Clinton Hill
Carriage House
Located in Clinton Hill, this 19th-century carriage house was built in the Italianate style. Its rear yard adjoined a historic mews, once frequented by horses from neighboring mansions on Clinton Avenue. Our goal was adaptive reuse in combining the raw ground floor garage space with the upper apartment and rooftop addition to create a home for a family of four, while at the same time retaining space for onsite parking.
On the garden floor, we created the smallest garage possible while leaving ample room for a custom cook's kitchen and family gathering space that opens to the garden.
The second-floor houses the living room, two children’s bedrooms, and a new full bath. We meticulously designed the staircase leading up to the sunny penthouse addition to frame the view of one of Brooklyn's numerous historic churches.
Our main design challenge was getting light into the building’s core. We achieved this by designing a U-shaped central stair with a large skylight above. To maximize light infiltration, we used open risers and a tempered glass rail.
The custom built-in benches for the ground floor entry were fabricated from salvaged wood joists.
Clinton Hill Carriage House received the 1-2 Family Design Excellence Award from AIA Brooklyn at the 2020 BKLYN Design Awards.
Building Information
Location
Clinton Hill Historic District
Originally Built
1930
Rehabilitation Completed
2018
Size
3060 sf
Credits
Partner In Charge
Kimberly Neuhaus
Project Team
Bijan Haghnegadar, Karin Ames
General Contractor
Pilaster Development, LLC
Structural Engineer
D'Huy Engineering, Inc.
MEP Engineer
Guth DeConzo Consulting Engineers
Expeditor
D'Huy Engineering, Inc.
Photographer
Allyson Lubow
Clinton Hill Carriage House
