Photogenic Properties Earn Fame, Fortune

As if living in a beautifully-decorated brownstone or loft weren’t reward enough. Now the wealthy residents of such spaces can

The living room is ready for its close-up

As if living in a beautifully-decorated brownstone or loft weren’t reward enough. Now the wealthy residents of such spaces can supplement their already sizable incomes by renting out their stunning, sunlit spaces for photo shoots.

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In fact, some apartments are so popular that they even have their own agents, The Times reports. Star power!

“A talent agent has his or her stable of actors and actresses. My cast is houses and places,” housing talent agent Andrea Raisfeld tells The Times.

In fact, one Brooklyn Heights townhouse that Ms. Raisfeld represents hosted shoots for Eileen Fisher, Oil of Olay, More magazine, Lucky magazine, Cetaphil, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Bali Bras, Kmart, Chico’s and Huggies.

At $1,000 to $20,000 a day (even with the 25 percent casting fee that agents generally collect) that’s enough to pay off the mortgage.

Another property profiled in the article, a Clinton Hill brownstone, is featured in two recent feature films and two catalogs, which by the Observer’s count may put it ahead of Kate Hudson.

The best part of owning one of these apartments is that unlike precocious 5-year-olds, film and photo crews are basically begging to use them. Location scout managers apparently so loathe “cold-scouting apartments,” that they don’t really care how many other catalogs or commercials the apartments have appeared in and the entire crew will basically agree to abide by whatever weird rules the home owners give them (wearing fabric booties over their shoes, not looking at the dog, not touching anything).

As in most things, the only problem is that you basically have to have money (a beautiful home) to make money. Nobody wants to look at your dingy, cluttered studio.

kvelsey@observer.com

Photogenic Properties Earn Fame, Fortune