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del.icio.usA Brooklyn family has gone over the moon — to the tune of $4 million! — for one of the most famous houses in Brooklyn Heights: the mansion where “Moonstruck” was filmed.
The house at the corner of Cranberry and Willow streets was featured in the 1987 movie in which a widowed Cher falls in love with Nicholas Cage, all while engaged to his brother.
Real-estate broker Elliott Lokitz said the house went for “more than the [current] asking price” of $4 million. The home’s owners, Edwards and Francesca Rullman, put the house on the market in 2006 for $5 million, but lowered the asking price last year, Lokitz said.
“It’s a beautiful house,” Lokitz said. “It’s the ‘Moonstruck’ house, and it’s a special house on a corner, with parking.”
The house’s exterior was featured prominently in the movie. In one memorable scene, Olympia Dukakis, who won an Academy Award for her supporting role as Cher’s mother, is standing outside the house with a romantic interest.
“My God, it’s a mansion!,” the suitor says.
“It’s a house,” Dukakis replies.
In another scene, Cher wistfully kicks a can down Cranberry Street, and shots of the house are in the background, visible in the movie’s trailer.
The house has been on the market for so long because the owners wanted to be sure they found the “right buyer they were comfortable with,” and because they weren’t sure if they really wanted to move out, Lokitz said.
Architect Edwards Rullman was partially responsible for creating the Brooklyn Heights Historic District in 1965, according to the book “Old Brooklyn Heights.” He also spent 10 years as a governor of the Brooklyn Heights Association, and two years as its president. The couple has lived in the neighborhood since 1959.
The four-story, Federal-style double-townhouse was built in 1829 and has a landscaped garden, private parking area, multiple fireplaces, and hardwood floors. Lokitz said the Rullmans worked hard to preserve the house in its original condition and detailing.
“[The Rullmans] love Brooklyn Heights, they love the house, so emotionally it wasn’t an easy decision to make,” he added. “[The buyers] are a wonderful family that appreciated the house, and [the Rullmans] felt comfortable with it.”
Lokitz said the former owners ultimately decided “it was time,” and will move permanently into a second home in Cape Cod.
©2008 The Brooklyn Paper
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