Exposed Brick Blues
If you own a brownstone and you have exposed brick somewhere in your house, please stand up. And walk yourself to the hardware store for a bag of plaster and a trowel. I am a future tenant of a park slope brownstone garden apartment (TBD …tbd), and as I search the listings high and low,…
If you own a brownstone and you have exposed brick somewhere in your house, please stand up. And walk yourself to the hardware store for a bag of plaster and a trowel. I am a future tenant of a park slope brownstone garden apartment (TBD …tbd), and as I search the listings high and low, I can’t seem to find a single one fitting my criteria (dogs, private garden, north slope) that does not have exposed brick. It is a bigger offense than the white painted over fireplace+grate look. To me, exposed brick is just fine in a warehouse loft, but in a –let’s face it – NARROW apartment with minimal window action, it just looks like a cold, damp and depressing basement rec room. At best, it is reminiscent of something cool seen somewhere else, somewhere very different. Exposed brick is definitely not “original†detail. Listing after listing I see this brick, usually around the fireplace – either ever so restrainedly just on the chimney, or tastefully not on the chimney but on the main wall, or just balls out all over the entire frickin apartment. Is this an instance of the emperor wearing no clothes? Can’t you all see that you are looking at a very very wrongly naked wall? Please plaster it. Then you can, rightly, claim that the wall is AUTHENTIC. Or just drywall it & send me your listing.
cmu, I invite you over to see the best of all worlds…a restored parlour with all the plaster detail, restored gas/electric fuxtures and YES, push button switches. Tucked away in the back is a modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.
Upstairs, I may have orn a hole in the universe by combining two of those ridiculously small Victorian rooms to form the ghastly ensuite master bath but with modern toggle light switches and a Jacuzzi.
Within these decorating choices, there’s no place for exposed brick. Fireplaces & mantles are stripped to the original tile!!
But, yes, I’m insecure about all of it. 🙂
i’m with mrs limestone and dibs!
No offense to you OP but if you feel so strongly, maybe you should buy your own house and do what you like with it.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 1, 2009 8:52 AM
LOL, I was thinking of posting the same thing but as you all know, I’m too nice to write such a thing. 🙂
Yes, but why WOULD you want to “restore” something to the point of excluding a feature (that is, IF you think it’s worthy; if you don’t like brick, don’t expose it?) That way lies stultification. Most “restored” brownstones are dreary, dark and Victorian (in the worst sense of the word.)
There’s a difference between preservation of details and intent and slavishly restoring something just because it was built that way (or why for example do you, Bids, disagree with whats-his-name’s objection to en-suite bathrooms? A little inconsistency when it comes to comfort?)
I say that obsessively researching materiel, paint colors, original hardware, etc. is a total waste of time. I mean, who WANTS push-button switches really? But then I suspect it’s because most “restorers” are so insecure in their own taste that by doing so, they can rest easy: it’s “original”. And you typically cannot be criticized for that.
I don’t have it in my house but I don’t mind it at all.
To each their own but I think it can look quite nice in the right setting.
No offense to you OP but if you feel so strongly, maybe you should buy your own house and do what you like with it.
I can’t agree more that exposed brick has no place in an otherwise “restored” brownstone.
cmu, People seem to think exposed brick is ‘original’ or can pass as original – case in point, this listing (http://www.idealpropertiesgroup.com/property/details/13682#img_preview) with excessive exposed brick says “Description:
To be concise: the most beautiful, meticulous, tasteful and true-to-Park Slope`s-roots renovations this year. Anyone who ever wished to live in a brownstone that looks like it looked when it was first built, please, come and see these units before it`s too late.”
There is just something very misguided about this description.
Rot. Exposed brick, when detailed well, is beautiful and desirable. Unfortunately, most of the time it’s just scraped clean and rutty. So what if it’s not ‘original?’ Neither is electric light, air-conditioning, Sub-zero fridges and Wolf ranges, the last two are much more hideous than brick.
Couldn’t agree more. Beautifully written. Good luck in your apartment search.