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A couple turns back the clock on the Williamsburg townhome, mixing time appropriate touches with a few funky—but fitting—finds of their own.
After Jake Hurwitz and Jillian Vogel bought their Brooklyn row house in 2020 and started a top-to-bottom remodel, the couple turned into foragers. "Alan from Demolition Depot was my best friend for a few months," says Jake, a comedian who’s name you might recognize from CollegeHumor. He and Jillian, a producer who worked on reality show Fire Island, would search for parts at the depot for their new-old home, built in 1910. "There were deep rabbit holes, like trying to find ceiling medallions that had the exact same pattern from the original in the basement. It was really fun."
Such rabbit holes, whether they lead to salvaged medallions or marble fireplace decor, became a favorite pastime of Jake and Jillian’s while they fleshed out a new plan for the house with local firm Hatchet Design + Build. By the time the couple took possession of the row house, it’d seen decades of remodels, each room a little time capsule. Imagine smoky glass mirrors from the ’70s in a den, then a 1950s bathroom with an aquamarine sink. While layers of finishes can tell a story, such piecemeal remodeling makes it difficult to implement wholesale changes that meet current building codes.
Before: Front Exterior
Before: Jake Hurwitz and Jillian Vogel bought this 1910 row house in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2020. Their goal was to "restore it to a former glory that it never had," jokes Jake.
Courtesy of Jake Hurwitz and Jillian Vogel
A historic image of the couple’s home inspired the remodel. Note the window pattern, which Jake and Jillian emulated.
Courtesy of Jake Hurwitz and Jillian Vogel
"When something is renovated incrementally like that, what tends to happen is that floor joists get cut, or plumbing gets routed in suboptimal paths, and we need to pull everything back to start fresh and build up from there," says Matt Ransom, design director of Hatchet.
While much of the home’s historic detail was long gone under layers of wallpaper and mismatched windows, Ransom saw an opportunity in its dropped ceilings. "Toward the front of the house, they were probably around eight feet, but originally they were around thirteen," he says.
Hatchet aimed to recapture those proportions with a new front and back façade and interior layout across two floors and the basement, all while bringing in more natural light wherever possible. A new front door opens from an updated exterior stoop into a vestibule Ransom and his team created. The existing windows, which were short and wide, were changed out for a three-over-three pattern that brings in more light while referencing the originals.
After: Front Exterior
They kept the original entry, which leads to the basement that was converted into a rentable unit. A new front door and steel stoop leads into the home’s first floor.
Courtesy of Jake Hurwitz and Jillian Vogel
See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: A Series of Unfortunate Updates Are Reversed at This Brooklyn Brownstone
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By: Melissa Dalton
Title: Before & After: A Series of Unfortunate Updates Are Reversed at This Brooklyn Brownstone
Sourced From: www.dwell.com/article/powers-street-hatchet-brooklyn-brownstone-renovation-ea362840
Published Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2023 05:20:46 GMT
