Asking $3.2M, a rare pair of townhouses on Brooklyn’s quaint ‘secret’ block with tiny doors

New York City never runs out of surprises, and some of the best ones are hidden in plain sight. Dennett Place in Carroll Gardens is just such a hidden surprise. The fun-sized block near the Gowanus Canal is lined with equally diminutive townhouses, each with a miniature “hobbit door.” Though the neighborhood has changed, the block still has the look of a quaint European alleyway and the charm of a tight-knit community–though no one seems to know what the half-pint doors are for. The homes here don’t change hands often, but a pair of multi-family townhouses at 14 and 16 Dennett Place is on the market for the first time in 100 years, asking $3.2 million for both.

Also known as Cat’s Alley, the block is still home to many of the Italian-American families that lived in the surrounding neighborhood since the early 20th century. Each of the two three-family homes that make up this unusual package deal contains a garden-level studio with a private backyard, a middle-floor one-bedroom unit, and a top-floor one-bedroom with a sleeping alcove.

Each house offers about 1,512 square feet of interior space–a good size for a condo alternative, albeit one with a colorful history, three floors, rental income potential in one of the borough’s most popular neighborhoods, and private outdoor space.

Structurally, the options are many: Both houses can be combined into a spacious one-family home. Separately there are a total of six rentable units–or carve out space for an owner’s unit and rent the rest.

The one-of-a-kind block may look like part of the Old World, but it’s in the middle of prime south Brooklyn, with the F and G trains only a few steps away, and a Whole Foods Market and the neighborhood’s best-known restaurants, shopping, and parks within a few blocks.

[At Douglas Elliman by Bryan Ecock and Justin Vanauken]

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Photos courtesy of Douglas Elliman