379 8th St, Brooklyn, NY 1978-1996
In 1978 I bought a Brooklyn brownstone, really a brickface, built in 1881. Fortunately I was a single dad, since no woman in her right mind would willing have lived in the squalor and the 30 month old boy couldn't have cared less. In the first two months I owned it I dumped 40 cu yards of debris.
Even as it was, when I met my wife in 1980, her comment was something like it was lovely, if it only had ceilings, floors or walls.
However this was an upper West Side girl who thought you needed shots and a visa to visit Brooklyn. Now the pictures that follow were taken over a period of 16 years.
That is the front stoop and door, when I bought it. Somebody had painted the brick. It is the 2nd in a row of four identical houses, sharing a wall with the house on either side. The lot was 18'9"x100', inside it was 18'x42' and we occupied the upper two floors. I rented the basement and had a shop in the cellar. The basement entrance led to a common hall. We got on so well with the only tenant we had, that we never locked the doors between us. Believe me, we locked the outside doors.
At somepoint my wife had new double doors made for the entrance.
What would be the master bath, the only seperate space on the entire top floor. That is actually a floor tile, as the counter is also the entrance to the roof. For a couple of years there was a steep stair to get up there, but that came down in the late 80s when we stopped gardening up there. All of the bath was home done work, I did the framing, sheetrock, electrical, plumbing (which included a gas dryer) and tile, my wife cleaned and grouted the tile.
The below is a shot up the stairs from the parlor (2nd) floor to the ceiling. The aluminum foil looking stuff is 9 inches of insulation. And yes that is a floor to ceiling book case. The lower of the two shots gives you a look at the 3rd floor joists. When I got it, all of the detail work and most of the plaster had been pulled down and left in a pile on the floor. The owners didn't know how much work it was to rebuild or what material cost.
The underside of the stairs, after having been beefed up for a renovation.
That corner of floor represents my share of the stair renovation, along with the beef up above. My wife had the stairs done by a pro and we then had a party for them. One friend brought the stairs a gift, a slinky, which I still have.
Stair decorations going down are Ulyssess a neighborhood Tom who moved in for a while, Alexander Wollcot, also known as Mom-cat and her daughter George Kaufman, somebody did ask if the father was Gertrude Stein. The cat at the bottom, who is the only one still alive when we moved here is Adlai Stevenson, he who vetoed the Illinois cat leash law.
Note there is no railing yet. That stair did not have a railing from 78 until summer of 85, when my wife had a 2x4 installed before I came home from the hospital.
Holiday decorations.
That door is home made and the wood came from the wall studs of the house, about 3" thick of century old pine, grooves dadoed in the edges and wood glued in the dados to join one piece to the next. The was a full shop in the basement, bench saw and a radial arm saw with 8' run off tables on both sides.
Having the paint removed, probably about 1990, we put AC units in the windows about 93.
Same guys that removed the paint but a couple of years later, finally ceilings. He is standing on the sleeping loft, or crouching.
Oak flooring, I had this floor done, but I did the flooring on the parlor floor my self.
Bottom photo of the parlor floor wainscotting going in, another home project.
Parlor floor dining room.
Parlor floor entry. The two sky-scapes are by a favorite aunt.
The sleeping loft and one sitting area, more floor to ceiling book shelves. I can walk under that loft.
More shots of the main seating area, I took the plaster off the brick in 78 and 79, sanded, sealed and 3 coats of high gloss polyurethane. In 78 and 79 this was a wood shop, while I rebuilt the basement (1st floor) and parlor floors.
The stair's top.
The top is a long shot of the small seating area, with TV and bathroom door open.
Adlai again.
The bathroom, and yes that is a washer dryer, much more convient than in the basement.
The flowers in the lower picture were home grown and if those are peonys in the top, so are they. The front and back yards were tiny, but productive.
Front yard, what looks like a hole in the back of the bottom photo is a grate, which can be lifted, into the celler.
My first grill, natural gas, the other side of that window is the kitchen and the pipe up to the dryer in the bath. Note the row of houses. The entire block was cheek to jowl houses, many with common walls, yet the center of the block was this mass of green. My neighbor and I agreed to not put the fence back up. This is actually the second deck, the first was identical, but I had to replace much of the wood. We used this space, it is also off the parlor floor and 12 feet in the air, there is a bed-room shed below it.
Lots of growing things.
It wasn't here when I moved in, one of my first things was to bolt a 4x8 the entirie width of the back of the house. It was four or five years before the deck got there. The benches were meant to be benches, but the got used as planters, there are planters at the 3 foot level of the railing.
The back yard, probably early spring. The lawn furniture was used when a freind gave it to me, I left it with the neighbor I shared a yard with.
No that isn't the neighbor, that fence came down, we both paid for the replacement, he put it in and I took down the old. The second picture shows the bedroom shed and the deck underpinnings. My deck here is much closer to the ground. Putting in the concrete footings and the foundation for the shed was a pain, that is hand mixed concrete and 36" down.
The stairs from deck to garden.
A groundlevel seating area later in the year, the garden apartment tennant had use of the seating area, but could not garden, but were welcome to tomatoes.
Roger Grimsby, because he looked like he had a buzz on. Roger as with all the cats, except the one born in the house, was a stray who wandered in and liked the ambiance. Bottom picture taken on a Sunday.
Adlai, his idea, he would go up and down stairs riding my shoulder and did his computer commenting sitting there.
Even as it was, when I met my wife in 1980, her comment was something like it was lovely, if it only had ceilings, floors or walls.
However this was an upper West Side girl who thought you needed shots and a visa to visit Brooklyn. Now the pictures that follow were taken over a period of 16 years.
That is the front stoop and door, when I bought it. Somebody had painted the brick. It is the 2nd in a row of four identical houses, sharing a wall with the house on either side. The lot was 18'9"x100', inside it was 18'x42' and we occupied the upper two floors. I rented the basement and had a shop in the cellar. The basement entrance led to a common hall. We got on so well with the only tenant we had, that we never locked the doors between us. Believe me, we locked the outside doors.
At somepoint my wife had new double doors made for the entrance.
What would be the master bath, the only seperate space on the entire top floor. That is actually a floor tile, as the counter is also the entrance to the roof. For a couple of years there was a steep stair to get up there, but that came down in the late 80s when we stopped gardening up there. All of the bath was home done work, I did the framing, sheetrock, electrical, plumbing (which included a gas dryer) and tile, my wife cleaned and grouted the tile.
The below is a shot up the stairs from the parlor (2nd) floor to the ceiling. The aluminum foil looking stuff is 9 inches of insulation. And yes that is a floor to ceiling book case. The lower of the two shots gives you a look at the 3rd floor joists. When I got it, all of the detail work and most of the plaster had been pulled down and left in a pile on the floor. The owners didn't know how much work it was to rebuild or what material cost.
The underside of the stairs, after having been beefed up for a renovation.
That corner of floor represents my share of the stair renovation, along with the beef up above. My wife had the stairs done by a pro and we then had a party for them. One friend brought the stairs a gift, a slinky, which I still have.
Stair decorations going down are Ulyssess a neighborhood Tom who moved in for a while, Alexander Wollcot, also known as Mom-cat and her daughter George Kaufman, somebody did ask if the father was Gertrude Stein. The cat at the bottom, who is the only one still alive when we moved here is Adlai Stevenson, he who vetoed the Illinois cat leash law.
Note there is no railing yet. That stair did not have a railing from 78 until summer of 85, when my wife had a 2x4 installed before I came home from the hospital.
Holiday decorations.
That door is home made and the wood came from the wall studs of the house, about 3" thick of century old pine, grooves dadoed in the edges and wood glued in the dados to join one piece to the next. The was a full shop in the basement, bench saw and a radial arm saw with 8' run off tables on both sides.
Having the paint removed, probably about 1990, we put AC units in the windows about 93.
Same guys that removed the paint but a couple of years later, finally ceilings. He is standing on the sleeping loft, or crouching.
Oak flooring, I had this floor done, but I did the flooring on the parlor floor my self.
Bottom photo of the parlor floor wainscotting going in, another home project.
Parlor floor dining room.
Parlor floor entry. The two sky-scapes are by a favorite aunt.
The sleeping loft and one sitting area, more floor to ceiling book shelves. I can walk under that loft.
More shots of the main seating area, I took the plaster off the brick in 78 and 79, sanded, sealed and 3 coats of high gloss polyurethane. In 78 and 79 this was a wood shop, while I rebuilt the basement (1st floor) and parlor floors.
The stair's top.
The top is a long shot of the small seating area, with TV and bathroom door open.
Adlai again.
The bathroom, and yes that is a washer dryer, much more convient than in the basement.
The flowers in the lower picture were home grown and if those are peonys in the top, so are they. The front and back yards were tiny, but productive.
Front yard, what looks like a hole in the back of the bottom photo is a grate, which can be lifted, into the celler.
My first grill, natural gas, the other side of that window is the kitchen and the pipe up to the dryer in the bath. Note the row of houses. The entire block was cheek to jowl houses, many with common walls, yet the center of the block was this mass of green. My neighbor and I agreed to not put the fence back up. This is actually the second deck, the first was identical, but I had to replace much of the wood. We used this space, it is also off the parlor floor and 12 feet in the air, there is a bed-room shed below it.
Lots of growing things.
It wasn't here when I moved in, one of my first things was to bolt a 4x8 the entirie width of the back of the house. It was four or five years before the deck got there. The benches were meant to be benches, but the got used as planters, there are planters at the 3 foot level of the railing.
The back yard, probably early spring. The lawn furniture was used when a freind gave it to me, I left it with the neighbor I shared a yard with.
No that isn't the neighbor, that fence came down, we both paid for the replacement, he put it in and I took down the old. The second picture shows the bedroom shed and the deck underpinnings. My deck here is much closer to the ground. Putting in the concrete footings and the foundation for the shed was a pain, that is hand mixed concrete and 36" down.
The stairs from deck to garden.
A groundlevel seating area later in the year, the garden apartment tennant had use of the seating area, but could not garden, but were welcome to tomatoes.
Roger Grimsby, because he looked like he had a buzz on. Roger as with all the cats, except the one born in the house, was a stray who wandered in and liked the ambiance. Bottom picture taken on a Sunday.
Adlai, his idea, he would go up and down stairs riding my shoulder and did his computer commenting sitting there.
Wow, I'm super impressed. It sounds as though you had years of renovations but it looks incredible. Thyank you so much for this post!
Reply to this
Well my grandfather taught me the electic, I learned gas tight plumbing from my profession, broadcast engineers need this as part of their skill set, water and waste plumbing I learned in this house - the hard way.
My hobby since 16 is technical theater. Between college and this group: http://www.vlog.org/ I probably have 50 shows to my credit. I did lighting design/master electrician for a good friend in 79-80 in her attempt to make a paying go of off-off-Broadway productions. The director was a raving lunatic (but very good) and very gay. When he decided to make a pass at me, I grabbed her house manager in defense, she stuck.
Reply to this
Amazing. Nothing beats an old home redone.
Reply to this
It was my second re-do, although the first didn't have anything like the effort that this one did. Most effort there went into tearing down the inside walls to insulate and putting sheet rock back up.
Still, while I only owned for a bit more than a year, and didn't live in it that long. I did make almost $5000 on it, my share of which went for the down payment in Brooklyn. All my ex wanted was the divorce and braces paid for, $1600 in 1976 at age 30.
Reply to this
This is just so amazing to me! What a wonderful home. Lots of hard work too. Gotta say ~ love the stairs, cats and how cool a cellar too. Looking forward to seeing your deck!
Reply to this
I think we had 12 more steps than cats at that point and were getting a little nervous.
Most houses in the upper midwest and northeast have cellars. In NYC basement is a rentable space with the floor below ground but does have windows. A cellar may have the ceiling below ground and is not rentable as living space.
Reply to this
I've been catching up, and WOW! What a beautiful home you made for yourselves. Love it!
Reply to this
It took about 15 years all told. We sold it because both the loft bed was starting to be a problem, today it would be impossible, and we wanted a larger kitchen and the only way to do that was stop renting the ground floor.
The new owners did buy out the renters lease, an option I had paid $2000 to get them.
Reply to this
That was a great commentary.. What a lot of work, very beautiful floors. I just love floors and windows...So if they are great I love the place... Yours are great... And a floor to ceiling bookcase.. Wow.. Such a luxury....
Reply to this
The whole house was floor to ceiling bookshelves. When we moved, we decided we would not do this. My office and my wife's do have bookshelves and my professional library is in the bedroom across from my office, but the books are in the basement.
Reply to this
your article is so informative and interesting. nice shared.
Reply to this
GMT 3 Time Zones 24 h display calculator sliderule replica rolex watches omega replica replica dkny watches 60 minute countdown functionCaseSteel brushed rolex threeparts 47 mm case diameter Bidirectional turning bezel with 60
Reply to this