Ok, the kitchen faucet: is that something you put together yourselves from various parts, did it come as a kit or was it pre-assembled? It has never occurred to me to DIY a faucet, and I love the raw brass.

Now I'll move on to the rest of the tour and probably gush over something else later. At first glance this place looks choc full o' inspiration!

Love the house. Is very organized, beautiful.,also love the rustic feeling in the kitchen.

This is so gorgeous. I want another update in a year! I'm currently apartment hunting and it's wrecking my head, so this was like a breath of fresh air today! (Can I just come live with you? :p)

Love. Great mix of new and old.

Where did you get the doors for the roof and for the back deck? We are looking for exterior doors, and to convert a window to a door...

Nice tour. I have big love for the original details left unfinished (such as 'sink').

I <3 this house. Especially the kitchen--I adore that mix of materials, and the use of lathe (I assume?) behind the cabinets. Genius!

Absolutely wonderful renovation. Kept the feeling of the building while updating perfectly, the skylights are fantastic. I'm completely envious of your wood burning oven in the kitchen. The whole kitchen is great, actually.

Thank you for not painting over all that beautiful wood. This home is proof again that keeping original wood doesn't have to create a dark interior!

I love it, especially the original unfinished parts. The windows / stairwell connecting each floor are beautiful. I just had to calculate square footage... FYI to others: each floor is 720sf. What a great space!!

How old is the brownstone?

The house is gorgeous. & so amazing to have so much space in the city.

The writing, though, is a bit clunky: poor rhythm from the accretion of definite articles (first sentence specifically), some redundancy, & missing commas. Sorry! My writing teacher antennae were up while I was reading.

I am such a sucker for exposed brick!

I love the blend of elements in this house--the brick, the marble kitchen counter, wood floors and furniture, etc.

That kitchen and dining room table...*stars in eyes*

I hope you'll hire Beth. This was a wonderfully organized photo tour -- there was just the right mix of long shots and close ups. The close ups were used to illustrate a detail of the room we had just seen in a longer view. The photos flowed sensibly -- I really understand the layout of the house from the photos' organization and the writing.

The house itself is wonderful and not over-stylized, and as a reader/viewer I can appreciate it because of Beth's work.

I hate these people! LOL!!

It's gorgeous! I love brownstones!! So classic! My only thing would be the lack of a functioning triangle in the kitchen, but if you don't cook a lot, you might not mind. Or the fireplace might make up for it :D How are you dealing with the lack of closet space that is typical of older homes?

Oh man, just thinking about how much fun it must have been to restore that building to this gorgeous condition...and that KITCHEN TABLE!

Great, great example of sophisticated adapted reuse, too. Did you guys design and build the salvaged-material furniture yourselves or did you contract it out? Really nicely crafted, from what I can tell...

Authentic, original exposed brick will probably be an unfulfilled dream for the rest of my life. The kitchen wall with that plus the exposed lath is very successful. Love it.

Please tell us more about the kitchen fireplace and if it works well (meaning doesn't smoke up the house when you light it) or not. Was it a retrofit from what appears to be one below? How was that done?

It looks like you have old timberframe on the lower level but structural steel on the kitchen level...?

I think this looks like a really fun project and forever work-in-progress. Just my kind of house :)

I also think it needs a little more unity somehow. Period elements mixed with modern-industrial is SO my thing, but for me it's not working here. The stair railing in particular, which could be as simple as putting some turned railing bits someplace else in the room. Or...gasp..painting it.

would love to see photos of the garden apartment!

I agree that the photographs were lovely and well-organized and really gave a sense of the space. I especially love that there are photographs of the less-finished spaces and the "spot where the couch would (will) be."

I feel like the writing could have been a little sharper. Is it shorter than some of the other blurbs on house tours, or am I imagining it? Anyway, I guess I just want more information! Such a great home!

All in all, very nice house tour.

Amazing place - I'm looking forward to seeing more and more as the work progresses.

I found the bits about the renovation process/trials/tribulations most interesting...
...and it's so nice to see folks resourcing items & creating their own pieces from non-typical retailers.

What an interesting space! Absolutely beautiful. I'm in love with all of the raw elements. But this is one tour that would have benefitted from some photo captions. Even though I was loving all of the photos, I wasn't always sure what I was looking at.

Also, I hope that they don't "over" renovate. I was sort of digging the exposed beams and chippy paint!

Dear God, this is fantastic. I especially love the austere decay of the upper floors... it's like journeying up into the building's history.

This feels like London somehow...

You've done an amazing job on this place! I love it! Great decor, structure, colors, and character!

Great space, and you (almost) nailed the mix of old and new (rugged modern is a great way to describe it). The only thing not working for me is the very elaborate and heavy wooden bed along with that ikea (?) closet.

Other than that, awesome!

one of my favorite homes i have ever seen on here. masterful combination of the old rustic with updates. so cozy and modern and inviting.

An beautiful home boasting an absolutely masterful use of texture.

I also like the painting of the owl being disemboweled by a flamingo. And the railingless Deck of Death!

I am lucky enough to be a friend of Jennifer and Eli and to have been invited to spend an evening in their guest bedroom on a recent quick trip to the city from California....Kudos J E, on your beautiful home-building adventure...that it's going to get even better is what is amazing. Love you guys, T

understanding what my carpenters from the Caribbean were saying.........

Perfection! Best House Tour post in a very long time.

This is a perfect home. I feel that the owners/renovators have done a wonderful service to its history while making it seem very modern and livable. Excellent job!

I used to live in this neighborhood and the brownstones are stunning. It's great to see one rennovated. My favorite part is how the skylights let the light come in. It's by far one of my favorite house tours on AT so far!

Stunning. Really beautifully done, and what a perfect live/work space. And to think, I saw the first photo and thought I might not care for the style. Glad I looked at the rest of the tour!

I agree with other reviewers. The photos for this house tour are excellent. It was easy to get a sense of the space and there is a nice mix of wide angle and close up shots.

Ahhhhh....one of my fav tours of all time! I got such inspiration from your sense of material and placement. LOVE the mix of raw material with the polish and detail of fine pieces and accents. You both really have an eye for creating a relaxing and aesthetically pleasing space! I am curious to know about the kitchen cabinets. Obviously the one next to the fridge is custom, but are the other cabinets Ikea? I want to get Ikea cabinets but my husband is vehemently against it as all of our other Ikea procurements seem to have a very short life span to them (i.e. the plywood breaks after a few years).

Love!!

We moved to the same neighborhood in Brooklyn 8 months ago and used to live in Saugerties, NY... coincidence? We still head up to Rhinebeck/Saugerties on the weekends quite often!

Beautiful space!

Airy, clean, and elegant--just lovely!

AHHHMAZING!

I feel like I need to thank Eli and Jen for showing such an old beauty so much respect, I'm that delighted!

I have a question: once exposed brick has been painted, can it ever be brought back to its original state again?

So cool! Glad there were so many wide angle shots- I understood it better that I usually understand the space o these virtual tours. Would love to know what details are original and what are restored. Very inspiring!

STUNNING!!!

loved this renovation, clean, modern design mixed with rustic and traditional elements........fabulous......please, please, please fight off any urge to turn your home into one of those "perfect" Brooklyn brownstones with big 6 figure renovations and lots of designer furniture....you know the one(s) that keep turning up on all the blogs....and shelter pubs...........this is one of the best posts in a very long time.....

Wow - very well done. Your deck was great, although a little bit to high for me. Beautiful home and lots of great exercise on those amazing steps!

i'm sorry... those hideous cheap translucent wardrobes in the master br need to go. otherwise, very nice overall.

I think the space is gorgeous, but I definitely DON'T see honesty in this renovation. It makes me think of how people pay top dollar for a coffee table that used to be used by poor people hauling bricks. Exposed lathe always strikes me as completely pretentious. Sorry, not trying to be mean; I just don't get the "we spent a lot of money to look poor" look.

compared to the community, this has a rather sanitized vibe. beautiful wooden bed though.

I dunno it seemed a little haphazard in places. Like the kitchen with the two fireplaces and the counter, I didn't understand. It was a little maze-like for my taste and felt like every room was trying to be grandiose. The bedroom is more my style but they killed it with the closets. Not every detail needed to be reconfigured into some creative DIY. I hope it works out for them.

Your home is wonderful! I eyed your beautiful marble kitchen counters. Would you share your resource? Were you happy with the outcome? Honed or polished? Many thanks!

I had to go back and view the tour again. There was something I didn't quite like but wasn't sure what it was. They need some closed storage in the kitchen. The few things on display make it seem cluttered. I'm also wary of the open wood slats. Seems unsanitary in a kitchen. My maternal instincts wouldn't even let me take a 2nd look at the deck without railing. The projects already completed are beautiful. This is a couple with talent. You are on your way to a beautiful home. I would also like to see this tour again in about a year. Keep up the good work and best of luck with your renovations.

Railings! Looks like some possible bad falls may happen.

Love it!!

The most uncomfortable looking brownstone I've ever seen, and I first set foot in one 40 years ago. The main living floor is really ugly. If they tried to serve me water form a glass that would be sitting next to exposed lathe I would simply put my head under the spigot instead. The idea just seems filthy. The two bedrooms look nice, and the upper outdoor space, although it does seem rather dangerous. (BUt perhaps that's in keeping with the utensils-by-th-lathing, eh?)

Great tour of a work in progress. Nice mix of raw unfinished and finished. I'd love to see this house again in a year, or even two, and witness the evolution. Got a big kick out of seeing the area waiting for the right couch, even though it's been a year...I'm about to have that same moment!

Sorry for the delay in writing. If those of you with questions are still reading this thread, here are a few answers:

Credit - somehow it didn't get in the writeup that the architectural design was a collaboration between Public Architecture Planning (San Diego) and myself. This project would not be at all what it is without them.

Kind words - thanks to all of you who cheered the house, and even to those of you who decried it. It's good to hear that it was successful in many of the design's key intentions, and it's good for me to be forced to re-examine some of my thinking.

Lath - Wow. If i knew exposed lath would arouse such passionate feelings, I would have told beth to send photos of the room with an entire ceiling of exposed lath and ruined plaster moulding.

Kitchen faucet - put together from readily available parts at your local plumbing supply

Exterior Doors - Pella architect series wood doors with aluminum-clad exterior, installed by Bob Frost, R. Frost Design Build

Not painting over the wood - I wish I had the choice to not paint over it! All the doors and moulding had the usual 4-8 coats of paint that had to be stripped first before we stained and shellac'd it

Building's age - around 110 years old

Kitchen triangle absence - we haven't minded it thusfar, and we cook a ton in this kitchen, in spite of people's apparent fears about potentially fatal lath dust. I actually really enjoy putting my head under the faucet and drinking from the tap, and I'll sanitize kushkush's glass thoroughly before offering a drink, that is if they were able to bear setting foot on our horrifically ugly and uncomfortable main floor.

Back to the kitchen - it's fairly easy to bring things out of the fridge across the island to the sink or the stove, and all these distances are small enough that you hardly notice that it's a kitchen triangle with a big stone rectangle smack in the middle. We've had 4 or 5 people working in the kitchen simultaneously without any disasters or hurt toes or feelings.

Closet absence - I can't even blame the house's age for it's lack of closets, since we removed the partitions on every floor and started from scratch in terms of layout. But, we deal my lack of foresight with a large-ish dresser in the bedroom, and, primarily, with the embattled Ikea closets in the guest bedroom, which functions as a dressing room when we don't have guests. Certainly not ideal, but we're still working on it..

Adaptive re-use/salvaged material furniture - Designed by me and fabricated by Hard Decor for steel work and Matthew Lamb for woodwork, both in Brooklyn. I can't say enough good things about both of these guys.

Kit. fireplace - was created from scratch on this floor, but ran the flue liner in an existing flue through the two floors above. The void below the counter-height fireplace is actually purely for wood storage. Draws beautifully, thanks to my mason Manny LaSalle, who saved my a#s during this project more times than I can count.

Ikea closets & 'dishonesty' - I plead renovation poverty and the fact that Jen threatened my life if I didn't give her some closet space, and pronto. Didn't plan on them showing up on the internet someday.

Either that or this was part of the 'we spent a lot of money to look poor' look that we apparently were shooting for. And I have in fact eaten lunch off the tables that the 'poor people hauling bricks' use, during the many workdays spent with my mason and his men, but I fail see the romance of using an overturned 5 gallon bucket as a coffee table, so no pretentious rustic tables for us I guess.

In all seriousness regarding honesty and appropriating poverty as high style, nearly all the materials and objects in the house are of quite ordinary, economical materials that Public and I tried to use in 'honest' ways. Even if lath was not used in the 1800s as a finished material, even if original floor joists were never intended to be exposed, please remember that what I started with was a half-ruined building, and I chose to leave pieces of that ruin as is or clean them up based on what I found interesting or beautiful or informative. It's unfortunate that was perceived as dishonest or pretentious, but I guess intent and perception are often far apart in architecture.

- Marble is honed carrera, from ABC stone in greenpoint. And very happy with the outcome, but it was maybe a bit easier to be happy because I don't have any qualms with the counter showing its use and age, as marble inevitably does as it gets stained. I used soapstone in the rental unit, also from ABC and shows its age in a different, but to my mind no less beautiful way.

Thanks again for all the comments, and best of luck to the rest of you in all phases of old rowhouse renovation - dreaming, planning, irrational exuberance, purgatory, hell, worse than hell, and, some years later, redemption.

Well I like infinity pools, but I'm not sure about an infinity deck. I think I would be permanently anxious trying to spend time on that deck.

The exposed lath look is ok, I guess, but it can be very dirty also, and I would not chose to have it right next to my glass wear. Makes a nice photo, but not a nice way to live.

what's the blue paint color - wonderful!

This is certainly one of my very-most favorite kitchen/dining room tours. I love the elegant, classic, established feel I get from it. There are so many wow factors - the table, the atrium, the fireplace, the fabulous textures that don't overwhelm... just really cool! The dining room art is... creepy. Thank goodness for the other places to look. The staircase and the upstairs hallway make my heart beat fast - fabulous! Fantastic architectural details throughout designed in a way that feels historical and thoroughly modern at the same time. Love it!

I like the rough, original condition of this house. It may need a few repairs...but don't overdo it...it's pretty great as it is! Good job on the first post, Beth. I enjoyed the photos and text. Look forward to seeing more of these types of posts.

I love the honest, lived-in feel of this house...and that kitchen fauce is awesome! Love the tension of the wing-back chairs. All houses need fine-tuning here and there, but I think this is one of those houses that is just easy to be in and enjoy. Nice!

Wonderful!
Love that you can still see/feel the historic aspects.

Love this house. The wooden bed and the dining room? my favs!

My favorite part about viewing these home tours is anticipating what comments AT readers are going to leave; you never disappoint! I saw those deck railing comments coming the second my mouse clicked 'next'...LOL

it should be illegal that something this gorgeous exists.

kudos to the homeowners and to the photographer. nice work all around

I would also love to know what the blue paint color is. It's stunning. Hopefully the homeowners will let us in on their secret :)

Absolutely beautiful renovations!

Wow! As a original east coast person, Nothing tops the beauty of an original Brownstone. Lucky, lucky you.

Yes! Please share the name of the blue that you used in the kitchen.

Beautiful job.

Wow! Really nice job. I just don't understand the comments from haters. Why take the time to spread your bad vibes? If you have nothing nice (or constructive, I would add) to say...

Anyway, really like the JOIST TABLE. Where'd you source the wood? And did put it together yourself or have it made?

I have a somewhat personal familiarity with this brownstone. The railingless porches are not big deal as long as you aren't too drunk to walk. And Eli will get around to railing them. I dislike the poor function of the home fab kitchen faucet but the triangle thing is way overrated as Eli says. The stove fridge is the critical part of the triangle and works fine. There is also a counter access within the triangle as is. The faucet work can be prepped easily prior to stove use.

One must differentiate the architecture from the decor, one is semi permanent the other whim and budget. The foot bath entry and high ceilinged office space on the half first floor are financially missing pieces of wonder.

i love this place and will see it for the first time since my atrial fib. dad

Wonderful! I love the attention to details, seeing the transformation.

I can't imagine that people would see this renovation as 'dishonest'; coming from a part of the world where heritage homes are regularly demolished for the sake of putting up cookie cutter boxes with beige siding, I find this to be an extremely beautiful testament to preserving the history of the building while still recognizing 21st century living.

I love the stools in the kitchen, where are those from?

i am in love

Sight for sore-eyes.

Hi! Beautiful home! Wondering what you used to seal your brick walls. We basically have the same amount of brick in our townhouse. Currently it is unsealed, which we LOVE the look of, but with two young kids, the amount of pink dust & rubble constantly collecting on the floors and coating all of the toys & furniture is kind of unbearable. It looks like your bricks have something on them that didn't add TOO much of a sheen.... would you mind sharing what you guys did to treat them, if anything? Thanks a lot!