BROWNSTONE VOYEUR is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. The series, which has been a regular Thursday feature on both sites, is going on hiatus for the summer. This is the last installment of the season; look for it to return in the fall.
A 20-FOOT-WIDE BROWNSTONE in Clinton Hill, replete with 1870s detail — wide moldings, a flat arch opening between the front and rear parlors, a bay window at the rear — is the perhaps unlikely showcase for a locally acquired gallery of very modern paintings, and look how well it works.
The homeowners, Richard Montelione, an attorney, and Jack Esterson, an architect, enjoy browsing local fairs and shows of student work at nearby Pratt Institute to add to their collection, which they display against soft brown walls (Benjamin Moore’s Jamesboro Gold, to be exact), outlined with crisp white moldings.
On the parlor floor, above and below, furniture sources are: white sofa, Room & Board; coffee table, Gueridon; orange Ellipse chair, Modernica; Danish modern end tables, Horseman Antiques on Atlantic Avenue; TV credenza, Design Within Reach; white leather club chairs, Room & Board; round coffee table, ABC Carpet. The table lamps are Italian, from The End of History in Greenwich Village.
The dining table, below, is from Desiron and the leather chairs from Crate & Barrel.
casaCARA 
As a traditionalist when it comes to historic houses, I usually dismiss modernist design in a brownstone. However, this really works and enhances the architectural details rather than obscure them.
I like the way the simple classic shapes of the modern furniture set off the crazy paintings. It’s like a controlled environment for hysteria.
Also the fact that all the furniture is easily found and accessible…
Love the paint color in the kitchen, what is it?