Expansive Prospect Park South House is asking $3.45 million

The plot has a large garden, two driveways and an attached garage.

Photo via Douglas Elliman

For those looking for room to spread out, this early 20th century home in Prospect Park South offers a generous amount of space indoors and out. Inside, there are period details such as wood floors, mantels and built-ins, while outside there is an expansive front porch, a double lot with a large yard, two driveways and an attached garage.

The house is located at 209 Argyle Road, on the corner of Beverly Road, in the Prospect Park South Historic District. There were plans for the single-family home filed in 1905 with Kirby, Petit and Green as the architects behind the design. The house has a side gable facade with bay windows facing Beverly Road, while the Argyle Road facade has the veranda with a polygonal bay window on the corner. At the time of designation the report noted the original decorative columns of the veranda, seen in the tax photo from circa 1940had been replaced by ‘unattractive stone pillars’. Those common pillars were still visible in a 2014 Google Street Viewbut in 2016 the veranda had been restored.

Original owners Wallace G. and Eileen Brooke had sold the house by the time it appeared in a movie Brooklyn Eagle article from 1940 which proclaimed, “Flatbush people have the gift of making their house a home.” Owners C. Bertram and Eileen Plante, who bought the house in the late 1920s, were photographed with their four children in front of the fireplace in the living room.

The house did not always have such a large garden. A permit shows that the neighboring house at Argyle 203 was demolished in 1973. The designation report notes that the house, built in 1908, was destroyed by fire. City records show the owner of No. 209 purchased the vacant lot.

The main level of the home is spacious with a large drawing room, a smaller study, an oval living room, kitchen and butler’s pantry. Upstairs there are two floors with sleeping and office space. The laundry is in the basement.

Details in the grand drawing room, which has two exposures, include a beamed ceiling, paneled walls and a column-framed doorway to the great hall. The mantel and built-in bookcases can be seen in the 1940 article. The listing notes that the fireplace burns wood. There is a small conservatory next to the room connecting it to the dining room.

The oval dining room has a wall of windows, a mantelpiece and ceiling plasterwork that reflects the shape of the room.

At the rear of the main level, the kitchen has garden views, tile flooring, tin ceiling and wood cabinetry. Appliances include a dishwasher. There is a glimpse of the butler’s pantry, which appears to still have some of the original cabinetry. The utility room has access to a door to the rear deck and a secondary staircase. Census records from 1910 and 1930 show that both the Brooke and Plante families had a live-in servant.

There are four bedrooms on the second floor. One of the four has an en suite bathroom, while another has access to a sleeping veranda used as a home office. Two of the bedrooms have mantelpieces and although all probably have wooden floors, one is pictured with carpeting.

The top floor has two bedrooms, a bonus room, a wet bar and another full bathroom. There are a total of 3.5 bathrooms in the house.

In addition to the veranda there is a rear deck. The large garden has a lawn and is landscaped with perennials, shrubs, trees and a small pond.

The house hasn’t changed hands in decades, so presumably some mechanical upgrades are needed.

Brownstoner presented the home as an Open House Pick in September, when it cost $3.8 million. A price drop in October brought the asking price down to $3.45 million.

It is mentioned by Erika Sackin and Jan Rosenberg of Douglas Elliman. What do you think?

[Listing: 209 Argyle Road | Broker: Douglas Elliman] GMAP