TL;DR
Get decor and gifts delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Brooklyn firm Barker Associates Architecture Office renovated a landmarked 19th-century brownstone in Clinton Hill for a couple who moved from Tribeca. The four-story home combines preserved architectural details with saturated color, contemporary finishes and spaces designed around the owners’ furniture and art collection.
Brooklyn-based Barker Associates Architecture Office has renovated a four-story, landmarked brownstone in Clinton Hill, reshaping a former short-term rental property into a home for a couple who left Tribeca. The project preserves surviving historic features while using bold color, contemporary materials and the owners’ art and furniture to give the 19th-century building a distinctly personal interior, according to a report by Design Milk.
The homeowners, described by Design Milk as an empty-nester couple, wanted more than an update to the period house. Their brief called for a setting that could accommodate a collection of midcentury furniture and contemporary art while feeling warmer and more expressive than a restrained modern interior. BAAO collaborated with them on furniture choices and the placement of artworks throughout the house.
The building had previously been divided into short-term rentals, and the report says much of its original ornamentation had been removed. Rather than recreate missing details, BAAO retained the elements that survived and set them against clean-lined additions and carefully chosen finishes. A relocated staircase and a consistent approach to natural and ambient light help connect the four floors.
Color establishes the scheme from the entrance: deep olive doors open onto a terracotta vestibule, with a yellow staircase and red runner visible beyond. On the parlor floor, diagonal white oak boards reference historic parquet patterns. The living room keeps its original plaster crown molding and rosette, while a textured porcelain-tile fireplace surround and a Richard Tuttle chandelier introduce newer materials and art.
The kitchen wraps around the room’s perimeter, with custom white oak cabinets, honed soapstone counters and a lilac marble backsplash. In place of a conventional island, BAAO installed a dining table beneath vintage aluminum pendants sourced in France. A nearby powder room features wallpaper designed by artist Duke Riley, according to the report.
Downstairs, a bright family room faces the landscaped garden, while a dark-paneled library at the front offers a more enclosed reading space, furnished with a custom walnut bookshelf and Hans Wegner Papa Bear chairs. The primary suite uses russet, ochre and moss green, with a hand-painted landscape mural and a reading nook overlooking a private terrace. The top floor provides three bedrooms for the couple’s adult children, arranged around a skylit lounge.
Historic Fabric Meets Personal Color
The renovation offers a specific example of how an older city house can be adapted for contemporary life without treating its history as a style to reproduce wholesale. According to Design Milk, the building had lost many original details during its use as short-term rentals. BAAO’s approach instead relies on preserving what remains and making the contrast with new work visible.
That distinction matters to homeowners and designers working with historic properties: restoration does not always mean rebuilding features that are gone. Here, diagonal oak flooring nods to older patterns, while modern tile, cabinetry and lighting establish the project’s own vocabulary. The result also responds to the owners’ day-to-day needs, from a garden-facing family room to a separate library and a top-floor area for adult children.
The project is also a reminder that a residential renovation is shaped by its residents’ collections and routines, not only by the building’s architecture. The reported collaboration over art placement and furniture selection makes those possessions part of the design, rather than finishing touches added after construction.
Popular right now
KitchenAid 5.5-Qt Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer, Porcelain White (KSM55SXXX)
Samsung 65-Inch The Frame Pro Neo QLED 4K TV (2026) Bundle with Modern Brown Bezel, HDMI Cables, and Home Theater Guide
De'Longhi Rivelia Fully Automatic Espresso Machine with Milk Frother, White
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Tribeca to Clinton Hill
The couple moved from a Tribeca townhouse to a 19th-century brownstone in Clinton Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. Design Milk describes the property as landmarked and the house as a four-story building. The report frames the move as a change in both space and pace, but it does not provide the couple’s names, the address or details of the purchase.
The renovation responded to the house’s condition after its division into short-term rentals. With much of the original ornamentation no longer present, BAAO focused on the surviving plasterwork and other remaining elements, including the living-room crown molding and ceiling rosette. The architects’ reported strategy was to combine those details with contemporary additions rather than attempt a full reconstruction of the building’s earlier interiors.
Design Milk’s account is written by Adrian Madlener and credits photography to Gieves Anderson. It presents the work as an example of BAAO’s stated design approach—clear spatial planning, expressive color and contrasts in material—rather than as a broad assessment of renovation trends or the firm’s work across other projects.
Project Details Not Reported
The report does not state when construction began or ended, how much the renovation cost, or whether the work received any specific preservation approvals. It also does not identify the homeowners or give the brownstone’s address. Those details cannot be confirmed from the source material.
The source describes the property as landmarked but provides no account of which elements were subject to preservation requirements or how the project was reviewed. It also offers no independent assessment of the renovation’s energy performance, accessibility, construction methods or effect on the surrounding neighborhood. The design descriptions and account of the owners’ aims are reported by Design Milk; no separate statements from the homeowners are included.
No Further Milestone Listed
Design Milk’s report documents the completed interior and does not announce a future construction phase, public opening or follow-up project. The house is described as the couple’s residence, with rooms arranged for family gatherings, reading, displaying art and hosting their adult children.
Further details about the project’s budget, timeline or preservation process would require information from BAAO, the owners or relevant city records. The published account does not indicate whether any additional work is planned.
Key Questions
Where is the renovated brownstone?
It is in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Design Milk describes it as a landmarked 19th-century brownstone but does not publish its address.
Who designed the renovation?
Barker Associates Architecture Office (BAAO), a Brooklyn-based architecture practice, handled the renovation, according to Design Milk.
What changed inside the house?
The four-story home was reorganized with a garden-level family room and library, a reworked parlor-floor kitchen and living area, a primary suite, and three bedrooms around a top-floor lounge. The design pairs surviving plaster details with contemporary finishes and strong color choices.
What historic features were retained?
The report specifically mentions original plaster crown molding and a plaster ceiling rosette in the living room. It says BAAO preserved the few surviving architectural elements, but does not provide a complete inventory of them.
How much did the renovation cost, and when was it completed?
The report does not provide a budget or completion date. It also does not give a construction timeline or describe the project’s preservation approvals.
Source: rss
