Historic Mott Haven home with a modern interior revamp seeks $800,000

Though it’s not quite small enough to qualify as the Bronx’s tiniest historic district, the Bertine Block Historic District in Mott Haven is still rather modest: it holds just 31 residential buildings, according to its historic designation report (it was landmarked in 1994). And one of those, a Queen Anne-style rowhouse at 418 East 136th Street, just hit the market asking $800,000.

Some backstory on the house: It’s part of a group of 10 single-family homes that was developed by Edward Bertine, a 19th-century developer who would later move into the house at no. 416. They were designed by architect George Keister (better known for his work on theaters in New York City, most notably the Apollo and the Belasco), and per the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation, they’re “arranged with facade designs following an A-B-C-D-E-E-B-C-D-A pattern” (so, the homes are identical based on their corresponding letter, thus creating a pattern by the way they’re laid out).

Here’s what the LPC has to say about the homes as a whole:

All of the houses in the row are faced with the same tawny brick, have sunken basements faced with rock-faced sandstone (now painted in most cases), have stoops and areaways lined with wavy wrought-iron railings, and are highlighted with lively Queen Anne-inspired decorative detail.

And while no. 418’s historic exterior remains, its interiors have gotten a modern revamp: it has five bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, several fireplaces, and plenty of outdoor space—there’s a backyard and a deck and a second-floor terrace.

There are some quirks—the kitchen, for example, is rather narrow, as is the house itself (it’s 15 feet wide)—but those may pale in comparison to the home’s charms. Plus, think about the cost of purchasing a renovated historic home in the other boroughs—suddenly a narrow kitchen doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

Grid View

• Listing: 418 East 136th Street [Douglas Elliman]