Living Above the Family Book Store in Brooklyn The New York Times

Living Above the Family Book Store in Brooklyn
The New York Times

Henry Zook and Mary Gannet opened their independent bookstore, BookCourt in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn in 1981. More than 25 years later, BookCourt has grown to include part of the building next door and the family still lives above the space...

Henry and Mary separated in 2002 (Mr. Zook now resides a few blocks away) but both still work in the store. Mary and their second son Ben, live in the original duplex above the original store and their oldest son Zack (BookCourt's general manager) lives in the adjacent building above the store with his St. Bernard.

Read the whole story and see all the pictures in the The New York Times: Over the Family Store, Staff Quarters and the slideshow .

Comments (12)

great apartment and big precious drooler.

posted by LoriSF on July 29th 2009 at 1:05pm
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It's Zack, not Zach :)
(I used to date him).

posted by Pisca17 on July 29th 2009 at 1:09pm
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This apartment is just like that movie the Squid and the Whale. It's amazing. Right down to the drum kit in the boy's room ;)

Thanks for sharing. These are really fantastic spaces, both the store and the apartment.

posted by medusa12120 on July 29th 2009 at 1:18pm
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Holy huge hound! And I want that bookshelf (not the best looking thing ever, but so much space!)

posted by everythingistaken on July 29th 2009 at 1:19pm
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that dog is so huge and cute, i bet he loves drooling in their cereals every morning.

this reminds me of you've got mail for some reason, no idea why.

posted by zhenpoo on July 29th 2009 at 1:27pm
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Ha! I recognized the dog before I even saw the rest of the photo or the headline. We LOVE the store, and love that it's such a dog-friendly place. :)

posted by Brooklynnina on July 29th 2009 at 1:42pm
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That dog is amazing. Also, I look forward to visiting that store.

Emily

posted by Emily Sneds on July 29th 2009 at 2:14pm
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Any ideas on where to get the plans for bookshelves like that? They look DIY. Not to mention awesome.

posted by Overmelho on July 29th 2009 at 2:57pm
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Awesome dog!

posted by gryt on July 29th 2009 at 3:29pm
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Love places like that -- reminds me of one of my favourite bookstores, Toronto's Sleuth of Baker Street... Marian and JD live upstairs:

http://www.sleuthofbakerstreet.com/

posted by mschatelaine on July 29th 2009 at 3:45pm
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I like it! Very warm with some great old pieces. Interesting!

posted by junklover on July 29th 2009 at 3:47pm
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reminds me of our family's late st. bernard whom we loved dearly. though he was a dry mouth (& hopefully this one is too!) & didn't technically drool, he drank a lot of water, which stayed in his mouth & jowls & would drip all over the floor as he walked about. also, love the place & all the books--it's like one huge reading nook.

posted by timmy jr. on July 29th 2009 at 6:18pm
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