Photography by Revelateur Studio
In this renovation of a century-old rooming house, four existing features were deemed worthy of preservation: the brick shell with its 11-ft.-tall main-floor ceiling; the front door; main floor stairs with its lath-turned balusters marching along like so many shish kebab skewers; and the original mouldings. On the main floor, hallways and doors were eliminated so that the stair, now painted black, is visible everywhere; large windows were added at the rear to bring in daylight and views of the backyard. The kitchen ekes out its modest square footage in the middle of the main floor with a built-in wall of tall cabinets, corner banquettes and a pantry that opens to reveal a bar and coffee station. The tall white cabinets in the living room are interrupted by a narrow slit of black bookshelves and a square black recessed fireplace that, in context, looks whimsically postage-stamp-sized. Upstairs, clerestory windows above bedroom doors evoke lonely film noir apartment corridors.
