Before & After: They Returned From California and Filled Their Brownstone With Sunshine

After spending eight years in California, two East Coast natives—he grew up in Manhattan, and she’s originally from New Jersey—were ready to return home to be closer to family. It was 2023, they were expecting their first child, and they needed to establish a new home base. They eventually found it in a landmarked 1897 brownstone in Brooklyn’s Park Slope Historic District.

While they loved the old, prevailing details in the front rooms of the brownstone—especially the snarling dragons carved into the entry bench, and the fretwork spanning a parlor doorway—they also had a decidedly California-influenced wishlist when it came to a remodel. First up: "We wanted to get as much sun as we could into this house," says the owner. "We were trying not to suffer in the winters."

After: Entry

After interviewing several architects, the couple decided to work with Themis Haralabides, founder of reBuild Workshop, whose portfolio is full of local brownstone and town house overhauls. "We liked the idea of design-build, and having everything managed centrally was appealing to us," says the owner.

Haralabides walked them through a project he was working on in Williamsburg, and the were duly impressed. "Themis is really a neighborhood guy" says the owner. "He lives like a block away from us, and our neighbors still talk warmly about his team."

Before: Stair Hall

After: Stair Hall