The Insider: All-Out Carroll Gardens Reno Creates Home to Last Generations

“This was your typical Brooklyn brownstone. It had a lot of lives before my clients got there,” said architect Michael Ingui, who spearheaded a thoroughgoing renovation of the four-story building for a creative couple with two children. “They bought it a number of years ago knowing it needed a lot of work. It had been chopped up into rentals, and the goal was to do it the right way, and create a house that would last for generations.”

Manhattan-based Ingui Architecture, with Alyssa Kargl as project manager, carried out the monumental task, resulting in an owner triplex on the two lower floors plus the cellar, with two rental units above. Among the major elements of the job: restoring the front and rear facades; new mechanicals, including central air; a new interior stair in the owner apartment; all-new baths and a custom kitchen; replacing the rear wall with glass on the parlor and garden levels; and new flooring throughout.

“They wanted the parlor level as a gathering space, with a strong connection to both front and back yards,” Ingui said. “The rear yard is a few feet above garden level, so you’ve got a real connection from the parlor floor,” as well as a comfortable deck off the rooms below. Underneath that, in the newly finished cellar, is a media/family room with faux windows that convincingly make the space feel above grade.

The homeowners were deeply involved in the design process. They selected the chic furnishings, a mix of vintage and new.

Matt Zocco of MLZ General Construction was the general contractor.

“The front facade needed quite a bit of work,” Ingui said. It was “selectively re-brownstoned,” with new sills, lintels and corbels to replace original detail that had been lost, and the missing cornice restored.

The front parlor windows were lengthened to their elegant original proportions, and an appropriately scaled entry door installed.

The house had exposed brick walls “in a lot of places,” Ingui said. In some cases, like the public entry hall, it was repointed and retained. The patterned floor tile is new, but with a vintage feel.

Stylish modern furnishings in the front parlor and central dining room were supplied by the homeowners. “All the furniture was them,” Ingui said. “They had a lot of cool vintage stuff.”

The pier mirror between the windows (top photo) was in the house when the current homeowners purchased it. The mantel is new.

The paintings in the dining room are the work of local artist Francis Di Tommaso; the sculptural porcelain light fixture above the table is a custom piece by Andreea Braescu.

The decision to blow out the back wall on parlor level was an easy one. “These are deep houses, and getting light in was really important,” Ingui said. Columns between large panes of glass “keep the scale of the brownstone. We were looking for a balance, nothing too contemporary.”

Clean-lined custom cabinetry is of painted wood, with marble backsplash and countertops.

Gleaming blue tile and a sink of solid marble, along with a Moroccan brass pendant found on Etsy, make a standout of the parlor floor powder room.

New stairs from parlor to garden to cellar were part of the project. “They had been modified in a previous renovation. We brought the stairs back to their original location, which unlocked the scheme for this house,” the architect said.

Two children’s rooms on the garden level have easy access to the backyard.

Tile from Walker Zanger enlivens the secondary bath downstairs.

Ersatz windows in the newly finished cellar are set in a new wall with lights behind. “The contractor had a great idea how to do it and make it feel good,” Ingui said. “You can change the color of the light, whether dawn, dusk or midday.”

The house’s rear facade, too, was in rough shape. Water had caused the mortar between the bricks to crumble. “We gave it a proper stucco layer,” Ingui said. Ingui Architecture also enlarged tiny bathroom windows that ran down the right side of the building, restored the fire escape, and built a new deck.

[Photos by Adam Macchia]

Got a project to propose for The Insider? Contact Cara at caramia447 [at] gmail [dot] com

The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.

Related Stories

• The Insider: Showstopping Stair Ties Together Heights Carriage House
• The Insider: Sweeping Reno Touches Every Floor of Brooklyn Heights Townhouse
• The Insider: Full-on Cobble Hill Townhouse Gut Transforms Unfinished Into Impeccable

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on X and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.