Stained-glass windows, a turret, a pool: You’d be forgiven for thinking this historic Colonial Revival house, redone by Workstead, was anywhere but New York City, but you’d be mistaken. Surprising but true: It’s located in Prospect Park South in Brooklyn, updated with care by principal Ryan Mahoney and the Brooklyn- and Hudson-based team.
The project is also a highlight of the studio’s first monograph, Workstead: Interiors of Beauty and Necessity, out this month from Rizzoli, which chronicles Workstead’s first 10 years. (We’ve been admirers for just about as long: Our first post on the firm, way back in 2012, began: “If we were betting on the next breakout star in design, we’d put some money on Workstead.”)
A decade later, join us for an inside look at this historic Brooklyn house, one of 10 iconic interiors featured in the book.
Photography by Matthew Williams from Workstead: Interiors of Beauty and Necessity.
Above: The three-story house required careful updating. Mahoney and the Workstead team approached the project with three priorities: preserving the house’s historic details, adding fine millwork, and a encouraging a sense of escape and nature, even in the middle of Brooklyn. Above: A chandelier by Brooklyn-based plaster artisan Stephen Antonson hangs in the entryway. Above: The mudroom features a pastoral mural (actually wallpaper by Gracie, purveyors of hand-painted designs since 1898) and a vintage clock. Above: Shades of green—a nod to nature—are a recurring theme throughout the project. Above: Built-in window seats make use of the large curved windows. Above: An original copper mantel depicts a maritime scene; hanging above is a lithograph by Canadian American artist Philip Guston. Above: A playful addition: The Workstead team sourced a pingpong table from BDDW to double as the dining table; the net is simply removed when it’s time for meals. (Another pingpong-table-as-table we love? An Architect’s Own Playful but Serene 19th-Century House in Rome.) Above: The kitchen is fitted with cabinets by Brooklyn-based woodworker Markus Bartenschlager, a wide blue island, and terracotta floor tiles for a subtle color-blocking effect. Above: A round bank of windows is fitted with an eating nook with a wrap-around bench. (Also spotted: taper candles in bright, surprising hues, a design detail of the moment.) Above: A powder room highlights the homeowner’s proclivity for all things vintage. Above: The library is painted in a deeper hue: Farrow & Ball’s Studio Green. Look closely and you’ll see carved wooden birds adorning the built-in shelves. The flora-patterned sofa is by Neri&Hu. Above: A study in textures: the layered, eclectic but neutral main bedroom. Above: The main bathroom is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Ammonite. Among the details: a clawfoot tub, a hinoki bath mat, and a framed photograph by Hiroshi Sugimoto. Above: Out to the pool.
Workstead: Interiors of Beauty and Necessity is now available from Rizzoli; it’s $59.80 via Bookshop.
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