Brownstone Guide · Home structure + financials
Last updated: November 9, 2026 · By Katie Keate Johnson, Decode Real Estate
About half of Brooklyn townhouses (52%) have a self-contained garden apartment, based on my analysis of 834 floor plans. But "two-family" on a listing almost never means two equal homes: only 4% are a genuine duplex. And in Crown Heights, one garden tenant covers about 40% of the mortgage on a typical multi-family; in Brooklyn Heights, about 15%.
Jump to: How the home actually lives · By neighborhood · The garden floor · What the garden floor earns · FAQ
How is a Brooklyn brownstone actually laid out?
The listing tells you "single-family" or "two-family." The floor plan tells you how the house actually lives. I classified 834 Brooklyn townhouse floor plans from recent sales by how the space is really used, not by the legal label:
| How the home lives | Share of floor plans |
|---|---|
| Owner plus garden rental (one home with an income unit) | 42% |
| True single-family (owner uses the whole house) | 37% |
| Three true units | 13% |
| True duplex (two roughly equal homes) | 4% |
| Four or more units | 4% |
Source: Decode layout study, 834 Brooklyn townhouse sales where a floor plan was available, classified by how the space is used. Readings of marketing floor plans, not legal records.
The takeaway: two-family on paper almost never means a true duplex. About 4 in 10 live as a single-family home with a garden rental, and only 4% are two equal homes. If you are hoping to buy with family or friends and split it down the middle, that house is rare.
How does the mix change by neighborhood?
Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Brooklyn Heights are mostly single-family houses. Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights lean two-family. Carroll Gardens has the highest share of three-families.
| Neighborhood | Single-family | Two-family | Three-family | Four or more | Floor plans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect Lefferts Gardens | 73% | 13% | 13% | 2% | 55 |
| Brooklyn Heights | 71% | 11% | 4% | 14% | 28 |
| Windsor Terrace | 57% | 38% | 6% | 0% | 53 |
| Cobble Hill | 53% | 28% | 14% | 6% | 36 |
| Park Slope | 49% | 30% | 15% | 5% | 128 |
| Carroll Gardens | 47% | 20% | 27% | 5% | 55 |
| Fort Greene | 44% | 41% | 13% | 3% | 39 |
| Clinton Hill | 35% | 46% | 14% | 5% | 37 |
| Crown Heights | 31% | 53% | 15% | 1% | 94 |
| Prospect Heights | 28% | 56% | 8% | 8% | 25 |
| Bedford-Stuyvesant | 25% | 55% | 17% | 4% | 114 |
Source: Decode layout study, re-cut to the guide's neighborhoods. Boerum Hill was not sampled.
One more number worth knowing before you shop: where the garden floor is the owner's living space, houses sold for a median $1,138 per square foot (198 homes). Where the garden floor is a separate rental, $899 (281 homes). Whole-house living carries a premium.
Why is the garden floor usually the rental?
History. These houses were built for nineteenth-century households: the family entered up the stoop to the formal parlor floor, bedrooms were stacked above, and the kitchen, laundry and household staff lived on the ground floor below. When the houses were subdivided in the twentieth century, that separate ground floor, with its own street entrance under the stoop, became the obvious apartment.
It still is. Among two-families, 87% put the second unit on the garden floor. Only about 1% of houses keep the garden for the owner and put the rental upstairs. A buyer once told me he wanted a rental but also wanted the garden to himself. The data changed his search: we started looking at three-families, where he can take the lower two floors as his own duplex and rent the top.
How much of the mortgage does a garden apartment cover?
It depends heavily on the neighborhood. In Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Bed-Stuy, one garden-floor tenant covers 33% to 40% of the mortgage payment on a typical multi-family. In Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights, a similar apartment rents for more but covers 15% to 20% of a much larger payment.
Share of the monthly mortgage one garden tenant covers
| Neighborhood | Median garden rent | Median monthly mortgage | Share covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crown Heights | $3,300/mo | $8,300/mo | 40% |
| Prospect Lefferts Gardens | $2,900/mo | $8,400/mo | 35% |
| Bedford-Stuyvesant | $3,450/mo | $10,400/mo | 33% |
| Windsor Terrace | $3,100/mo | $10,300/mo | 30% |
| Clinton Hill | $3,900/mo | $13,200/mo | 29% |
| Carroll Gardens | $4,600/mo | $17,200/mo | 27% |
| Prospect Heights | $4,500/mo | $16,600/mo | 27% |
| Fort Greene | $4,450/mo | $17,100/mo | 26% |
| Boerum Hill | $4,600/mo | $17,800/mo | 26% |
| Park Slope | $4,900/mo | $20,000/mo | 25% |
| Cobble Hill | $4,850/mo | $24,800/mo | 20% |
| Brooklyn Heights | $5,200/mo | $33,700/mo | 15% |
Source: REBNY median achieved rent, trailing 12 months, one- and two-bedrooms in small prewar walk-ups (4 units or fewer), divided by monthly principal and interest on the neighborhood's median multi-family (20% down, 6.75%, 30-year fixed).
Read this as a floor, not a ceiling. Coverage excludes taxes, insurance and water, so the share of your all-in monthly cost is somewhat lower. But many houses have more than one rental: a three-family with two upstairs units can bring in $5,000 to $11,000 a month. Rent samples for Brooklyn Heights and Windsor Terrace are thin.
For how the three ways to own compare on price, see single-family vs two-family vs brownstone condo.
Frequently asked questions
What is a garden apartment in a brownstone?
The garden apartment is the unit on the garden level, the floor just below the stoop that opens to the backyard. In a Brooklyn townhouse it is the most common place for a second unit: 87% of two-families put it there.
Do most Brooklyn brownstones have a rental unit?
About half do. In my analysis of 834 Brooklyn townhouse floor plans, 52% have a self-contained garden unit with its own kitchen, bath and entrance.
What does two-family mean on a brownstone listing?
It usually means one main home plus a smaller apartment. Only 4% of the floor plans I analyzed are a genuine duplex with two equal homes. About 4 in 10 live as a single-family home with a garden rental.
How much does a Brooklyn garden apartment rent for?
The median one- to two-bedroom in a small prewar walk-up rents for $2,900 a month in Prospect Lefferts Gardens up to $5,200 a month in Brooklyn Heights, based on the last 12 months of rentals.
Can the rental be on the top floor instead of the garden?
Rarely. Only about 1% of the houses I analyzed put the rental upstairs and keep the garden floor for the owner. A three-family, with an owner's duplex below and two rentals above, is the more realistic way to get both.
Get the full guide, or talk it through
Decoding the Brooklyn Brownstone is my 18-page data guide built from 2,451 townhouse sales in 12 neighborhoods. Request a copy and I will email it to you, or book a call and we can look at the houses you are considering.
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