There is an exceptionalism to carving out one’s own place in history. For a couple in Brooklyn, that feeling of being home was discovered in the Cobble Hill Historic District, where they envisioned the future of their nascent family in the historic presence of a landmarked Anglo-Italianate row house.
Homeowner Lauren Williams and her husband were drawn to the historic details of the home, as well as to the opportunity the four-story row house offered for living, entertaining and raising a family. A creative several times over, Williams’ resume includes time spent in the fashion world and as the owner of the now-shuttered home goods shop, Lolo. Now at the helm of her own interior design firm – Studio Solenne – Williams knew the decision of which architectural firm to partner with for this very personal project would be crucial. “We knew we needed a team of architects who knew their way around landmarks, who understood the balance between preserving important original elements and seamlessly mixing in more modern features,” Williams recalls. She found that partner in The Brooklyn Studio, experts in historic restoration with a specialty in the very type of row house Williams and her husband had purchased.
Perfect as the house’s bones seemed, the actual blueprint required a lot of fine-tuning to bring it into today and transform it into a home for years to come. The primary programmatic needs were a large, functional kitchen; space to entertain guests and relax; two offices; guest accommodations; and bedrooms for future children, the first of which arrived just as construction finished. Despite these modern needs, Jasper Crace, project manager at The Brooklyn Studio notes, “there were many original details still present when the clients purchased the property, and a priority for them was ensuring these details be preserved wherever possible.” As such, all plaster details on the redesigned first and second floors are original, existing tin ceilings were painstakingly stripped and refurbished and the curving stair details were preserved, though the stair structure itself needed to be reinforced. And while the layout of the second floor remains largely unchanged, the architects found clever ways to incorporate a powder room, hidden closets to conceal HVAC equipment and a wet bar without disrupting any of the existing ornamentation.
Though “a childhood dream come true,” creating an interior for herself and her family wasn’t exactly simple, Williams reveals. “With a client, it’s a bit easier to rein yourself in and focus on certain themes. When designing for myself, where the space could be anything, it was tough to pick a direction. I ended up trusting my gut and selecting things I simply love.” An avid art collector, Williams used that feeling-based passion as a guiding light. “I designed the interiors of the rooms loosely around pieces I have collected over time, leaving space to add more,” she explains.
Avid travelers, Williams gained inspiration from trips she and her husband took during the renovation. In each space, she worked to marry personality and discovery with sophistication, comfort and ease.
“What I truly enjoyed in this home was working with fabrics, textures and color, and using those things to create elegant whimsy throughout,” Williams reflects, noting the personal project allowed her to channel her days in fashion. “Our home is the ‘collection,’” she explains. “With each room acting as a piece in the collection that correlates with the next.”
Photography by Malcolm Brown.
Builders: Black Square Builders.
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