Last year Brooklyn architect Gerry Smith spent 48 hours answering reader questions about his overhaul of a 1910 neoclassical brownstone that “had scarcely been altered in its first 100 years.” (See The Architect Is In: A Brooklyn Brownstone Transformed, with Respect for the original story.)
Photography by Samuel Morgan, courtesy of Gerry Smith Architect.
When a young family bought the house a few years ago, it came with a mandate that renovations stay in line with the building’s original character.
After
Smith’s first order of business was to flood light into the formerly dark and cramped kitchen.
“With the size of our exterior openings and considering the other materials used throughout the house, steel was our go-to choice here,” said Smith.
The architect specified a single-slab black walnut countertop at the back of the kitchen, fabricated by Dean & Silva millworkers in Brooklyn.
Color expert Eve Ashcraft consulted on the paint colors for the project; she chose Benjamin Moore’s Deep Silver for the custom wood cabinets.
One bracket supports a trio of open wood shelves; they’re supported by cabinets on the other end, and Smith had hidden steel plates slotted into the shelves to provide additional support from within the wall.
A wet bar near the dining room has a zinc countertop with integral sink and custom shelving in blackened steel.
A chalkboard at the kitchen entrance is made of 3/4-inch slate stone slab with a chalk rail of unlacquered brass.
Photograph by Jonas Everets.
Eve Ashcraft even chose a paint color for the drawer interiors: Benjamin Moore Teal.
The former kitchen was cramped and dark.
Before
Before its renovation, the kitchen overlooked the backyard but had no access.
Wanting to keep the original house as intact as possible, the owners tried to live with the existing cabinets, sinks, and hutches.
But after a year, says the client, “we concluded they were much better suited to a lone servant teeing up aspic than our own social dinners today.” The owners turned to salvage company Build It Green in Brooklyn, who found a new home for the original sinks and built-ins.