Reimagined Details on Willow Street

This Brooklyn Heights renovation began as an endeavor to reimagine the existing, compartmentalized maze of apartments into a single-family home. Our clients wanted to restore the home to its pre-1920s elegance, updated for modern living. They also chose to adhere to the Passive House standard to create a high-performance, energy efficient, thoughtfully designed home. Because the home sits in an NYC Landmark District, we took care to ensure the exterior integrated seamlessly with surrounding historic buildings.

The complete project includes a 6-story open stair, 6 bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a wine room, movie room, dance studio, and roof deck with outdoor kitchen. The interior finishes - a collaboration between Baxt Ingui and Madison Worth Architects - were a clean and modern take on the original details. Enlarged masonry openings and exterior pocket doors on the rear façade bring in light to the garden and parlor floors. In the parlor, pocket doors open onto a Juliet balcony open to the rear yard.

We collaborated with local craftsmen to research and reinstall the original brownstone stoop, cornice, entry enframement, and window details. Largely working off historical photographs, and iterative design process brought the front façade back to historical accuracy.