces, along with 2.5 baths.

On the main level are a large foyer, library, parlor, dining room and, at the rear of the house, the kitchen. The long parlor extends along one side; two pier mirrors reflect the light from the windows. Wood floors with inlaid boarders extend into the dining room, which also still has wainscoting and a bay window framed with pilasters.

A new owner might want to give the kitchen a style tweak, but it does have a generous amount of cabinet space, two windows, and access to the rear yard. There is also a secondary staircase that goes to the unfinished basement, the bedrooms of the duplex, and the entrance to the top-floor rental unit.

The main staircase has a landing on the second floor outfitted with a window seat that is missing only some cushions for use as a cozy reading spot. Two of the bedrooms are substantial; one has a passthrough to a smaller bedroom at the rear. The other large bedroom has the advantage of including the windowed bay of the tower, and a door leads to the sleeping porch with its many windows.

Outdoor areas include yard space along the sides and front while at the rear is the driveway and garage.

The property has been in the same family since the 1970s. Listed by Ronit Abraham of Compass, the house is priced at $1.525 million. Worth the ask?

[Listing: 1780 Brooklyn Avenue | Broker: Compass] GMAP