As creatives who do advertising work in the tech industry, Trish and Andrew McKechnie know the elements of a great project brief. Accordingly, they composed their desires for renovating their newly purchased Brooklyn brownstone in a 16-page PDF, accompanied by illustrative photos of comparable rooms and details.

“I’m used to receiving good and bad briefs,” Andrew says. “I wanted to be very specific in terms of trying to capture all of the facets of what a home can be, and I tried to give a sense of the best references.”

When the couple first visited the three-story Carroll Gardens townhouse with a garden-level half-basement, it needed love. Landmarked as a part of the neighborhood’s newly formed historic district in 1973, the 1876 Neo-Grec building had previously been divided into four rental apartments, and it had not changed hands since 1960. Once they succeeding in buying the property, they knew it would be a complex and arduous project.

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Hugo photograph hangs on the restored marble mantle, which is trimmed above with white oak. " layout="bleed" credit="©Ines Leong / L-INES Photo" photoUserId=""/>

Brooklyn-based architect David Cunningham had helped them inspect the property. When they sent him the detailed brief to turn it into a triplex with a garden-level rental, the extensive thought put into the document impressed him. “It’s pretty unusual for a client to do that,” he says. “We’ve never seen it before. A lot of people make lists of things, but they had an overall vision or concept of how everything would hold together.”

The brief called for a warm family home that preserved historic details while introducing a more modern aesthetic—and this aim defined the main tension in the building’s transformation. Initially, the couple emphasized the wish to preserve historic details, their appreciation for craft, and a desire for a minimalist but approachable aesthetic. They also mentioned “refraining from anything that is too precious.”

As the design progressed, though, much of the Neo-Grec shouldered arch door-and-window trim fell away—only original and well-preserved elements in some rooms were saved—in favor of greater openness on the inside, and the need to add insulation to the front and rear facades.

Before: Parlor Level

After: Parlor Level

On the parlor level, they removed most of the interior walls, giving way to a continuous, open space that brings natural light into the middle of the floor. They replaced the vinyl flooring with wide-plank white oak—a material that would tolerate wear and tear without heartache over every scratch. “We believe that scuffs and marks are a testament to the memories we create,” they wrote in the brief.

They swapped steam radiators and a boiler for central heating to achieve a streamlined interior and improve the building's energy efficiency. The move required gut renovating the floors and ceilings, which resulted in losing a vintage tin ceiling in the process.

Trish and Andrew decided they could live without a staircase from the kitchen to the garden-level rental unit and utility rooms. They opted for Henrybuilt shelving that extends beneath the stringer of the stairs to the second floor, accentuated by a band of Scandinavian-style blonde oak trim with a slight lip.

The couple hand-selected a white marble backsplash with distinct gray veins for the walls above the kitchen counters. The counters themselves are Paperstone, which will patina with age. Blonde oak trim continues as a detail around the mantle, window surrounds, and cabinets.

Before: Stairway

After: Stairway

On the third floor, they removed the walls and inserted a skylit bathroom between the main bedroom and a top-floor study. Instead of placing the bathroom flush against the party wall, they were determined to situate it in the middle, and place the doorway on the opposite side of the stairs, allowing privacy without a door.

The en suite bathroom became a bit of a challenge—technically and conceptually. Cunningham spray-painted the room’s floor plan in its real dimensions in the courtyard of his office in Gowanus to reassure Trish and Andrew it would be spacious enough. Resituating the bathroom also meant routing plumbing through the center of the building, where they also placed the mechanicals to limit the loss of ceiling height from heat ducts.

In the end, they managed to retain some distinctive details, while restraining their urge for extreme minimalism, to create a more relaxed family home. “The design decisions were predominantly based on two questions,” says Andrew. “How does a young family want to live in a space? And how do they want their home to feel?”

Before: Rental Unit Kitchen

After: Main Bedroom

Before: Rental Unit

After: En Suite Bathroom and Study

Sam Friedman and a Tom Dixon lamp." layout="wide" credit="© Ines Leong / L-INES Photo" photoUserId=""/>

Before: Bedroom

After: Playroom

Artwork by Mike Lee and cabinetry by Jason Golob of Armada New York furnishes the children’s playroom on the second floor." layout="wide" credit="© Ines Leong / L-INES Photo" photoUserId=""/>

More Before & After stories:

14 Row Houses and Brownstones “Before & After” Their Much-Needed Makeovers

A Brooklyn Brownstone’s Dreary Basement Becomes an Urban Oasis

Project Credits:

Architect: David Cunningham Architecture Planning / @dcapny

Contractor: Shafayet Hossain, Multi Construction Co

Structural Engineer: Erik Madsen, Madsen Consulting Engineering

Interior Design: Henry Built Kitchen Cabinets

Custom Millwork/Metal: Jason Golob, Armada New York

MEP Engineer: John Pristina, EP Engineering

Photography: Ines Leong, L-INES Photo / @l.ines_photo