East Harlem Brownstone

This narrow East Harlem brownstone was a stack of shabby flats before we renovated. Though the new owners had a modest budget, we gave them a brownstone of elegant simplicity. We opened the parlor floor into one large space for living, dining, and kitchen. We turned the narrow hall at the top floor into a sunny playroom. Around this skylit space, we arrayed small sleeping rooms, one for each child. Between them, a segmented bathroom serves multiple users at once. Lastly, throughout the house, we used green materials–from dark-stained fiberboard floors to recycled blue jeans for insulation.