Houses-The Size of Things

Hoboken houses range in size from 12-1/2 feet wide on Willow Terrace to 25 feet wide on Castle Point Terrace. Most houses are from Hudson Street to Willow Avenue, or on side streets from 1st up to 13th and east of Willow.

House lot depth can run from approximately 50 feet deep to 120feet deep. The Willow Terrace houses can be as small as 950 square feet with the original floorplan or 3,000 square feet on Hudson St or Castle Point. Houses on the side streets have shorter lots. The problem for many prospective house buyers is that the layout of the brownstones does not allow for three bedrooms on one level. The original floorplans on many of the main streets of Bloomfield, Garden, and Park, technically have three bedrooms but most people combine the two very small back bedrooms to make one room. Houses that are 13.5 and bigger, particularly the houses 15 feet wide, have two bedrooms on the second level and two on the third, usually with a bath off the hallway on each floor.

Larger houses have a parlour floor, and two floors above, with a basement below the garden level. Kitchens can be on the ground level or on the parlour level. Some people dig out their basements to create greater ceiling height, below the garden level, for additional space....though this can cause problems.

Many people can only afford about 1 million, but unfortunately, in Hoboken, this buys you a house that needs substantial work or is far to the west. There are very nice one and two family homes on the side streets that can be purchased for somewhere between 1.1 and 1.3 million that do not need huge amounts of work but you will have to sacrifice the yard or space.

Large houses of 18 feet and wider with 90 feet lots or better exist on Hudson St., Castle Point Terrace, and the 900 block of Washington (known as Doctor's Row). Houses, one or two families or converted three families, of that size can be found on Garden between 10th and 11th. Individual random homes on Bloomfield, Park, Garden or Willow also exist. Houses of this size command a sales price of 2 million plus unless they are in need of substantial renovation. The most expensive finished houses on the Hoboken real estate market are now in the 3 million range. range.