A Look at Victorian Flatbush

Earlier this year we looked at the $1 Victorian Flatbush home; since then the area has earned a This Old House Top 12 Places to Buy title, and filled the role of "The Hamptons" on Gossip Girl. Could the neighborhood be Brooklyn's next diva? Take a look at some of the gorgeous houses in the very un-city like setting. [via Mercurialn's Flickr]

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By Jen Carlson in Arts and Events on September 17, 2008 2:15 PM

Comments [rss]

etypical

I grew up on Argyle Road in one of these cool old houses (our place was landmarked from 1909). The super huge white Amityville-esque one (at the corner of Argyle & Albemarle) has always seemed extra spooky. Also, remember Marc Fisher? His body was left on our lawn.

bornbrednewyorker

Hey Gwinny your family probably sold it for ten times less than what it's worth today. The good old white flight of the 70's. All of them are kicking themselves now.

Gwinny

My dad bought the house in the 50's so he did make a good profit off of it (he did a lot of renovation work) when selling it in the late 70's. If you'd bothered to actually read my post, you can see that we sold the house because it got broken into THREE TIMES in the space of a year. I'm one of four girls, and my parents didn't want to raise us in that environment. So no, they weren't kicking themselves for leaving. It took a long time for that neighborhood to come back; even when I visited in the early 90's, it was still a bit sketchy. I'm glad it's come back as far as it has now, though.

Gwinny

I was born & raised in one of these Victorian houses on Rugby Road (not one of the ones pictured above, but rather the one used for the exteriors in the film "Sophie's Choice").

Our house was robbed three times in the 1970's, so my dad sold the place (he'd owned it since the 1950's) and moved us all to Virginia.

My mom and I have been back to visit the current owner (who bought it in the early 80's from the guy we'd sold to)... she's done amazing work on the place and it looks fantastic.

etypical

do you the Fisher's? (Gloria and her kids?) Or the house at the end of Albemarle with the giant skateboard ramp?

Gwinny

maybe my parents did... we moved when I was 7 so I don't remember a lot of people.

FlatbushGardener

These are all in the landmarked Prospect Park South Historic District.

robingee

Are one of those Phil Leotardo's house?

schizofriendly

Locals are getting understandably antsy (and stabby) as their neighborhood gentrifies. Stop by the 67th Precinct and they'll tell you it's true.

Nick S

Good luck getting into any of these...the Cortelyou "foodie" explosion has made the neighborhood both expensive and unbearable. Thumbs DOWN.

Anybody know who owns the house on Argyle that has an empty lot on Rugby as its backyard? I want to marry into that family.

blablanyc

What does Brooklyn and a pair of pantyhose have in common? Flatbush!

brandonz

Don't tell the sharks about Victorian Richmond Hill.

smitty

Yeah seriously, people have known about Vic Flatbush for ages (see Curbed, Brownstoner, etc). Mary Kay Gallagher is the queen of this neighborhood:

http://marykayg.com/html/vic_flatbush.html

AvenueHebrew

Oh no. Hell no. Stay out of my hood.

Billiamsburg

great pictures

matty

^hah. That's what jc does best on this site. She must be a real estate agent. The best was when she talked about staten island being the next "it" neighborhood