And the award for Most Diplomatic Turn of Phrase goes to…Evan Erlebacher, founder of architecture firm Also Office, for this description of a project pre-intervention: “Like many townhouses in Brooklyn, this one had been maintained piecemeal over decades and not always in a professional way.” [Emphasis ours.]
Photography by David Mitchell, courtesy of Also Office.
Once the house was nudged into the 21st century with sensitivity and in a holistic manner, interior design firm Colony was brought on to “play a part in unraveling it into the present moment,” says its founder Jean Lin.
Preservation was the priority on the parlor floor, which consists of the living room, dining room, and kitchen.
Architectural woodwork was gently restored, with signs of wear and tear—cracks, color variations, and imperfections—allowed to remain.
On the walls is Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace.
The pocket doors leading to the dining room are original, albeit with new fluted glass.
The vintage dining table is by Thygeson & Sorenson, sourced from Home Union.
A colorful corner of the dining room thanks to the coral-hued Chiclet Chair by Ray Wilkes for Herman Miller.
The garden level rooms were especially “dark and musty,” says Evan.
The sunroom is fully clad in white oak floors walls and ceiling with built in white oak cabinetry The sliding glass door is also clad in white oak to match...
...The sunroom is pretty small and open on both sides to the bedroom and garden so the single material palette gives the space its own boundary and identity says Evan
A cutout window between the bedroom and sunroom frames a garden view. The EAE Lounge Chair is by Erickson Aesthetics; the cork Arch Drinks Table is by Grain.
The yard, once “wall-to-wall concrete slab with some weeds growing through the cracks,” has been replaced with lush plantings, decomposed granite, and an ipe fence.
For me, the most elegant expression of that intersection is the spiral staircase landing in the garden,” says Evan.