House of the Day

Park Slope Neo-Grec With Mantels, Built-ins, Art Studio Asks $4.195 Million

A well-kept Neo-Grec brownstone includes a top floor artist’s studio and impressive original details.

Photo via Corcoran

by Susan De Vries

10/14/2024 1

Filled with period detail, this Park Slope Neo-Grec is on the market for the first time in decades. In addition to moldings, mantels, and built-ins, it features a top floor artist’s studio. The late painter Lennart Anderson purchased the brownstone at 877 Union Street in the 1960s, and it hasn’t been on the market since.

Within the Park Slope Historic District, and a short stroll to Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park, the dwelling is one in a row by builder John Magilligan. He filed plans for houses on this block beginning in 1884 and ultimately constructed a row of 12 brownstones. The Neo-Grec townhouses all have full-height angled bays ornamented with pilasters, elaborate cornices, and the expected incised motifs. No. 877 was completed by at least April of 1885, when it and its neighbors on either side were advertised by Magilligan as “first class brownstone houses” that would be “sold cheap.”

The 21-foot-wide house is a two-family with a one-bedroom garden rental and an owner’s triplex above. That triplex has living, dining, kitchen, and a powder room on the parlor level. Upstairs are two floors of bedrooms and two full baths.

On the penultimate floor, the large front and back bedrooms are connected by a pass-through. The top floor, while shown in the listing photos in use as a studio, comprises two bedrooms with a dressing room, laundry, and full bath.

The look of the space when Lennart Anderson was at work can be seen in photographs online. The artist, who died in 2015, was know for his use of color in streetscapes, portraits, and still lifes depicting modern life. He and his family were already in residence at 877 Union Street when his work was included in a 1967 exhibition of contemporary painting at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The parlor level of the house is wonderfully intact, starting at the entry with wainscoting, a hall stand with mirror and bench, and the original stair. The wood floors in the long front parlor have an inlaid border and there is a plasterwork, a ceiling medallion, an impressive pier mirror, and unpainted moldings. Beyond in the dining room stands a wall of built-ins along with a mantel with mirror and original tile surround.

An extension at the rear holds the kitchen, with wood cabinets, beige counters and floor tile, and stainless steel appliances, including a dishwasher. The Art Nouveau-style stained-glass windows bring some color to the space, perhaps originally a butler’s pantry.

Upstairs, the listing photos show an intact pass-through, with cabinetry, mirrors, and two marble sinks. The adjoining bedrooms both have mantels, and at least one has its brightly colored tile surround. The full bathroom on the second floor has been updated with marble hex tile on the floor, white subway tile on the walls, and a 20th century tub.

On the top floor, the street-facing bedroom has a skylight, original wood floors with the expected wear for a work space, and a wooden mantel with insert. French doors open to the dressing room where there is built-in storage along one wall. The smaller rear bedroom also has a mantel, according to the floor plan.

The garden rental, which was a Rental of the Day in 2022 when it was listed for $4,200 a month, still has most of its original detail and footprint, and is fairly spacious for a one-bedroom.

In the living room are parquet floors, a carved wood mantel, built-in sideboard, and shutters. A pass-through has been made over into a galley kitchen with wood floors, wood counters, and white subway tile backsplash.

It also has a fair amount of closet space, laundry in the cellar, and a small rear office that opens into the garden. That garden has a wood fence, paved patio, and a mulch-covered seating area at the rear.

Erica Nieves and Michael Negron of Corcoran have the listing, and the house is priced at $4.195 million. What do you think?

[Listing: 877 Union Street | Broker: Corcoran] GMAP