You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'farmhouse sink' tag.
BROWNSTONE VOYEUR is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, taking you behind the facades of local homes to see how people really live in New York’s hippest borough.
IF YOU MISSED last spring’s Boerum Hill House and Garden Tour, here’s your chance to peek inside the tour’s best proof that a historic home can be lived in by a young family in a fresh and modern way.
When Aimee Landwehr and Keats Aiken, who now have a 7-month-old son, Cooper, bought the 1870 house in 2006, its plaster moldings, ceiling medallions, etched glass doors, and other elaborate Rococo Revival details were remarkably intact (the house had been a single-family all along).
But the kitchen was a dated disaster. Mary Aiken, a professional kitchen designer who also happens to be the homeowner’s mother, conceived an up-to-the-minute super-kitchen with a French farmhouse feel.
It’s a superbly executed combination of old-house charm and top-of-the-line amenities. Among the standout features:
- Exposed ceiling beams with tiny halogen track lights
- Custom cabinets of sycamore veneer, dyed gray
- A hearth rebuilt to contain a Wolf stove
- Carrera marble countertops and hand-crafted farmhouse sink
- A newly laid floor of salvaged vintage wood
- Space-saving under-counter wine cooler
At the back of the garden floor, where most brownstone kitchens were originally located, the informal kitchen and adjoining dining room feel entirely natural and well-integrated, despite the elegance of the detail on the floors above (which we’ll save for another post).
Brownstone Voyeur is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. This is the third in a regular Thursday series walking you through brownstones, brick row houses, pre-war apartments, Victorians, carriage houses, lofts, and other Brooklyn abodes to see the colorful, creative, clever, cost-conscious ways people really live in New York City’s hippest borough.
TODAY we’re peeking into the c.1904 bowfront brownstone French-born interior designer 
Caroline Beaupere shares with her husband, photographer Matt Arnold, in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.
They bought the house in 2005, added a new kitchen and two new bathrooms, and brought all the original woodwork (of which there is plenty) back to life by stripping off dozens of coats of old stain.
Caroline worked with designer Philippe Starck on the avant garde Hudson Hotel in Manhattan’s West 50s, and has just finished decorating the Presidential suite at the New York Grand Hyatt, but the bulk of her studio’s work is residential.
Her style is eclectic, a bit exotic, and often unexpected, but grounded in the classics. There’s a free flow between modern and traditional. Colors are rich and deep. Accessories tend toward the ethnic. Bold ceiling fixtures dominate each room.
First, the front parlor…
Then the ‘middle parlor,’ below, with its Arts and Crafts-era mantel and built-in bookcases…
And the dining room, with its fearless red walls and extraordinary coffered ceiling….
Photo: Matt Arnold
Photo: Matt Arnold
Opening the wall between the dining room and new kitchen was one of few ‘modernizing’ alterations to the original architecture.
The serene master bedroom, above…
Photo: Matt Arnold
The fabulous master bath with a Philippe Starck soaking tub and farmhouse sink set into an old Chinese cabinet…
And Caroline’s office, below…
Photo: Matt Arnold
The basement den has exposed ceiling beams and a ’70s vibe (dig that shag rug!)
The adjoining bar and rec room are not for the faint-hearted: a Pop art portrait and over-the-top chandelier hang above the pool table; the walls are deep purple.
At the very bottom, see what the garden will look like just one short month from now.
Photo: Matt Arnold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BROWNSTONE VOYEUR is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, taking you behind the facades of those intriguing houses to see what’s inside. Look for it every Thursday on both sites!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DK HOLLAND’S house is the kind of place that makes people say, “I can’t believe this is New York City.”
The property consisted of three lots when DK bought it in 1990: a three-story, 1,800-square-foot building that was a tack house before the Civil War; a one-story structure, originally a stable, now occupied by Olea, a Mediterranean restaurant; and a vacant lot in between, on which DK built a wooden extension with a new kitchen and side porch, “grafted on” to the original brick house, and created an enclosed garden with a flagstone patio.
DK did a top-to-bottom renovation in 2002-4. She added the front porch and opened up the second floor as a loftlike bedroom/study. The renovation exposed original brick and ceiling beams, which she painted white, and she retained later 19th century additions, including wainscoting and staircases. The furnishings are country-ish, bought mostly at auction in Vermont.
Recent Comments