188-year-old Brooklyn Heights home with trophy-townhouse renovation wants $9.5M

This landmarked 188-year-old wood-clad house at 59 Middagh Street in historic and lovely north Brooklyn Heights is among the borough’s oldest homes. But behind its iconic facade–now fortified with block and steel, the listing tells us–is just about every turn-key 21st-century perk imaginable, from an elevator and “penthouse” rooftop to a ground floor guest suite, yoga room and sauna, central air, two wet bars, two laundry rooms, an additional kitchen and five outdoor spaces. It’s asking $9,496,000.

Built in 1832 for William Rog, a New York University Professor, this 28-foot-wide, 46-foot-deep clapboard home painted a sedate pale blue was purchased in 2014 for $3 million by a pair of developers. A long and arduous renovation followed, resulting–after a lengthy regulatory phase, a stop work order, the mysterious disappearance of some of its original infrastructure (h/t Curbed) and a massive overhaul–in a slick, high-end luxury interior.

The house hit the market in 2018 for 11.5 million. As 6sqft previously reported, last July brought a broker switch and a price chop to $10 million. While the home has lost none of its new-in-old charm, it has been taken on by yet another brokerage–and discounted yet again, this time to $9.496 million. But this attempted flip could hardly be called a flop even if the price fell further before a sale happened.

Up the steps of a classic stoop is a dramatic open-plan parlor floor. A sun-filled living room is an introduction to a certain kind of interior perfection, from pale walls to a limestone-clad gas fireplace.

Adjacent to a formal dining area, a spacious gourmet kitchen overlooks the rear garden. Custom cabinets meet marble-clone quartzite countertops, and a hefty center island invites casual dining. Top-of-the-line appliances include a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a double oven, a Subzero refrigerator, two Bosch dishwashers, a microwave, a warming drawer and a wine cooler.

Also on this floor are a powder room and retractable glass French doors leading out to a deck. Below, a landscaped yard features a lawn and more civilized patio.

A curved staircase leads up to a full-floor master suite. The large bedroom includes a sitting area and a balcony overlooking the yard. There’s a spacious walk-on closet, and the master bath is a marble clad “spa experience” complete with a vanishing mirrored medicine cabinet television. An additional room on this floor makes a perfect small bedroom or home office with an en-suite bath. On the fourth floor you’ll find three more bedrooms, two baths, a laundry room and storage space.

A dazzling top-floor aerie is an enviable media/game/party room with a wet bar, powder room and two terraces affording views of downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. Four big skylights flood the space with sunlight.

Back down on the garden floor, a private entrance leads to a full guest suite with its own kitchen. The remainder of this floor surrounds a glassed-in yoga room, a sauna and a large entertaining space that looks out on the landscaped backyard.

[Listing: 59 Middagh Street by Cheryl Nielsen-Saaf, Cara Sadownick and Zoe N Saaf for The Corcoran Group]

[At CityRealty]

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Photo credit: Drew Dies of Rise Media courtesy of The Corcoran Group.