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• An International Family Finds Home in Brooklyn

When your in-laws are coming from thousands of miles away, what's the right home to accommodate them?

Author

Roni Rose
March 02, 2024

A family of three finds their ideal townhouse in Brooklyn, your monthly market update, and our latest fixation on Architectural Digest. Scroll on!

FINDING HOME
An International Family Finds Home in Brooklyn

Steven and Lucy Smith are from two different worlds — Steven from New Zealand and Lucy from Argentina.* Their story began five years ago, during an overlapping visit to NYC. They have since spent years bouncing between their two countries before settling in New York to raise their toddler.

This lovely couple found me through a neighbor’s reference, and had the following requests:

  • Enough space to host our families for extended visits

  • Not too big that it becomes exhausting to clean

  • Turnkey and move-in ready, no work to be done

Among their options:

No. 1:
The Contradiction

This 3 bedroom, 2000 sqft home had undergone a substantial interior renovation. Most of the house had retained it’s pre-war elements, with original parquet floors, tin ceilings, and wood trim around windows and doors. The kitchen was on the garden floor, and had been renovated in a far more contemporary style.

No. 2:
The Contemporary

This 5 bedroom, 4000 sqft brownstone had been completely reimagined by a local developer, who took the home up an additional story to create a full floor primary suite. The home included white oak floors throughout, a striking marble mantle, and a fully paved backyard. The garden level included a one bedroom apartment that could be rented out for additional income.

No. 3:
The Suite House

This 4 bedroom, 2200 sqft townhouse was renovated back in 2017, and had been rented out twice before listing for sale. The home had a quaint kitchen, hardwood floors, and a partially turfed backyard. As a single family home, it included two bedrooms on the top floor and two on the bottom floor, each with its own en-suite bathroom.

Which Home Do You Think They Chose?

THEIR HOME:
THE SUITE HOUSE
Steven and Lucy originally thought they wanted more space, but it was the layout of this home that made everything click. With the garden level having two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, their in-laws could comfortably stay for extended periods and justify their 20hr flights.

They knew they wanted to have ample backyard space, but now realized that the layout of the lawn mattered most. This one featured a half paved, half turfed backyard, providing the right space for their toddler to play and for dinner parties to be held. The exit to the yard included a drop zone with tile floor that would help clean up after muddy days, and protect their white oak floors.

One of the greatest wins, of course, was that their closest friends lived just a single block over!

 

MARKET INDICATOR
Manhattan

The drop in inventory from May to June is expected, but comparing this delta to 2023 is pretty staggaring. Contract signings didn’t shift as much - which leads me to believe sellers are feeling the buyers’ market and holding off on listing, hoping to swing back as buyers grow hungry for more listings.

Brooklyn

Another quite dramatic inventory drop in Brooklyn, finally pushing new listings below contract signings since the turn of the year. While the shift in inventory is greater this year than last, the change in contract signings was more subtle. Brooklyn’s seller’s market is still holding fairly strong.

DESIGN INSPIRATION
Tan France is Designing His Dream Home and Bringing Us Along

We’re hooked on this series from Architectural Digest: Netflix star and renowned designer, Tan France, recently designed and built his dream home from the ground up in Salt Lake City, Utah. SLC isn’t known for tudor style homes, but France masterfully blended his English and South Asian history into a contemporary home on the mountains of Salt Lake.