Main Street
Location: Brooklyn
Type: Private Residence
Area: 1,100 sq ft
Used for decades by the owners as a pied-à-terre, this renovation reimagines the one-bedroom apartment into a functional, flexible, and warm gathering space for two older professors with an impressive art collection, an adult-age pianist son, and his growing family.
The apartment is located in a converted paper factory in DUMBO, purchased in the 1990s before the neighborhood’s popularity surged. While the owners loved the apartment’s industrial character, many of those same details had degraded over time. The renovation introduces new steel and glass elements that echo the original rawness through a more refined language: polished stainless steel and walnut millwork, French doors outlined in blackened steel, and a new glazed transom. The new palette also reflects the owners’ interest in natural materials and their collection of stone sculptures, incorporating five distinct stone types, including one with fossilized sea life visible at its surface.
The defining feature is a compact yet highly functional guest suite complete with a desk, library, converted loft, bed, and separate living room. The suite is articulated by a series of operable door panels that alternately divide, connect, and conceal programmatic elements while adding critical storage. These include a frosted glass sliding door that balances light and privacy off the main living space, a closet door, and a French door connecting the bedroom and office to the private living room. One of the French doors is integrated into a bifold system, allowing the entire wall to open and giving the desk an unobstructed view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Three of the bedroom walls are wrapped in a custom rift white oak built-in desk system with storage and shelving for books. Both the guest and primary suites open onto the reimagined kitchen, the heart of the apartment. Anchored by a large island used for work as often as for preparing meals, the volume incorporates lighting and outlets directly into the millwork for shared, flexible use throughout the day.
Where the original double-height apartment was composed of competing interlocking volumes, the renovation pares back these forms to carve out cozy niches and reading nooks. The walnut-paneled dining niche is designed to fit the dimensions of a beloved blackened steel table, purchased upon the owner’s original move-in date and fabricated by a steelworker downstairs. Throughout, discreet yet impactful lighting is integrated into the millwork, with several niches designed to illuminate specific sculptures.
The apartment is located in a converted paper factory in DUMBO, purchased in the 1990s before the neighborhood’s popularity surged. While the owners loved the apartment’s industrial character, many of those same details had degraded over time. The renovation introduces new steel and glass elements that echo the original rawness through a more refined language: polished stainless steel and walnut millwork, French doors outlined in blackened steel, and a new glazed transom. The new palette also reflects the owners’ interest in natural materials and their collection of stone sculptures, incorporating five distinct stone types, including one with fossilized sea life visible at its surface.
The defining feature is a compact yet highly functional guest suite complete with a desk, library, converted loft, bed, and separate living room. The suite is articulated by a series of operable door panels that alternately divide, connect, and conceal programmatic elements while adding critical storage. These include a frosted glass sliding door that balances light and privacy off the main living space, a closet door, and a French door connecting the bedroom and office to the private living room. One of the French doors is integrated into a bifold system, allowing the entire wall to open and giving the desk an unobstructed view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Three of the bedroom walls are wrapped in a custom rift white oak built-in desk system with storage and shelving for books. Both the guest and primary suites open onto the reimagined kitchen, the heart of the apartment. Anchored by a large island used for work as often as for preparing meals, the volume incorporates lighting and outlets directly into the millwork for shared, flexible use throughout the day.
Where the original double-height apartment was composed of competing interlocking volumes, the renovation pares back these forms to carve out cozy niches and reading nooks. The walnut-paneled dining niche is designed to fit the dimensions of a beloved blackened steel table, purchased upon the owner’s original move-in date and fabricated by a steelworker downstairs. Throughout, discreet yet impactful lighting is integrated into the millwork, with several niches designed to illuminate specific sculptures.
Photography: Alan Tansey