Six Timeless Townhouses
Across Brooklyn
by INHABIT EDITORS
Live the dream at these historic, meticulously-restored residences.
Of the many things Brooklyn is known for, few can rival the celebrity of its iconic row houses. Colloquially known as brownstones — technically only applicable to those constructed out of a specific sandstone (but you try arguing that with a New Yorker) — these picturesque homes have withstood every test of time, remaining as relevant and desirable as the day they were built.
Here are a half-dozen inspiring examples listed by Corcoran agents:
When people picture Brooklyn Heights in their mind’s eye, it tends to look something like this Henry Street home. Its ageless brick facade, multiple fireplaces, hardwood floors with intricate accents, and crown, doorway, and window moldings are ideal subjects for any townhouse-centric daydream. The parlor floor is a feast under 12-foot ceilings, and its windowed kitchen banquette is a particular source of visual (and literal) snacks.
Take the French doors out to a deck overlooking a blissful backyard, or follow the stairs all the way up to the fifth-floor attic. This apex space sports a front room for a lounge or media room — plus additional square footage for a bedroom or study — and an awesome arched window overlooking the historic neighborhood. Way down the other end of the home, a garden-level apartment can be a rental income opportunity, an expansive office, or an ideal guest suite friends and family will gladly put their names on a waitlist for.
Represented By: The Cornell Marshall Hovsepian Team of Corcoran’s Brooklyn Heights Office
If you didn’t know, hushed Carroll Gardens has a signature spin on the Brooklyn townhouse formula — stunningly embodied by this historic district five-bed. The home is set further back from the street and sidewalk, making room for freshness via a fenced-in front garden. Head up the textbook front stoop and take a south-facing living room window seat; no plane ticket required. This interior centerpiece is all done up with expertly engraved crown and picture-frame moldings, a built-in bookshelf, walnut-inlaid hardwood floors, and a marble-mantel wood-burning fireplace.
A wall of white oak cupboards frames the dining room, portraying a sleekness while providing extensive storage — meanwhile, the adjoining kitchen sports custom white cabinets, open shelving, white subway tile backsplashes, and marble countertops. There are bountiful features in the second-floor-encompassing primary suite, including an office that’s a remote work nexus with its built-in desk and floor-to-ceiling shelves. And if your green thumb needs to form an imprint beyond a front garden, don’t worry; there’s a back garden, too.
Represented By: Heather McMaster, Kerry Sullivan, and Statia Grossman of Corcoran’s Brooklyn Heights Office.
For the city mouse wanting to adopt a more country mouse lifestyle, check out this private slice of pasture tucked into Cobble Hill’s leafy lanes. Keep the layout as currently arranged, an owner’s triplex atop a rental-income-generating duplex, or claim all five covetable floors for yourself. Recent aesthetic and mechanical customizations add a touch of contemporary taste to the c. 1899 structure without erasing timeless elements like wide-plank floors and exposed brick walls.
Sweep up a hand-carved staircase from a black-and-white tiled vestibule onto the marvelous main level — bay-windowed living room in the front, charmer of a kitchen in the back. Light falls through multiple skylights on the topmost level, filling its bedroom and home office with a certain undeniable aura. A garden-level bedroom appropriately opens to a garden, likewise accessible via stairs from the previously mentioned kitchen. This personal greenspace feels closer to the rolling hills of bucolic Europe than the Bergen Street F/G stop around the corner, a quaint refuge to further revel in the sense of escape this residence offers in spades.
Represented By: Deborah L. Rieders, Sarah Shuken, and Albi Zhubi of Corcoran’s Brooklyn Heights Office.
Find this Crown Heights three-bedroom steps from nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a majestic Magnolia tree waiting out front. This townhouse’s interior aesthetic thrives on complementing unblemished neutrals with reclaimed wood detailing — parquet floors with inlays, door frames, exposed beams, and staircase banisters and balusters were all exactingly restored — making its occasional color doses pop all the more. The front living room has a sunroom that is as advertised and an electric fireplace, highlighting the residence’s prevailing sense of modern convenience within enduring prewar environs.
Make your way on the seamless floor plan past the Corinthian columns into the dining room and kitchen, the latter standing out as promised with its collection of blue pantries and drawers. An upstairs skylight beckons you in that direction to a primary bedroom sat beneath vaulted, 16-foot exposed beam ceilings and a primary ensuite bath with a tiled walk-in shower, claw-foot tub, and double vanities and sinks — a skylit Shangri-la of self-care.
Represented By: The Daniel Cohen Team of Corcoran’s Bedford-Stuyvesant Office.
Certain expectations get set for a townhouse when its front entrance leads with a transom window colorfully bearing the address in stained glass. Thankfully, this three-bedroom South Slope abode understands the proverbial assignment. It has lived plentiful lives since its c.1899 construction, retaining numerous restored original elements — including pine floors, a brick-hearth/wood-mantel fireplace, and a bookcase that spans from floor to ceiling. And that’s simply in the living room, awash in natural light through front-facing windows that match the bookcase.
Elsewhere, the upper bedroom level and the finished lower level continue the pine hardwood motif, while the rear windowed kitchen boasts a country-style tinge thanks to its ceramic tile accents. From here, open the French doors to foster superior indoor-outdoor balance (and a heavenly cross breeze) with the back deck and yard — a space for al fresco gatherings or quietude by the koi pond.
Represented By: The Jessica Buchman Team of Corcoran’s Park Slope Union Office.
Sculpt your vision of townhouse living at this fully moldable prewar building. It’s composed of four distinct levels (plus a cellar), each having a kitchen and bathroom unto itself and at least two bedrooms — comprising a whopping nine total sleeping quarters. This configuration allows you to do everything from splitting the quartet of floors into separate units up to taking full dominion over the nearly 3,700 square feet. Opt for the latter, or even an owner’s duplex or triplex scenario, and have the freedom to convert any excess bedrooms into a home office, gym, studio, or wherever inspiration may lead.
Two outdoor spaces particularly stand out at this address. One is the massive backyard, which can feel like a given among Brooklyn townhouses but is especially enticing within bustling Williamsburg. The other? A third-floor terrace granting a literally elevated take on urban serenity.
Represented By: Tom Le of Corcoran’s Williamsburg Office.