Cobble Hill
Anglo-Italianate

Built in 1850 in the Anglo-Italianate style, this five-story brownstone, located in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill Historic District, was meticulously restored through a collaboration between The Brooklyn Studio and interior design firm Studio Solenne. The design blends 19th-century charm with modern functionality, reflecting the clients’ whimsical tastes while accommodating contemporary living.

The most significant transformation took place at the rear façade, which had suffered structural decline over 130 years. The Brooklyn Studio design team introduced a striking three-story wood and glass tri-partite window system, both restoring the home’s structural integrity and flooding the interiors with natural light and views of the rear garden.

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate rear facade

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate Garden Bedroom

On the first floor, the floorplan was reorganized to reflect the homeowners’ love of cooking and entertaining. The kitchen and dining room were integrated into one continuous space lined by white oak cabinetry and bright marble. A sculptural brass hood enclosure and brightly painted cabinet interiors create unexpected moments of playfulness. The sitting room, separated from the kitchen through the quiet millwork of the pantry pass-through, celebrates original features like an arched window and painted tin ceiling.

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate sitting room

The second-floor "Piano Nobile" retained its historic elegance with an ornate central stair hall separating two entertainment rooms. The decorative plaster crown moldings were carefully restored and reinstalled, maintaining the home’s original character. Plain-sawn white oak paneling unifies the interiors, with accents of pink, red, and green creating a playful dialogue between the old and the new.

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate piano noble

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate living room

The stairs leading from the fourth floor to the attic were reconfigured to create a more open floorplan that facilitated the addition of a home office. An existing laylight was reimagined to create a lightwell effect from the skylight at the penthouse to the stair hall at the fourth floor.

The primary bedroom was relocated to the rear of the house, capitalizing on the lush greenery of the rear yard. The motif of white oak reappears at the primary closet, connecting the primary bedroom with the study and primary bath, which overlook the tree-lined streets of Cobble Hill.

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate primary closet

Cobble Hill Anglo-Italianate primary bathroom

The top-floor attic was renovated into a sun-drenched office suite, complete with a newly built kitchenette and outdoor terrace.

This collaborative effort between The Brooklyn Studio and Studio Solenne celebrates the harmony of historic preservation and modern creativity, resulting in a warm and dynamic home perfect for family life and entertaining.