How They Pulled It Off: A Park Slope Townhouse With a Dramatic Array of Not "Normal" Stone

"Her goal was to create a modernized home that still retains key historical features; the winning characteristic of a space for which the owners had been stewards of for so long. "When we first walked through the home, there was an overwhelming amount of dark Victorian wood detailing," the architect adds. "While impressive and beautiful, we knew that in order to implement upgrades that the home required, we would have to edit out some ornamental features.""

"On the main parlor level, Lyons and her team opened up what had been dark, closed-off spaces and narrow hallways. The same strategy was used in the bedrooms and bathrooms on subsequent floors. Much of the internal systems-plumbing, electrical, and HVAC-were replaced, as were the well-worn floors and crown moldings no longer up to code. "The homeowners steered toward a more contemporary style," Lyons says. "They especially had an affinity for using high contrast elements of black and white so it was a brave move for them to trust us in o"

Owners of a classic early 20th-century Park Slope townhouse commissioned a full refresh after decades of occupation to better suit an entertaining-focused empty-nester lifestyle. Interior architect Merrill Lyons modernized the 3,800-square-foot house while preserving key historical features. The renovation removed select ornamental Victorian wood detailing, opened dark, closed-off parlor-level spaces and narrow hallways, and applied the same strategy to bedrooms and bathrooms. Internal systems—plumbing, electrical, HVAC—were replaced and floors and crown moldings were updated for code compliance. The homeowners favored a contemporary, high-contrast black-and-white palette and trusted the design team to implement bold edits.

Read at Dwell