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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 6, no. 132: September 24, 1870

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EAL Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. yi. NEW YOKK, SATUEDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1870. No. 132. Published Weekly by THE REAL ESTATE RECORD ASSOCIATION. TERMS. One year, in advance......................§6 00 All communications should be addregsed to 106 Broaijw.vy. cok. OF Pine Street. EUSOPEASr HOMES. The class of bmldings known as "European Homes," or houses buflt in separate suites of apartments for families, and whicii w^e have so often advocated in these columns, seems to- be at last becoming quite popular. The prejudice —if prejudice it was—which so long prevented our capitalists from looking into the merits of a style of residence so immediately adapted to the wants of our people, entirely melted away as soon as one or two enterprising owners of property successfully inaugurated the fashion, and now the system seems to have a chance of being fairly tested among us. Not only has Mr. Stuyvesant'sbuildiagonBighteenthstreetproved an eminent success, but, doubtless led on by that example, a large structure on a somewhat similar principle, designed by R. M. .Hunt, is already commenced on Twenty-seventh street, to run all the way from Broadway to Fifth avenue ; another great buUding of the kiud, 200 feet by 50 feet, from designs by J. R. Hajiilton, -will pro¬ bably be shortly commenced in the immediate neighborhood of Central Park; while we hear of other buUdiugs of the kind, on a grand scale, which are contemplated for fine locations in this city and suburbs. But, strange to say, the class of people for whom we supposed such buildings were pre¬ eminently intended (we mean that vast portion of our population, of education and refinement but United means, who cannot afford to pay more than from |400 to $600 rental), are the very ones for whom no pro-vLsion at all seems as yet to have been made, while people of easier circumstances, those who have been payihg $3,000 and $4,000 a yearf or dwelling-houses, and •wiio, it -was reasonably supposed, would be the first to look down with contempt upon any ar¬ rangement that could savor—even so remotely —of the so-caUed '' Tenement House " system, are the ones who have most eagerly taken up everything of the kind yet presented; paying as high as $1,000 and even $1,500 per annum for commodious suites of apartments. Perhaps it is as well that the innovation has occurred under such favorable auspices. It probably needed the example of a few of the leaders of our hoTb ton here to prove, what was already so well understood iu all the leading capitals of Europe, that people of the highest respectability can live, with all the surroundings of comfort and luxury, under the same roof with others, and yet be as completely isolated as if each had a dwelling-house of their OAvn. While we heartily welcome this change which has already been wa-ought among us, and -which ^vill prove so beneficial to large nnmbers, it is to be hoped that the system will be still further extended, so as to embrace similar accommo¬ dations for the still larger number of jiersons who cannot afford to pay $1,500, or even f 1,000 for rental. Such families are to be counted by thousands in our midst, and although their purses are slender they are, by education, re¬ finement, and position in life, far above bemg left to the tender mercies of crowded, promis¬ cuous and comfortless " Tenement Houses,"— too frequently their only alternative. Since ground rent is what so much enhances the cos-fc of such buildings, less exi^ensive but still re¬ spectable locations might be selected for their erection, where suites of rooms could be ob¬ tained at moderate prices, and yet sufficient to amply remunerate the owner for his outlay. The demand for such dwellings is almost un¬ limited in this city, and will so continue long after we have any of the long-promised facili¬ ties of locomotion to the suburbs; for there will always be thousands who—from choice or the necessities of business—will continue to reside in the most central and accessible portions of the city. To meet the necessities of the case, many old buildings have recently been trans¬ mogrified and christened " Eturopean," but they necessarily fall very short of those important and indispensable features which form the very elements of the system we are alluding to, and which can only be properly obtained when a building is e3>pressly desir/ned for the purpose. The complete isolation which prevents the possi¬ bility of one family intruding upon the privacy of another—the rigid supertutendence of the en¬ trance, so as to keep off all unwelcome in¬ truders—the facilities for obtaining coal and other suj)plies, and getting rid of all refuse, without the necessity of going up and down stau's,—these are all things that can only be thoroughly compassed by a building originally designed to meet them. Each plot of ground, too, reqtdres a different treatment, for it is e-vident that while one arrangement may suit a space of 100 ft. X 50 ft., a totally different plan would be applicable to a space of 100 ft. X 75 ft. or 100 ft. square. "We think it likely that the coming year -will see a number of such structures erected in New York and its imme¬ diate -vicinity, and it is certain that whole streets of them are necessary to meet the present pressiug demands of our population. THE EQUALIZED VALXTATION. The State Board of Equalization of the as¬ sessed valuation of real estate in the various counties have just completed the equalization of the amounts returned by the several Boards of Supervisors, and the results of their labors is sho'wn below. The bo'ard is composed of the foUo-wing Commissioners of the Land Office and State Assessors: Lieutenant-Governor AUen C. Beach; Secretary of State, Homer A. Nelson J Comptroller, Asher P. Nicols; State Treasurer, Wheeler H. Bristol; Attorney-General, Marshal B. Champlain; State Engineer, Van Rensse¬ laer Richmond; Speaker, Wm. Hitchman, and Messrs. George Beach, Lorenzo Carryl, and Charles W. Lawrence. The first column in the following table contains the assessed valuation of real estate as returned by the Supervisors of the various counties; the second column con¬ tains the equalized valuation of real estate as made by the Board of Equalization; and the third column contains the returned valuation of personal propei-ty, -with which the Board of Equalization has nothing to do. Assessed Valuation Equalized Personal Coimties. Ecal Estate. Valuation. Estate. Albany....... $35,345,497 $40,000,000 $7,069,87!) Alleghany.... 7.677;912 7,677,912 860,121 Broome....... 6,907,970 7,250,000 797,186 Cattaraugus... 6,018,335. 7,000,000 537,102 Cayuga....... 16,281,182 17,000,000 4,008.698 Chautauqua... 13,819,890 13.819,890 1.786;S75 Chemung...... 7,066,738 7,.S09,141 i;i74.606 Chenango.. .. 9,010,554 10,000.000 1,346,922 Clinton....... 5.371,235 5,000,000 . 792,745 Columbia....., 16;i46.S79 17,000.000 4,&53,412 Cortland...... 5,310,459 6,200.000 - 753,909 Delaware..... 7,365,319 7,365,319 1,209,777 Dutchess...... 20,927,018 21,465,278 8,325,233 Erie.......... 41.462.863 41,462,863 11,431,680 Essex......... 4,080,858 4,680,858 450,400 Franklin...... 5,015,601 5,015,601 785.513 Fultou........ 3.260,472 8,000,000 483,'.3l6 Genesee....... 11,770,291 13,000,000 2,511,112 Greene........ 5,275,626 4,-550,000 1,056,576 flaraiitou...... 736,550 736.5.50 10,610 Herkimer...... 8,2.58,206 7,5.50.000 1,539,064 Jefferson...... 12,446,045 12,446,6-15 2,681,100 Kings......... 189,154,438 174.827.846 19,278,605 Lewis......... 3..583,205 3,58;:5.205 379,6»7 Livingston.... 12,080,307 14,080,307 1.961,324 Madison...... 8,641,165 9,400,165 i;828,185 Monroe........ 23,666,624 33,006,624 2,739,692 Montgomeay.. 6,109.230 6,109,230 554,772 New York..... 684,140,768 647,140,768 281,143,696 Niagara....... 12,210.634 13,000,000 2,081,938 Oneida........ 14,581,949 26,,581,949 2,166,411 Onondaga..... 26,553,980 28,053,980 4,499,115 Ontario....... 14,749,920 1.5,249,920 3,174,764 Orance....... 23,.339,358 22,839,358 7,57.5,040 Orleans....... 8,970,415 9,476.415 1,150,816 Oswego....... 12,566.497 13.366,497 1,598,638 Ot.?ego........ 9,599,626 11,000,000 1,674,303 Putnam....... 4,557,578 4,557.578 1,074,585 Queens........ 18,274,350 18,792,195 5,769,450 Eensselaer .... 21,720,013 22,720,013 7,796,515 Bichmond..... 6,747,627 7,000,000 716,f).30 Bockland...... .5,692,415 5,582,415 1,336,115 Saratoga...... 9,582,241 10,000,000 2,683,723 Schenectady.. 4,666,779 5,000,000 .f;50,301 Schoharie..... 4,654,969 4,654,969 6-38,852 Schuyler..... 3,194,515 3,460,326 317,750 Seneca........ 9,263,017 8,26-3,017 1,422,721 St. La^vrence.. 14,946.943 14,446,943 1,558,-385 Steuben....... 12,191,305 12,191,305 1,546,822 Suffolk........ 9,385,257 9,385,257 2,046,700 SuUivan....... 2,815,325 2,815,325 180,139 Tioga......... 4.745,707 4,745,707 788,822 Tompkins..... .5,948,968 6.448,968 1,231,735 Ulster........ 10,859,402 10,859,402 2,498,953 Warren........ 2,170,389 . 2,300,389 492,908 Washington... 11,906,6-32 12,006,632 3,208,464 Wayne........ 13,116,494 13,116,494 1,682,961 Westchester... 42,089,998 62,089,998 7,838,654 Wyoming..... 7,703.654 8,000,000 1,151,644 Yates......... 6,971,653 6,971,053 915,608 Total........§1,532,720,907 $1,532,720,907 $434,289,278 Total aggregate equalized valuation.......§1,967,001,183