A Clinton Hill Townhouse Sets a Neighborhood Record for $9.4 Million

A Clinton Hill Townhouse Sets a Neighborhood Record for $9.4 Million 374 Washington Avenue, in Clinton Hill, has set a new neighborhood price record. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps A decade ago, when Fort Greene and Clinton Hill townhouses started regularly going for upwards of $3 million, some sellers decided to press their luck, asking unheard-of prices on a few exceptional — and exceptionally large — properties. Results were mixed. In 2015, a former union hall turned artist residence at 315 Vanderbilt Avenue sold for $7.2 million — a neighborhood record, but far under its initial $8.5 million asking price. A standalone mansion at 405 Clinton Avenue built for a Brooklyn mayor tried for $9.85 million in 2014 but sold for $6.5 million; it dropped even more when it traded hands in 2023 for $5.69 million. And the Pfizer mansion, a 10,000-square-foot stunner at 280 Washington Avenue, sold for $7.2 million in 2015, came back for $13 million three years later, and set a new neighborhood record of $9.05 million in 2021. It returned to the market at $10.3 million to much hoopla last year, but sold for just $7.8 million in May, according to property records. The kitchen is one of the home’s showpieces; one of the sellers is a professional chef. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps There are signs, however, that the slightly wobbly Clinton Hill mansion market is climbing steadily: a 25-wide townhouse at 374 Washington Avenue just closed for $9.396 million in an off-market deal, according to the buyers’ brokers, Leslie Garfield’s Matthew Lesser, Matthew Lipsky, and Sophie Smadbeck. The sale is a neighborhood record. What accounted for the price? Scale was one factor; the house is both extra wide and extra deep, which brought its total square feet to just over 7,000. Plus, “It was one of few grand scale mansions that was really turnkey,” says Lipsky, noting that most other Clinton Hill mansions that sold recently needed work, with high-end renovations completed on only part of the enormous houses. (The Pfizer mansion’s most recent listing mentioned an uninstalled custom Boffi kitchen.) But 374 Washington has been fully redone since it sold in 2014 for $3.75 million. While the house didn’t look like it was in bad shape back then — the kitchen had a Viking stove and the house had central air, according to the listing— this renovation is “high-end all around, and it was customized to the owners’ taste; it was not a spec house,” says Smadbeck. And the owners’ taste, in this case, is pleasant and broadly appealing, complimenting the home’s high ceilings and historic features. A full renovation of the home preserved details like pocket doors and mantles but added new white oak floors. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps The house has an ideal combination of original detail (pocket doors, working fireplaces) and modern luxuries: each of the five bedrooms has its own en-suite bathroom and large walk-in closet and there’s zoned HVAC, a kitchen with a custom Lacanche range, and a private decked garden with an outdoor bar. Due to the home’s large footprint, the parlour floor has a generously sized, entertaining-ready living room, dining room, and kitchen, which Smadbeck noted is unusual — in most townhouses a sprawling kitchen on the parlor floor (originally kitchens were on the garden level) means either no dining room, or else the dining and livings rooms are awkwardly shrunken to accommodate the oversize kitchen. When the owners reached out about selling the house, Smadbeck already had a possible buyer in mind. There’s a shortage of fully renovated townhouses in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene and she’d seen the same would-be buyers turn up at a number of open houses. Other recent sales and listings indicate that this kind of price is not a one-off, flash in the pan kind of thing, as several other recent sales and listings have crossed the $8 million line. Last year, 39 Portland Avenue, a Fort Greene townhouse that was mid-renovation, sold for $8.8 million, setting that neighborhood’s record. Meanwhile 70 S. Elliot Pl., also in Fort Greene, was last asking $8 million and is currently in contract. A short walk away, 356 Clinton Avenue, a standalone Venetian renaissance mansion is asking $8.48 million. Each of the home’s five bedrooms has its own en-suite bath. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps The primary suite occupies its own floor. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps The home’s capacious footprint allows for a generously sized living room and dining room, in addition to a large kitchen. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps Most townhouses in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene need work. Ones that don’t trade for a premium. Photo: Kendall Gregory/DD Reps A Clinton Hill Mansion Sets a Neighborhood Record at $9.4 M. Your product is saved! You’ll receive emails when your saved products go on sale. Manage preferences.