The Insider: Holistic Update Makes the Most of Narrow Cobble Hill Brownstone

At just 15 feet wide, narrowness was one challenge in the renovation of this four-story mid-19th century Italianate brownstone in the Cobble Hill Historic District, but it wasn’t the only one. Decades of patchwork renovations and general deterioration didn’t help. And, as in almost all homes of that era, storage was woefully inadequate for a modern family.

“Initially, the house didn’t look in bad shape, but it had had hodgepodge, builder-grade renovations,” said architect Annie Scheel, a founding partner in the versatile 12-year-old firm Coughlin Scheel Architects, with offices near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “Someone had added a bathroom, stuck in air conditioning, without thinking about the design.”

It was the sagging stair that worried new homeowners most. “That’s why the clients reached out to us. They also wanted to redo a bath and needed new windows,” Scheel recalled. “We said, ‘Let’s look holistically at everything that needs to be done, create a master plan, and figure out what to do when.'”

Coughlin Scheel ended up gutting the top two bedroom floors, creating two all-new baths, and making functional improvements to the parlor level, which retained traces of its former elegance in original crown moldings and marble mantels. The garden-level kitchen was left for a later date. “Once we took a whole stair out of commission, it made sense to do as much work on the upper floors together as possible,” Scheel said. “In terms of budget, it’s always better to do things at once instead of stretching them out.”

The architects reinforced the original staircase, giving it a new stringer, individually leveling each tread, and painstakingly restoring the handrail. They laid new white oak flooring throughout, using a herringbone pattern on the parlor level and straight planks upstairs.

Extensive new white oak millwork throughout the house was designed by Coughlin Scheel to subtly echo the curve of the entry door. “We didn’t try to replicate original details, but honored them with modern interventions that work well with traditional styling,” Scheel said. Other furnishings were selected by the homeowners.

Coughlin Scheel replaced windows on the front facade in keeping with Landmarks requirements. The entry vestibule was reworked, with a new arched wood and glass inner door where none existed.

The entire parlor level is conceived as a living room with two separate seating areas. A unique arched storage unit floats on the wall toward the front of the space; open shelving with a curved built-in console beneath fills the area between twin fireplaces.

Recessed lighting was done away with. A pendant light from Muuto, a Scandinavian brand, now illuminates the space.

Two children’s rooms and a bath occupy the second floor. “The room was tiny, so we wanted to give it some special features,” Scheel said, including a secret panel in the built-in headboard for storing a child’s treasures. Distinctive oak closet pulls were sourced from Designer Doorware, based in Melbourne, Australia.

Green tile cladding the floor and running halfway up the wall in the kids’ bath was “a fun way to do a dual color scheme,” the architect said.

The top floor is dedicated to a primary suite, with an all-new bath, small office, and laundry area. Custom millwork in the bedroom includes an integrated headboard wall and abundant white oak storage, painted above and stained below.

There’s hidden storage under fitted window seats in the square bay windows, one in the primary bedroom, another in the the daughter’s room below.

Coughlin Scheel added a skylight to enhance the primary bath, which stands out for its curved walk-in shower. “We found a mosaic tile from the Japanese company Inax that could turn that radius,” Scheel said. River rocks comprise the flooring material, sourced from Clé.

[Photos by Alan Tansey | Styling by Mira Evnine]

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.

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