A 100+ year old abandoned house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) neighborhood of Brooklyn was rehabilitated from foreclosure into a vibrant and light-filled home.  The renovation maintained the house’s remaining original details, while adding contemporary touches and finishes.  The open plan is a modern counterpoint to the original parlor floor layout, while an efficient plan creates a charming rental apartment on the garden level.

The main floor inverts the traditional Brooklyn townhouse configuration, with dining at the front and living at the rear.  Interior and exterior are melded together by a 14’-wide folding glass door opening onto a new deck.  The kitchen employs walnut cabinetry, which complements the original wood moldings and trim that were stripped of layers of paint and refinished.  The original fireplaces were cleaned & re-set; and the new glass tile backsplash accentuating the original tile on the mantels.

Upstairs, the plan maintains the original layout configuration, while creatively opening up smaller rooms to the larger, maximizing natural light and circulation.  Sliding doors maximize flexibility of space and use between a guest bedroom, family room and utility/ laundry area.  Original pine subfloors were revealed and re-purposed as finished floors on the upper levels, both for cost-savings and as a nod to the home’s past.  Continued but controlled use of color and fabric bring a warm touch to the modern aesthetic, drawing on the family’s own identity as immigrants and first-generation American.

Thus, an old house becomes a new home through point and counterpoint between new and old, contemporary and historic, exterior and interior.

Material Used :
1.  Solar Innovations - Exterior doors
2.  Space Theory - Kitchen Cabinets, Counters & Millwork
3.  LePage - Historic windows
4.  Ann Sacks - Kitchen Backsplash - Aura collection
5.  Shade Store - Drapery
6.  Kohler - Plumbing fixtures
7.  Advantage Lumber - Decking - Garapa wood