The Cumberland St Townhouse is located on a park block in the neighborhood of Fort Greene in Brooklyn, NY. The house was in a dilapidated state when the owners purchased the building; the rear wall was falling down and water had been entering the building for several years.
The house was completely transformed with a new rear wall and a two-story addition at the back of the house. The addition is open to the living room above and is connected through interior steel and glass windows that mimic the two-story exterior windows. The doors at the garden open completely to create a seamless connection between the kitchen / dining level and the garden. Vines were planted in recessed planters along the 2 story party walls in the dining room--the room was designed to be an indoor-outdoor space where the garden melds with the interior spaces. The vines now cover the double-story party walls and add an organic quality to the connected interior spaces. The top of the addition serves as a private balcony for the master bedroom.