Located within the Clinton Hill Historic District, this 19th-century Italianate brownstone was reimagined for creative clients Kassandra M. Lao Pietri (KasMaria) and Devon Turnbull (OJAS). Mixing Danish and Japanese aesthetics, historic detail, and contemporary restraint, the renovation balances rigorous historic preservation with bespoke creative spaces—including a specialized acoustic listening room and a private fashion studio. A strategy of restoring the house’s deep, curvilinear elements is offset by carefully considered modern insertions that respect the existing architecture while introducing new spatial flow, natural light, and calm.
A new kitchen is positioned at the rear of the parlor floor, reconfigured as the home’s social center. A generous island encourages cooking as a shared ritual, while a wall of French doors opens onto a terrace and a stair that descends to the garden. While landmark restrictions limit changes to the façade, the rear offered greater freedom. A custom steel stair now connects the kitchen to a garden composed of floating platforms, shaded by the adjacent brick wall. Designed collaboratively by ABA, landscape designers Marc Keane and Brook Landscape, and the clients, the garden translates Japanese principles of rhythm, pause, and asymmetry into a Brooklyn setting.
Inside, restored floors and window moldings coexist with new wood cabinetry, custom benches, and clean-lined millwork that engage historic scale and proportion. The primary bath, lined in Carrara marble, is accessed from the hallway as well as through a concealed door from the bedroom.
The top floor contains creative workspaces for each owner: a sewing studio for the fashion designer and a listening room for the audio engineer, built with dedicated circuitry and acoustic isolation. A curved ceiling opening leads to the roof, where a small enclosed deck holds two soaking tubs and a planter. Simple stainless-steel forms, fabricated by a kitchen-equipment manufacturer, focus the retreat on the open sky.
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