Real Estate

A Park Slope Townhouse Packed With Original Details, Including Marble Sinks, Asks $4,999,999

The details visible in the limited listing photos for this Park Slope row house are sure to whet the appetite of any old house lover.

by Susan De Vries

10/06/2021 0

Sure to whet the appetite of any old-house lover, this Park Slope row house has a rare level of intact detail, including an antique stove and skeleton keys still in their locks. Fretwork, a pier mirror, marble sinks, mantels and built-ins are all on display inside the 1890s two-family. Perhaps not coincidentally, former owners were part of the midcentury brownstone movement and include a prominent architectural historian and author.

In the Park Slope Historic District, 540 2nd Street sits just a short walk away from Prospect Park. Part of a stretch of five houses designed by J. W. Bailey for property owner Matilda Nilsson, No. 540 was pitched for sale in 1894 as an up-to-date “swell front house” with an “entirely new idea in layout rooms.” Whether that was just exaggeration in advertising is hard to tell as no floor plan is included in the listing.

Judging by the glimpses in the photos, the layout looks mostly as expected for a four-story house built as a single-family and converted to two units. It’s now set up as an owner’s triplex over a garden-level rental.

On the exterior, the rough-faced brick house with an L-shaped stoop has a full-height angled bay and ornamentation limited to brownstone and brick detailing, seen a bit more clearly in the historic tax photo, as well as a heavy, bracketed cornice with foliate ornament. The Park Slope Historic District designation report aptly describes the exterior as tweedy in texture, with a mix of brown and orange tones.

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While the early owners were advertising rooms for rent with “every convenience” at least as early as 1909, the fact that so many of the interior details seem to have survived may be thanks to later 20th century owners. These included Elliot Willensky, a Brooklyn native who trained as an architect at Cooper Union and Yale and whose many accomplishments included coauthoring the influential “AIA Guide to New York City,” serving on the Landmarks Preservation Commission and as Borough Historian of Brooklyn, and writing “When Brooklyn Was the World, 1920-1957.”

The detail starts off in the intact entry with original hardware (and key) on the front door, a hall tree with pier mirror and seat, an intricate fretwork screen and wainscoting. Pocket doors lead to a parlor but the only view is of the stained glass in the bay windows and a vintage cash register that is intriguing but likely not included in the sale. (Without a photo, it’s hard to know if the room might contain a 20th century alteration such as a platform or double-height ceiling.)

At the rear of the parlor level in a large extension is the modern kitchen with a country aesthetic, featuring olive green cabinets, open shelves and a mantel with flowered tile and an insert. Adjacent in the dining room is a more impressive mantel with overmantel mirror, bric-a-brac shelves and original tile — not to mention woodwork, a wood floor, stained glass and fretwork.

There aren’t any images of the bedrooms, but according to the listing there are 4.5 along with two baths in the triplex. There is a view of a passthrough with intact mirrors, built-ins and marble sink — and the listing notes that five of the building’s bedrooms have marble sinks with functioning plumbing. The full bath shown is also awash in wood with wainscoting, flooring and even a claw foot tub trimmed in wood.

Photos in an old rental listing suggest the garden-floor leg of the house’s staircase may have been removed — or never existed in the standard location — to create a rental with 1.5 bedrooms and the same number of bathrooms, in-unit laundry and, in the backyard, a nicely landscaped garden with brick patio.

The photos show that many of the details in what would have originally been the dining room and kitchen for the whole house are still in place. The original dining room, now the living room for the rental, has another fireplace with mirrored overmantel and original tile and insert, along with a built-in china cabinet. The butler’s pantry retains its marble sink and cabinets. A remnant of the original kitchen, an antique stove painted bright green, remains in the rear room, now the unit’s main bedroom. The latter also still has several original pantries, closets and cupboards.

The property hasn’t been on the market since the 1960s. It is now listed with Angela Peterkin of A P Realty Group for $4,999,999. Worth the ask?

[Listing: 540 2nd Street | Broker: A P Realty Group] GMAP