Finding the Loft in a Brownstone
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
[sound of crickets]
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.
Oh, snap!
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.
Yes sam, as a matter of fact I do.
Do you need to borrow one to loosen up that corset for ya?
Good one Snarky.
Do you have many friends?