Houzz Tour: Manhattan Brownstone Hides a Surprise
Behind an unassuming residential facade on an East Village street dotted with storefronts lies a feat of engineering
Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City. I have Bachelor of Architecture and Master in Urban Planning degrees, and over ten years experience in architectural practice, split between Chicago and NYC. Currently I'm focused on writing and online pursuits. My daily blog can be found at http://archidose.blogspot.com
Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City.... More »
On the south side of a block of East 14th Street, between Second and Third Avenues in Manhattan's East Village, sits an unassuming brownstone renovated by Bill Peterson in 2004. The project's exterior conveys very little about what is happening inside, but this tour will reveal that plenty is going on, much of it in unexpected ways. I was fortunate enough to meet Peterson recently and get a guided tour of the three-story garden residence (first and second floors with partial basement) at the building's base. Here's a look at the building, inside and out.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: New York City
Size: 1,975 square feet
That's interesting: There's kinetic architecture where it's least expected.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: New York City
Size: 1,975 square feet
That's interesting: There's kinetic architecture where it's least expected.
Sitting between an almost duplicate brownstone and a neoclassical building with a bowed facade, Peterson's renovation is immediately notable for what it lacks: retail. The architect was faced with a retail space occupied by a check-cashing store when he bought the building (he was both developer and architect on the project). He converted the first floor to residential, shielding it by a baked porcelain screen in a darker brown than the stone above.
Inside the three-story unit's foyer, it's clear that the facade screen is porous. Peterson actually took a rustication pattern from a brownstone a couple blocks away, drew it in his computer-aided design (CAD) software and then handed the design to a fabricator to cut the panels. The more subtle pattern above the horizontal framing came about from mounting a brownstone veneer on a lightweight honeycomb backing; more on this detail later.
At the opposite end of the ground floor sits the kitchen; this view down the hallway to the front of the house shows the screened facade in the distance. Whereas the street facade is, appropriately, brown, much of the interior is white, finely detailed in a minimalist manner. The brick party wall is a nice touch that gives more texture. As well, the brick wall exhibits some of the previous construction, via pockets for wood joists remnants that are still visible.
Peterson attempted to continue the porcelain palette into the various spaces, but given the weight of the material, ended up using mostly medium-density fiberboard (MDF) with a lacquer finish.
Porcelain is used for the kitchen island's countertop, which has both a sink and a Viking stove; the latter has a retractable range hood that vents down and over to a duct that extends to the top of the six-story building.
I particularly like the hinged light fixture that enables it to be positioned over the island or the table.
Porcelain is used for the kitchen island's countertop, which has both a sink and a Viking stove; the latter has a retractable range hood that vents down and over to a duct that extends to the top of the six-story building.
I particularly like the hinged light fixture that enables it to be positioned over the island or the table.
The backyard is outdoor space reclaimed from the removal of the check-cashing store. Peterson was able to add that square footage to the top of the building for additional units. The garden-level apartment looks out to an artificial turf surface in lieu of grass. The glass wall is actually a retractable garage door with an integral pass-through for access to the backyard.
The faux grass is placed above a subsurface of gravel and drainpipes, allowing for proper drainage. This south-facing elevation gets the most sun, hence a cutout with access to the basement bedroom; this brings light to the subterranean space.
Upstairs are a narrow hallway and brick party wall, just like downstairs. Here we are looking toward the back of the house and the master bedroom. A full-height panel — seen open in this photo — closes off the bedroom from the front of the house.
Porcelain is again used in the master bath, both for the sink backsplashes and the tub surround. MDF is used for the medicine cabinets, since the porcelain was too heavy for the doors. Decals on the backsplashes are temporary, but Peterson developed permanent ones that can be used with the material.
The master bedroom on the second floor benefits from the south-facing back of the building. The room is decorated with a mixture of furnishings that plays off the historical brownstone and the East Village's more recent past as the center of New York punk music. The first is evident in the 19th-century parlor mirror and quilt of the same period; the headboard is custom, picking up on the old quilt. The second is found in the framed T-shirt, an original from the Fillmore East, where many punk bands got their start in the 1970s.
The curtains bridge (the more recent) old and new: The Sweet Dreams Security curtain looks like a standard metal security shutter but is a high design that was exhibited as part of the Museum of Modern Art's "Safe" show in 2005 and 2006. That pattern is echoed in the original Bauhaus accordion wall lamps on either side of the bed.
The curtains bridge (the more recent) old and new: The Sweet Dreams Security curtain looks like a standard metal security shutter but is a high design that was exhibited as part of the Museum of Modern Art's "Safe" show in 2005 and 2006. That pattern is echoed in the original Bauhaus accordion wall lamps on either side of the bed.
| |
| On the front of the second floor is the living room, which, like the master bedroom, plays with the area's history, most overtly in the photo of Patti Smith on the wall. Other furnishings include original Le Corbusier chairs, a Moooi tassle lamp and a couch upholstered in purple. The cutouts on the wall indicate that something is starting to happen here. |
| |
| When you turn to look at the windows, there are more hints that something is going on here: The vents in the ceiling, the gaps at the top and bottom of the wall ... is that a glass railing in front of the wall? |
| |
| Aha! The whole front facade of the second-floor living room is actually a retractable wall! If you open a panel, insert a key and hit a button, the whole front pulls inside in two minutes flat. The living room is now open to the street, a huge view that turns the space into a large terrace. If noise, bugs and temperature are a problem, the vents on the ceiling become high-velocity blowers. |
The glass railing held back a few feet from the facade ensures safety and creates an area where water can drain.
Peterson created numerous headaches for himself in opting for a retractable facade — code requirements, engineering feats, providing room for a 1,500-pound counterweight! — but he persevered and created a distinctive space that brings the city inside.
Peterson created numerous headaches for himself in opting for a retractable facade — code requirements, engineering feats, providing room for a 1,500-pound counterweight! — but he persevered and created a distinctive space that brings the city inside.
Back outside, the effect of the retractable facade on the street is undeniable. Peterson was able to make it happen by applying a thin veneer of brownstone to a lightweight honeycomb backing, just like the top layer of the ground floor, as mentioned earlier in this story.
Traditional brownstone would have made the wall too heavy to raise and bring inside the space. With the variety of different claddings — brownstone, brownstone veneer, porcelain — the facade takes on a striated appearance, yet without giving away the delights that happen at the push of a button.
More:
Book to Know: Contemporary New York Architecture
Traditional brownstone would have made the wall too heavy to raise and bring inside the space. With the variety of different claddings — brownstone, brownstone veneer, porcelain — the facade takes on a striated appearance, yet without giving away the delights that happen at the push of a button.
More:
Book to Know: Contemporary New York Architecture
Ideabook published on July 9, 2012.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
Get real!
I am staring at this and still can't see where the entry is???
I would be afraid that mail or loose papers that I set out on the coffee table would be blown into the street if I opened the wall up LOL. You have to be very neat or not have any stuff in your house to pull this off
Jolanta - There is privacy. Just close the wall!
Will try to upload a pic of a very lovely, old and authentic condo on the lower east side with a green roof that is overlooked by several member buildings and which is warm, modern, and friendly to all.
The looonng narrow hallway bothers me a lot. The apartment has a funny contrast between wildly open and narrowly claustrophobic.
I think that the idea is very cool, and very attention-getting. But I'd put my money on some huge wonderful open-able windows instead. Something that I could open easily for some air or some connection to the street but not something that is a big event to open.
To some I can see why they would like this, but to many such as myself, I couldn't do it. The Party door is too much of a garage door and having to yell over a bug blower would drive me crazy. There is no way I would want everyone gawking and even in NY city with everything moving fast, people would still look. Not to mention living on a busy sidewalk with the neighbors noisy air conditioner right by my open wall.
There aren't many places other than a NY building that you could have bare light bulbs on your bathroom wall as your light fixture. I've looked and looked at the showerhead and cannot figure out how showering under it works. And the bars on the bedroom window? I'd surely need that padded wall behind the bed to bang my head - get me out!
I am sure those that live there love it as many others would, it certainly is creative. Me? I want my ordinary place, no street lights and QUIET!
pattimay - As I wrote in my description, the security grille in the bedroom is a pattern on the curtain, not an actual security grille. It is decorative and, like all curtains, can be pulled open. And the porcelain facade is really strong, and it is a surface easily cleaned, so graffiti is not a problem.