A Special Section of BROOKLYN EAGLE Publications 6 Cool Things Happening IN BROOKLYN 1 2 3 4 5 6 Check out brooklyneagle.com • brooklynstreetbeat.com • mybrooklyncalendar.com Week of May 15-21, 2014 • INBrooklyn - A special section of Brooklyn Eagle/BE Extra/Brooklyn Heights Press/Brooklyn Record • 1INB EYE ON REAL ESTATE Victorian Flatbush Real Estate, Installment One Mary Kay Gallagher Reigns—and Alexandra Reddish Rocks, Too Bring Big Bucks If You Want to Buy— Home Prices Are Topping $2 Million By Lore Croghan INBrooklyn She’s the queen of Vic- torian Flatbush real estate, with nearly a half-century of home sales under her belt. Her granddaughter, who got her real estate license at age 18, is no slouch either. Mary Kay Gallagher, age 94, sells historic homes in y Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park, Midwood and nearby areas—stunning, stand-alone single-family properties that are a century old or more, with verdant lawns and trees. Ninety percent of them have driveways, which of course are coveted in Brooklyn. Granddaughter Alexan- dra Reddish, 40, is Gallagh- er’s savvy colleague in home sales at Mary Kay Gallagh- er Real Estate. A daughter- in-law, Madeleine Gallagh- er, handles rentals and helps with sales. Hello, Gorgeous! Welcome to Victorian Flatbush. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan “We keep it in the fami- ly,” Mary Kay Gallagher said. landmarked Ditmas Park that The map on Gallagher’s who’ve sold their townhous- She launched her bro- needs a lot of work. It went website—marykayg.com/ es for $3 million to $4 mil- ker career in 1970 after the for $1.42 million in March. flatbush-brooklyn-neighbor- lion. Previously, many buy- Prospect Park South Civic The buyers were Yi Sha Feng hoods—also includes an ad- ers were co-op residents in Association’s then-president and Qun F. Feng, city Finance ditional neighborhood of places like Park Slope. But asked her to get into real es- Department records indicate. significance, Albemarle-Ken- now the money from selling tate, hoping she’d find buy- The 10 small neighbor- more Terrace, where brick those apartments isn’t suf- )LQH&XVWRP 8SKROVWHUU\\ ers for the area’s homes who hoods known collectively as and limestone townhous- ficient for buying Victorian wouldn’t turn them into Victorian Flatbush have the es predominate rather than Flatbush homes. 6OLS&RYHUV 'UDSHULHV 5HVWRUDWLRQ boarding houses. largest concentration of Vic- free-standing wood frame Gallagher, who’s a Gallagher started her firm torian wood frame houses homes. great-grandmother, refers to 3HDDUUO 6WWUUHHW %URRNO\\QQ 1< once the youngest of her six in the United States, accord- Very few Victorians are herself as semi-retired. To kids—he’s now 53—went to ing to the Historic Districts for sale at any given time be- her, semi-retired still means ((000DDLOKDXXSSKROOVVWHUU\\#FVFRP kindergarten. Council, which designated cause many long-time own- very busy. She takes job-re- Despite our undying de- the area as one of its “Six to ers refuse to give them up, lated calls seven days a week votion to Brooklyn brown- Celebrate” in 2012. even for big bucks. and works at open houses. stones, we’ve been longing It stretches south from “We’re the country in the Reddish, too, is on the job to stroll the streets of Victori- Prospect Park to Avenue H city,” Gallagher said. “I would seven days a week. an Flatbush now that spring and Brooklyn College and in- never leave this neighbor- See brooklyneagle.com for has arrived, and get an Eye- cludes Caton Park, Prospect hood. I’m too comfortable additional photos of the ap- ful of the extraordinary hous- Park South, Beverly Square here.” petizing eye candy in their es. They look especially good West, Beverly Square East, When homes do come realm. when the cherry, dogwood Ditmas Park West, Ditmas on the market, buyers are P.S. There’s so much to and lilac trees in their yards Park, West Midwood, Mid- often residents of brown- tell about Victorian Flat- are blooming. wood Park, South Midwood stone neighborhoods such bush—check in next week to We were fortunate to get and Fiske Terrace. as Park Slope or Boerum Hill read more. a chance to visit Gallagher and Reddish in the Prospect Park South home where Gal- lagher has lived since 1959. Two trends they talked about: Neighborhood home prices are topping $2 mil- lion. (See related stories.) And Victorian houses that are in “better shape”—that means “decent” move-in condi- tion—are selling above their asking prices, Reddish said. “Demand is high through- out all these neighborhoods,” she said. “You can’t get any- thing for less than $1 million in Ditmas Park.” When Gallagher started her work in the 1970s, proper- ties sold for $60,000, she re- called. These days, even fixer-up- pers are faring well. Mary Kay Gallagher Real Estate was the sale broker for 515 E. 19th St., an eight-bedroom home in Veteran broker Mary Kay Gallagher, left, with granddaughter Alexandra Reddish, who works with her. 2INB INB •• INBrooklyn Week of May - A15-21, special 2014 section • INBrooklyn of Brooklyn — A special Eagle/BE section Extra/Brooklyn of Brooklyn Eagle/BE Heights Extra/Brooklyn Press/Brooklyn Heights Record Press/Brooklyn • Week of May Record 15-21, 2014 EYE ON REAL ESTATE Victorian Flatbush Real Estate, Installment One The First House To Hit $2 Million: 114 Westminster Road By Lore Croghan INBrooklyn Here’s a first look inside the first single-lot home in Victorian Flat- bush to sell for $2 million. Interior renovation is going full speed ahead at much written-about 114 Westminster Road—with its new co-owner, architect Stephen Tanen- baum, serving as the foreman. From the salvaged, historically appropriate overhead light fixtures and other construction materials (our especial favorite was the din- ing-room chandelier) to meticulously repaired wood floors, “it’s a labor of love,” he said. Last August, Tanenbaum and his wife Alisa Stratton bought the 12- room, 1915-vintage home—which Prospect Park South’s Landmarks des- ignation report describes as a Colonial Revival whose “broad, simple mass … creates an effect of quiet monumentality.” The deal was brokered by Mary Kay Gallagher Real Estate. The couple, who moved from Park Slope, had wanted to live in Vic- torian Flatbush for the longest time. “Each house has its own personality,” he said. “Sometimes in a brownstone neighborhood, you can walk into the wrong yard and think it’s your own.” They first looked at 114 Westminster several years ago when it was on the market, another brokerage had the listing and it was priced “un- realistically,” he said—at almost $3 million. They and their three kids have been living in the house during the fix-up. “My family has really endured a lot,” he said. Things got interesting when he remodeled the kitchen. “We washed our dishes in the bathtub,” he said. “My wife deserves a medal.” Because Tanenbaum got rid of the wall between the “claustro- phobic” kitchen and the old-fashioned, wood-floored dining room, it wouldn’t have looked right to make the kitchen look like a laboratory. Instead, he gave it the feel of a library, with rich-toned wood cabinets and a wooden ladder on wheels. Our house is a very, very, very fine house. (Thank you Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, for that line.) Eagle photos by Lore Croghan Also, he removed the wall between the first-floor sun room and liv- ing room. The combined space will be quite something when the work is finished. BTW, shortly before Tanenbaum and Stratton closed on the West- minster Road house, they sold their Park Slope rowhouse at 467 14th St. for $3.35 million, city Finance Department records indicate. Take a seat … and get a look at the floor’s beautiful decorative border and the red leather wall. The Record-Holder – FOR HELP IN FOR CHANGES OF NAME PREPARATION AND PLEASE CALL KATRINA , FILING OF 718-643-9099, EXT 103For Now: 147 Rugby Road ALL YOUR LEGAL NOTICE NEEDS, By Lore Croghan Sale broker Corcoran is now The word on the street is that INBrooklyn CALL ALICE listing the century-old house for the deal for the latter house— For Legal Advertising in Meet the roomy record-break- rent at $7,950 per month. Does which looks like a fantasy version 718-643-9099, EXT 107 er that sold for $2.2 million. the new owner ever plan to live of a Swiss chalet—is closing soon, And assistance filing notices Seven-bedroom, 17-room 147 in the house—or did she buy it at $2.1 million to $2.2 million. The Please contact us at Rugby Road is the priciest sin- for the rental income? asking price was $2.275 million, Brooklyn Legal Ad Services gle-lot house in Victorian Flat- We emailed Franco and left a according to published reports. Suite 1208 Let there be light … in the future billiards room. bush. For now, anyway. Sarah message at her Gravesend home, The house has belonged since 16 Court Street Franco bought the Prospect Park but she didn’t respond by dead- 1974 to Lynda Cohen—who re- Brooklyn 11241 [email protected] South stunner last September— line. Corcoran declined to com- married along the way and now TO PROMOTE YOUR NEW BUSINESS then in November transferred the ment on 147 Rugby Road—and jointly owns the property as Lyn- 718-643-9099 x107 title to an LLC on whose behalf also on its listing of nearby 100 da Pizer with husband Richard 718-643-9099 x105 IN NUMEROUS ON-LINE VENUES, she signed the deed, city Finance Rugby Road, which might sell for Pizer, city Finance Department re- CALL 718-422-7410 Department records show.