The Insider: Windows, Stair Distinguish Strikingly Modern Gowanus Reno

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Rarely does an architect get to reimagine a Brooklyn row house as thoroughly as architect Sarah Jacoby was able to do on this corner lot at a busy intersection near the Gowanus Canal.

“It was exciting to work on something where we could change the windows,” said Jacoby, who has overhauled many a New York City townhouse and apartment since founding her Long Island City-based practice a decade ago. She did just that all along the building’s long side wall, punching new window openings of various shapes and sizes that flood the house with light while positioned to provide privacy from the activity outside.

In another unusual move to make the interior feel serene, Jacoby relocated the staircase from its “normal” position along a party wall to the front of the building, where the switchback design partly obscures the original rectangular window openings, creating interesting angled shapes and views from within.

Jacoby’s client “bought the building with the intention of completely redoing it in a way that was personal and special,” she said. At the outset two rental units above a store, all in dire condition, the gut renovation transformed the building into a single-family dwelling with four bedrooms and four baths.

The interior is distinguished by warm wood millwork, great attention to hardware and other details, and splashes of color calculated to create visual intrigue.

The original red brick facade retains the rectangular window openings and entry door of a traditional Brooklyn row house.

The windows themselves are new. “Marvin has a blue that’s a standard color; we thought it was beautiful with the brick,” Jacoby said. “The blue windows then drove the stucco and the bulkhead,” a shed structure atop the building permitting access to a new roof deck.

The dynamic composition of apertures along the length of the building include several very narrow ones placed both horizontally and vertically.

A blue-painted entry door and bold pink bathroom with red Vola faucets “felt fun,” Jacoby said, “as opposed to, I don’t know…depressing? The room was so small we leaned into this immersive pink.”

Fluted glass fills an angled interior window along the staircase. A little closet under the stairs holds mostly tech equipment. The odd-shaped windows have custom shades.

Lively patterning of tiles from Heath Ceramics (top photo) throughout the kitchen, against pale custom cabinetry and countertops of natural stone, furthers the interior’s blue-green palette.

A grouping of lights from Allied Maker punctuates the ceiling.

The snaking stair was expertly detailed to skirt around the street-facing windows, connecting the three interior levels to a rooftop terrace.

In the top floor hall, walkable glass allows light from new skylights to penetrate to the second floor hallway below.

A chandelier and sconces from Matter, both 1950s designs inspired by heavenly bodies, add style to the primary bedroom.

The primary bath contains a large walk-in shower and freestanding tub, both with fixtures from Watermark. Neutral concrete walls were sourced from Oso Industries, the brick-like tile floor from Clé.

The secondary bath stands out for its playful use of tile from Italian company Mutina Lane. “It comes in a kit,” Jacoby explains. “They send you random boxes” of varicolored tiles, to be configured as desired.

A walk-out bulkhead with glass door and walkable skylights on the roof allow natural light to permeate the building.

[Photos by Louisa & Fyodor]

The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.

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