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.

It's Zack, not Zach :)
(I used to date him).

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.

Holy huge hound! And I want that bookshelf (not the best looking thing ever, but so much space!)

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.

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. :)

That dog is amazing. Also, I look forward to visiting that store.

Emily

Any ideas on where to get the plans for bookshelves like that? They look DIY. Not to mention awesome.

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/

I like it! Very warm with some great old pieces. Interesting!

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.