Park Slope

Park Slope Edwardian Unit With Built-ins, Moldings Asks $3,600 a Month

An original apartment in an early 20th century walk-up has a flexible layout, high ceilings, and bay window.

park slope - dining room with corner built-in

by Cate Corcoran

08/29/2024 1

This rare tenement apartment with details intact is high on character, built-ins, moldings, and quaint windows — and the price is not insane for Park Slope. It’s on the third floor of 522 5th Street, an early 20th century walkup with four stories and eight units.

In 1906, the building and its apartments were advertised as “new” and “handsomely decorated.” It still has a flexible five-room layout, and the ceilings are high.

Facing the street is the parlor, replete with console mirror, angled bay window, and diagonal wood floors. A quirky petite window set off by Colonial-style scalloped trim is high enough to fit furniture underneath. Picture-frame moldings decorate the walls.

At the other end of the apartment is the unit’s original dining room, separated from the kitchen by a large arched opening. The dining room retains its original plate rail, two built-ins, and another quirky window. It’s an interior French casement with nine lights that seems to be peeking over the plate rail on which it perches.

One built-in resembles a fireplace mantel with covered columns and mirrored shelf on top of a glass-fronted cupboard. A corner built-in has drawers under a bracketed counter backed by angled mirrors and, on top, a petite glass-fronted cupboard. Low paneling runs around the perimeter of the room.

In the kitchen is a cork-tile floor, wood cupboards, and faux marble counter. The room appears big enough for a table.

The unit’s original two bedrooms are at the center of the floor plan — the larger of the two with a window. The other, described in the listing as an office, has the internal window that opens to the dining room.

Likely off the hall, a petite bathroom with wall-hung sink and square tile looks onto an airshaft.

The listing, from Mike Cohen of A D Shaye Realty, suggests using the parlor as a bedroom and designating the dining room and kitchen as the main living space.

“This is [a] great space for someone who appreciates traditional old school apartments,” the listing states. Asking $3,600 a month, it’s “priced right. Great deal for the area,” the copy adds. Do you agree?

[Listing: 522 5th Street #3L | Broker: A D Shaye Realty Group] GMAP