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November 10, 2008

Finding the Loft in a Brownstone

park-place-1008.jpg
If the icon of old Brooklyn is the Brownstone, with all its ornate detail and small spaces, and the icon of new Brooklyn is the open floor plan of loft-like spaces in glassy towers, perhaps the house featured in the NY Times this weekend represents a happy medium, a meeting of the two. The current owner of the house on Park Place moved there in the 1970s (her mother bought it for $39,000), and eventually decided on a high-modern makeover for the place. The moldings had already been removed, much of that detail scraped off by an earlier owner. "They agreed that the garden floor would become the rental apartment and they hired an architect, Ron DiDonno, to reconfigure the space." That garden floor ended up being so open that they've rented it out for television commercials. "To get the home they wanted, everything had to go. 'It was a brick-to-brick renovation,' Ms. Marland said. 'Nothing is left but the staircase and the downstairs kitchen.' To that they added a B&B Italia sofa and Donghia dining table, bought at sample sales, though not all the modern flourishes are high-end. “We still have $8 paper shades from Pintchik’s on the windows."
An Old Brownstone's Loft Aesthetic [NY Times]
Photo from Property Shark.




Posted by lisa at 10:03 AM | Comments (29)
Categories: Interiors, Park Slope

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Comments

Great place! Im not sure I would have painted that brick, but otherwise I love it! I love the stairs...this Im going to show this to my architect!

Posted by: nybk01 at November 10, 2008 10:39 AM

I'm one of those people who says if you want a loft like space get a loft. If you have a brownstone respect it's details and keep it a brownstone.

That said, if you can get a great deal on an already stripped brownstone and like the clean aesthetic then this is an incredible renovation. I'm not one who usually likes modern except in kitchens and baths but this is really fantastic. I could definitely be swayed to live in a home like this. It'd be a heck of a lot easier to clean that's for sure!

Well done!!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at November 10, 2008 10:51 AM

I love this place, it's basically my dream home. I think it looks great.

Posted by: BlueBerry at November 10, 2008 10:57 AM

Generally I'm a fan of the modern aesthetic, but this goes a bit too far minimalist for me. I like the kitchen but the living room has a 50' expanse of blank white wall with a big white sofa parked next to it. Yawn. Get some personality beyond white paint and a credit card.

Posted by: jimdisc at November 10, 2008 11:00 AM

I think this is really apalling.

The interiors are just weird.

I like the back yard but wonder why it was spared. Why didn't they concrete it over and make it part of their souless design statement?

Thank goodness they couldn't touch the front facade.

Posted by: sam at November 10, 2008 11:03 AM

i think this is great. i really don't get the mindset that assumes that unless you have all sorts of weird, old, expensive, mismatched, "french country," "antique," "balinese" or whatever furniture and tchotchkes all over the place that your design is soulless or lacking in personality. some people prefer to have their souls and personality remain, well, in their persons, rather than on their walls. particularly when it's not just one person/personality/soul occupying the space.

Posted by: i disagree at November 10, 2008 11:19 AM

Right at the end of the article, the couple admits that all their friends say it looks like a museum. and i'm sure they way over paid for that kitchen but it looks like Ikea. especially the tall cabinets. really bad.

Posted by: TD at November 10, 2008 11:20 AM

Given a stripped-of-details rowhouse, I'd love to try the same thing. I'll quibble with their interior decoration choices but not the overall concept, structure and materials choices of the renovation. Well done indeed.

Posted by: zeebee_in_bklyn at November 10, 2008 11:21 AM

I like it. Given what they had to start with, it was a great idea for a couple with this design aesthetic. Sometimes I wish it were my aesthetic, as I wonder if it would somehow calm down or zen out my life a bit.

The only thing I don't particularly like are the stairs. I like stairs to be old school. Love them in fact. I think stairs can be absolutely beautiful. These feel too much like industrial or office building stairs.

Posted by: Nokilissa at November 10, 2008 11:44 AM

I continue to be amazed at the amount of press Park Slope gets in the NYT! Not complaining as I live there but it seems like there is a Park Slope article every week. NYT also just did a Metro article on the closing of the Berkeley Carroll daycare center. Maybe I'm just on the lookout for these articles? It still seems like Slope gets lots of attention.

The house is nice. The major problem with these townhouse to loft-like conversions is the "shoebox" problem. When you make the parlor floor one long room, the middle always feels narrow and dark. The skylight makes the openness of the upper floors work much better. And it looks like the third floor kids' bedrooms open onto the "atrium" created by the big open skylight area ... very nice!

Posted by: Mr Joist at November 10, 2008 11:44 AM

Open, airy, modern and delicious.

I don't understand all of these reactionary attitudes that a brownstone should not have a modern interior. It's not as if these naysayers are sitting around wearing period costumes to complete the authentic look.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at November 10, 2008 11:47 AM

Snark,

I'm not saying you shouldn't fill a brownstone with modern furnishings if that's you taste. All I ask is that if you don't appreciate those details don't buy a house filled with them and proceed to remove all of them. Once they are gone you can never get back.

I respect those period details may not be everyone's cup of tea but there are plenty of places to live already that come stripped of details. Like I said before if you want a loft buy a loft. Leave the brownstones for those people who appreciate them as they are. Also, having those original details intact sure does help the resale value!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at November 10, 2008 12:00 PM

"if you don't appreciate those details don't buy a house filled with them and proceed to remove all of them"

I agree with you there. But if the place has already been stripped, then I'm game for a modern makeover.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at November 10, 2008 12:08 PM

Agreed. Personally, I love what they did here. It's much better than when they try to re-create the old details. This is gorgeous.

I do wonder how they wash the skylight window though!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at November 10, 2008 12:14 PM

I'll admit...I love love contemporary design. I'm a minimalist at heart. I love contemporary details. Give me glass, metal, concrete, etc. Detail it beautifully and I'm drooling.

Given that. I don't love this house. Some of the details are blah...as in oh, so very boring. I actually hate the stairs, wall base and their choice of door and window frames. Looks contempo for the 80's, not of today. They would have faired better to do white frames or frameless.

THL - in reference to period details in a house.
'Once they are gone you can never get back.'
I have to disagree with you on that point. You can buy details up the Yazoo. There are catalogs and catalogs of the stuff. Period interiors are created all the time.

And where have you been? We've missed you and your mill basin treasures.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at November 10, 2008 12:17 PM

BRG- Sure you can buy them but how many times do people actually "get it right". I think they often look contrived and slightly out of whack. True there are a few that could pull it off but not many. Just leave them be and find something more to your liking.

I've been checking in to read up but I've been a bit uninspired by the postings lately so I've kept my yap (fingers?) shut and let other have at it. This one got me chatty again!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at November 10, 2008 12:40 PM

Mr Joist, the Slope gets an absurd amount of press in the Times bacuase an absurb number of Times reporters/editors live there. The lazy bums just sit in idea meetings and say "oh my neighbors redid their place. Its cool. Let's run an article on it."

Posted by: shillstoner at November 10, 2008 12:41 PM

THL - You're right, people don't ever get it right, but in the hands of a good designer :), It's often achieved. I just saw a great townhouse on CPW, that was completely stipped and went through a classic renovation, recreating period details. It is beautiful to say the least, and I have to admit, better than before.

'uninspired by the postings' - why didn't you put something up for us that was inspirational? You holding back?

Posted by: bayridgegirl at November 10, 2008 12:52 PM

When people do this kind of thing, of course they're going to say "there was absolutely no details left". What do you expect them to say? "we ripped out a dumpster full of exquisite detail but it just didn't appeal to us because we are phillistines"?

I'm surprised at DiDonno, he usually has better sense than this. People who want to live in white shoeboxes should not buy historic rowhouses.

Posted by: sam at November 10, 2008 2:28 PM

sam needs to loosen his corset.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at November 10, 2008 2:37 PM

Good one Snarky.
Do you have many friends?

Posted by: sam at November 10, 2008 2:52 PM

Yes sam, as a matter of fact I do.

Do you need to borrow one to loosen up that corset for ya?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at November 10, 2008 2:58 PM

Snark, come here, my shoulder is available.

Sometimes, there are no details to preserve, for whatever reason. Sometimes, people want to live in a townhouse in their choice of nabe, but want a more contempo feel.

While I agree and would try to preserve details, I can understand for people wanting a modern feel also. It's a personal choice.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at November 10, 2008 2:59 PM

Oh, snap!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at November 10, 2008 3:01 PM

Snark what is it with you and corsets?
Is it like a fetish?
You've got laced-up underwear on the brain guy.
I'm sure there are cross-dressing blogs for lonelyhearts somewhere that you could enjoy.

Posted by: sam at November 10, 2008 5:05 PM

[sound of crickets]

Posted by: SnarkSlope at November 10, 2008 5:37 PM

Yes, this house must definitely be a lot easier to clean than most...I'm jealous. I periodically joke that we're getting a dumpster and everything is going in it!

Nokilissa's back! Long time no read! Are you still looking or just staying put? The house on Cumberland sold. I was wondering if you had bought it.

To those who were rather ungenerous: a lot of houses all around really DON'T have a lot of detail left. And then they may have fairly sagging floors and lots of cracked joists that need to be fixed. Once you start chipping away at the surface, especially old horse hair plaster walls and ceilings that are in bad shape, you sometimes you have to go all the way. It's not easy.

I can see the desirability of having level floors!!!

And if you start changing wall configurations, you end up with flooring gaps which cannot always be patched easily.

Sometimes there're so many layers of gunk, flooring, peeling paint layers...it can be just revolting...and stripping all the woodwork ends up being prohibitively expensive.

And then, often many people had their go at it from the 1920's to the 1970's (and 80's): ripped out the banister (seen it), ripped out plaster mouldings and window/door casings (seen it!), taken out mantles (seen it), replaced all doors (seen it), drywalled everthing over, put in lousy windows...etc., etc.

Get a quote for redoing a whole parlor floor's plaster moulding scheme (an elaborate one) and you'll be in it for tens of thousands.

If you have a decent amount of original interior detail (especially elaborate crown mouldings), it is a bit more reasonable and certainly possible to buy things to replace missing details (mantles, door handles, etc.). Getting really good wood and plasterwork done to recreate an interior from scratch is rather expensive.

Sorry, just my 2 cents. I think Deb and David's house looks great.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at November 10, 2008 6:13 PM

Look, there are folks like snarky, who dig very tight underwear, and there are folks who like to turn their historic rowhouse into a 1950's Brady bunch rec room, it's a free country, but when you gut and destroy the innards of a beautiful 140-year-old brownstone, you're taking away a bit of history from future generations. You are not the first to live in this house and you will not be the last. However, you will always be the "destructors" in the eyes of those that come after you.

Posted by: sam at November 10, 2008 8:22 PM

I don't know why some here are saying it's so hard to replace details or that it's not done often or done well. They make the exact same molding these days. Replacing it is no biggie and it's common to replace portions of moldings. Architectural salvage is a brisk business exactly because homeowners often need to replace missing details in houses.

It's not for me, but I enjoy a modern interior in a brownstone or Manhattan townhouse. There's a large pool of high income buyers in NYC who prefer it. I wouldn't think doing this interior in a house in the Park Slope market was a mistake.

I think it's the decor or lack thereof that reads "cold" here. With that particular lighter stain of wood in their house and a lot of that wood in the house, I'd have gone vintage and furnished the house with a lot of Danish modern. It would have more wit, warmth and character. They also need art on the walls desperately.

Posted by: traditionalmod at November 11, 2008 10:50 AM

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