Brooklyn Heights Townhouse Renovation & Restoration

Originally built in 1831 as a 4 story house in the late Federal Style, this townhouse was substantially altered in 1885 by the architect William Tubby in the Flemish style. Our clients requested we restore all details as closely as possible to the 1885 Tubby design. This included custom castings to recreate the front yard fence, carefully dismantling and rebuilding the dramatic buttressed chimney in the rear, recreating brownstone stucco details on the facade, recreating the Flemish steps in the parapet of the front facade that had been bricked up, and installing hand-built wood windows and new slate roof shingles.

When acquired by our clients, the house was divided into 6 apartments. Nearly all the original interior details had been lost over time with the exception of the coffered ceiling in the living room. In order to bring in more natural light, we obtained approval from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to replace the existing solid entry doors with new doors, reusing the existing wrought iron strap hinges and hammered pin details while incorporating new glass panes. In the attic, we cut into the slope of the roof in the rear creating a terrace off the guest room. We then installed a large glass wall between that guest room and the double height 4th floor family room, allowing natural light directly into it. The rear addition was altered with floor to ceiling windows. On the 2nd floor, large sliding glass doors in a sitting room allow natural light into the stairwell. We also altered the floorpan of the entire home so you are always walking toward windows.

We were also asked to create a play between the historic and the modern. The parlor 2nd and 3rd floors were treated in a traditional manner with parquet flooring and custom profiles for baseboards, crowns and trim that were sourced from historical reference works.  For the Garden, 4th and attic floors we developed well-detailed modern interiors- designed to balance the traditional elements on the other floors.

This home was featured in the book “Design Brooklyn,” the magazines “Design Bureau” and “Industry,” and was 1 of 4 homes on the 2011 Brooklyn Heights Association Home Tour.