This Charming Brooklyn Townhouse Features a Unique Freestanding Kitchen

Ariella first started renting this 2000-square-foot Flatbush townhouse at the start of the pandemic. “It was a great deal at the time, definitely a COVID deal, and was about six times the amount of space I had previously,” she begins. 

Built in 1910, the townhouse came with plenty of gorgeous architecture like original plaster walls and a completely freestanding kitchen (meaning zero built-in cabinets). “I absolutely loved being a tenant here. The house was everything I wanted; it had original details like the arches and wood floorboards, I had my own garden, the kitchen was dreamy, and I had two entire floors of a house all to myself!” 

But then, a flood upended everything. Contractors hired by her landlord to do work on a pipe ended up using the wrong cement to fill in the ground in front of the townhouse. Ariella writes that it “turns out there is a crucial difference between indoor and outdoor cement, and after an overnight rain, the entire garden level of the house flooded with cementy-water!”  

Absolutely all of her stuff that had been downstairs had to be moved to the parlor level, leaving Ariella living among boxes and bags for months. “It was pretty dramatic, front to back, totally flooded, ruined my rugs and anything else sitting on the floor,” says Ariella, who didn’t want to leave the dreamy unit while waiting for the damage to be fixed.

When the landlord eventually told Ariella he was going to sell the townhouse, she initially panicked. “I had nowhere to go, especially with the amount of the things I had collected,” she writes. But after chatting with her parents, Ariella, who was 25 at the time, asked her landlord an “unthinkable” question: “How much do you want for the house?” 

The price was $900k. It’s a lot of money for some, but there were two unique things about the state of Ariella’s finances. “I actually had a fair bit of money despite my young age because I worked five jobs during the pandemic simultaneously (everyone else seemed to become underemployed at that time; I was overemployed),” she explains. And a legal settlement following an incident in 2020 helped Ariella transition from tenant to owner.

Because of those unusual circumstances, Ariella had enough money to put a down payment on the home and get approved for a loan. And in the five years she’s been in the space, she’s not only create a home — she’s also founded a business, Kitchen and Kitten, where she rents out the space for film, photoshoots, and events.

“I have had everything from feature films, to student productions, to brand photoshoots, to chef pop-ups, birthday parties, and even a wedding! This has been my primary source of income for the last two years, and I love being my own boss and my own landlord!” she writes.

“When I was little I remember staring into people’s brownstones, dreaming of having my own,” Ariella admits. “And never did I believe this is how I would achieve it, but every day I am so grateful for the strange, and somewhat awful events that led me here.” 

• Entry Table — Street Find
• Rectangular Mirror — Craigslist
• Venetian-Style Mirror — Street Find
• Oil Painting by Riva Helfond — Street Find

• 1950 Spinette Piano — Mason & Hamlin
• Elephant and Palm Tree Couch — Facebook Marketplace
• Oriental Rug — Craigslist
• Mid-19th-Century Church Mirror — Facebook Marketplace
• MCM Wood Bookshelves — Street Find
• Painting “Voyers” by David Martineau (1986) — Facebook Marketplace
• Pastel Sketch by Riva Helfond — Street Find

• Farmhouse Dining Table — Craigslist
• Art Deco Server — Street Find
• Rattan Trunk — Street Find
• 1950s Theater Seats, originally from a Theater in Utica, NY — Gifted

• Refrigerator — Facebook Marketplace
• Black Hutch — Left by My Old Landlord
• Short Wood Hutch — Left by My Old Landlord
• Kitchen Island — Left by My Old Landlord
• Teak Bar Stools — Craigslist
• Bread and Puppet Posters — Bread and Puppet Press

• Bed — Craigslist
• Floral Pink ’60s Couch — Street Find
• All of the Nude Paintings — By My Friend’s Grandmother, Rebecca Rikleen, Gifted
• Nude Sculpture — By My Friend’s Grandmother, Rebecca Rikleen, Gifted
• Wood Bench — Craigslist
• Globe Bar — Street Find
• Vintage Easel — Street Find

• Gingham Blue Couch — Facebook Marketplace
• Striped Red Couch — Facebook Marketplace
• 1960s Avery Fisher Credenza — Facebook Marketplace
• Vintage Wood Desk — Craigslist
• Space Age White Chairs — Facebook Marketplace
• Danish Tea Cart — Street Find
• Bar Cabinet — Street Find
• Drop Leaf Circular Wood Table — Gifted by My Old Upstairs Neighbors
• Vintage Wood Cabinet — Street Find
• Oil Painting by Riva Helfond — Street Find
• Bread and Puppet Posters — Bread and Puppet Press

• Blue Daybed — Charles H. Beckley, Gifted
• Subway Seats — MTA Sale, 2025 Memorabilia and Collectibles Pop-Up Shop
• Vintage Child’s Size Roll-Top Desk — Gifted
• Vintage Darkwood Dresser — Craigslist
• Pink and Green Plaid Curtains — Facebook Marketplace
• Baby Blue Cabinet — Facebook Marketplace
• Blue Floral Rocker — Facebook Marketplace
• Pink Floral Arm Chair — Street Find
• Vintage Blue Floral Wool Rug — Facebook Marketplace

• Kilim Rug — Gifted
• Quilts — Gifted
• Secretary Desk — Street Find
• Keyboard — Gifted
• Bookshelf — Left by My Old Landlord

• Kilim Wool Ottoman — Street Find
• Washing Machine — Street Find
• All of My Clothes — A Mix of Beacon’s Closet, Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, Goodwill, and Thrift/Vintage Shops Around the World

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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