This once-dilapidated wood frame townhouse at 253 Halsey Street in Bed Stuy has been rebuilt from the ground up, and now sports an unusual corrugated steel facade. The three-story home between Tompkins and Throop Avenues had been “a complete disaster” said Dumbo-based architect David Lage. “It was completely stripped and occupied by squatters.”
Now, only the shell of the original building remains. All the wooden joists have been replaced by steel ones, and the house has a new roof, windows, electric, plumbing, and a newly poured concrete basement. Everything is new, except for a few staircases. The revamped home has an owner’s duplex on the garden and parlor levels, followed by two one-bedrooms on the second and third floors.
The renovation might not be to everyone’s taste, but it seems like an interesting twist on an already mixed block, where brownstones stand alongside vinyl-clad houses and barrel-fronted multifamily buildings, in addition to a few recently rebuilt wood frames like this one.
Construction began last June, and is expected to finish in the next few weeks. Owner Peter McCabe had originally planned to renovate the 2,100-square-foot building and flip it, but “now there’s a strong argument to hold on to it” he told us. He might rent out the building for a while and sell it at some point in the future, but insists that condos are unlikely.
McCabe picked up the 19th century home for $680,000 in June of 2013, public records show.
Here’s what the house looked like in September 2013, courtesy of Google Maps:
235 Halsey Street, via Google Maps
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
