House for Three Generations
Located in historic Brooklyn Heights, this Federal-era
townhouse is home to a family comprised of three generations. The new rear extension with its
wood-and-glass windowed façade allows sunlight to reach deep into the narrow
house, creates multiple connections between inside and out, and provides framed
views of the family’s beloved Black Locust tree from each floor.
The owners wanted to create spaces for peaceful retreat among their books and ceramics inspired by favorite places in their native Japan. We designed the extension with thick walls and embedded them with shelves from bottom to top to house their collections. At the garden level, the double-height library forms the centerpiece of the house, extending through a sliding door into the rock garden. Above that, the kitchen walls are full of ceramics made by the owner whose colorway of glazes inspired the material palette of the house.
The house flexes and contracts to make space for the extended family to live both together and privately within the five stories. A double pocket door connects the parlor living space to the entry hall and main stair, linking or separating the top half of the house from the bottom. On the upper floors, a set of interconnected folding doors and sliding panels form the entry to the children’s bedrooms and play area, which can form a secret passage or be folded back to allow sunlight into the playroom.
The House for Three Generations was selected as a winner of the 8th-annual AIANY Interiors Residential Review.
The owners wanted to create spaces for peaceful retreat among their books and ceramics inspired by favorite places in their native Japan. We designed the extension with thick walls and embedded them with shelves from bottom to top to house their collections. At the garden level, the double-height library forms the centerpiece of the house, extending through a sliding door into the rock garden. Above that, the kitchen walls are full of ceramics made by the owner whose colorway of glazes inspired the material palette of the house.
The house flexes and contracts to make space for the extended family to live both together and privately within the five stories. A double pocket door connects the parlor living space to the entry hall and main stair, linking or separating the top half of the house from the bottom. On the upper floors, a set of interconnected folding doors and sliding panels form the entry to the children’s bedrooms and play area, which can form a secret passage or be folded back to allow sunlight into the playroom.
The House for Three Generations was selected as a winner of the 8th-annual AIANY Interiors Residential Review.
Status: Completed
Scale: 5000 sq. ft.
Collaborators: LERA, ABS Engineering, Dot Dash, K Hoyt Landscape
Built By: Grant Davis Thompson
Photography: Max Burkhalter
Landscape Photography: Dan Wonderly