The owners of this house found their dream project through a neighborhood letter writing campaign. Determined to buy a house on this particular park-front block in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the clients reached out to every family on the block. In early 2011, their efforts finally paid off.
The house, ideally situated across the street from Cooper Park, is a single family home that is part of a series of brick houses built in the 1950s. With a front and rear yard, an alley for parking and air rights to eventually expand into - these homes have become desirable. However, the existing footprint and layout is extremely small and since these clients weren’t ready to ex- pand northward - the goal of this project became how to find the best way to fit this small family comfortably into the space now, while taking into account that an additional floor would later be added.
General Assembly was hired in January of 2011 and by Memorial Day weekend, the clients were able to move into a completely re-modeled home. Even with this incredible time crunch, GA was able to build a more efficient floor plan and also incorporate several custom designed pieces. Features include a master bathroom with a floating teak vanity; custom kitchen cabinetry with concrete counter tops; a kitchen island with built in wine storage; and additional custom storage throughout - including flip-top kitchen benches. The most impressive piece that GA designed for this space would have to be the solid oiled white oak suspended shelving in the kitchen. The shelves are supported by steel bracing and anchored into a steel plate in the ceiling. By opening up the shelving above the sink, GA was able to capture the light from the skylight in the stairwell above.
