Before & After: Brooklyn Heights Trifecta
![Upgraded, double-loaded kitchen with a small island, blue countertops, and interesting semi-flush light fixtures in a Brooklyn Heights home](/assets/projects/brooklyn-heights-trifecta/kitchen.jpg)
This project came along with several unique, exciting features - an 1840s Gothic revival home in excellent condition, 25 feet wide, and located on a Brooklyn Heights single-block Place.
What was the catch? There were some challenges:
No reasonably sized, family-friendly kitchen on the parlor level. The original proportions, composition, and details of the parlor rooms are so gracious that it seemed impossible to make space for an adequate kitchen without sacrificing them.
No family room or play space for the kids. The logical place for a family room was a dark, damp, low space crisscrossed with steam pipes. The rear yard was tight up against the house, making the room feel underground. The original walk-in kitchen hearth remained.
Out of date heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and other utility systems.
Poorly operating and poorly fitting "single-sided, weight and chain Gothic Revival windows; a rarity.
![Upgraded, double-loaded kitchen with a small island, blue countertops, and interesting semi-flush light fixtures in a Brooklyn Heights home](/assets/projects/brooklyn-heights-trifecta/kitchen.jpg)
![Narrow, single-loaded kitchen in Brooklyn Heights townhome before our renovation](/assets/projects/brooklyn-heights-trifecta/kitchen-before-4.jpg)
By reinforcing parlor floor joists, we were able to accommodate a double-loaded, modern kitchen with room for the whole family.
![Rear garden floor of a Brooklyn Heights townhouse with a new areaway leading up to the rear yard and two sets of French doors leading outside](/assets/projects/brooklyn-heights-trifecta/garden-floor.jpg)
Full glass doors provide plenty of natural light and relief from the sense of confinement in the original cellar. A polished concrete floor preserved as much ceiling height as possible.
![Informal dining area with newly restored wood floors and windows, wood circular table with black chairs, leading out to the rear yard of a Brooklyn Heights home](/assets/projects/brooklyn-heights-trifecta/informal-dining.jpg)
Throughout the house, we replaced mechanicals with lower-profile, high-performance alternatives that allow original detail to be preserved.