This extensive gut renovation of a 19th Century townhouse involved the careful restoration of much original, historic detail, while also introducing a modern layer throughout. We achieved this by several means; spatially opening up a few spots, various built features are clearly modern, along with furniture, lighting, and decor to advance this new layer. A tight budget also lead to the decision to keep the original house in tact as much as possible. However, we imposed a mandate of not allowing our all new infrastructure (and structural repair) to impact negatively, to be all but unseen. We created an interesting tension between the original Victorian house and the Vintage Modernism that overlaps, sometimes highlighting the contrast, sometimes ambiguous as to what is original or is new work.
A Phase 2 is currently under way, for a new Rear Addition and Front Facade Restoration.
A clever feature of the kitchen is using the old fireplace chimney for the stove’s exhaust hood duct, allowing the hood to remain hidden. Enlarging the opening for this required a new steel lintel, which gets highlighted.
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Our Spindle Screen is part of the new layer, but is clearly of the house’s original vocabulary
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We had some fun with creating a site-specific art piece, playing with Brooklyn’s love of history.
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we added historically correct windows, with laminated glass to mitigate the road noise, and designed a full height front door, and restored all the brownstone.