After spending eight years in California, two East Coast natives—he grew up in Manhattan, and she’s originally from New Jersey—were ready to return home to be closer to family. It was 2023, they were expecting their first child, and they needed to establish a new home base. They eventually found it in a landmarked 1897 brownstone in Brooklyn’s Park Slope Historic District.

While they loved the old, prevailing details in the front rooms of the brownstone—especially the snarling dragons carved into the entry bench, and the fretwork spanning a parlor doorway—they also had a decidedly California-influenced wishlist when it came to a remodel. First up: “We wanted to get as much sun as we could into this house,” says the owner. “We were trying not to suffer in the winters.”

After: Entry

After interviewing several architects, the couple decided to work with Themis Haralabides, founder of reBuild Workshop, whose portfolio is full of local brownstone and town house overhauls. “We liked the idea of design-build, and having everything managed centrally was appealing to us,” says the owner.

Haralabides walked them through a project he was working on in Williamsburg, and the were duly impressed. “Themis is really a neighborhood guy” says the owner. “He lives like a block away from us, and our neighbors still talk warmly about his team.”

Before: Stair Hall

After: Stair Hall

As they were planning the project, the homeowners mentioned their love for midcentury furniture and Heath Ceramics, where a close friend of theirs works. The resulting renovation, which reorganized the layout on each of the three floors, is a mash-up of their past and present. “We came up with the idea of West Coast openness versus East Coast formality,” says Haralabides. Take the colorful tile choices in the bathrooms. In an Instagram caption, the firm describes them as “Palm Springs meets Brownstone Brooklyn.”

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

The team saved much of the historical detail at the front of the house—from the paneled wainscot running up the stairs, to the bay window shutters and the parquet floors. The couple’s young son is enamored with the animals in the woodwork. “He is very into imaginative play right now, so he’ll frequently be roaring at the dragon,” says the owner. The furniture selection blends vintage and modern pieces, for a “lived-in” feel that suits the owners, says Haralabides.

Before: Den

After: Threshold

On the parlor level, the team installed a kitchen in place of a rear bedroom, with large glass doors leading out to a new rear deck. The couple’s child revels in the indoor/outdoor flow, even as Mom is trying to dress him in the morning. “He would just run outside butt naked to the back and start screaming and doing a dance on the deck,” says the owner. “We’ve met a few neighbors that way.”

The pocket doors leading to the middle room had been closed up to create a closet, so they opened the space up while preserving the fretwork—it now serves as a “portal,” as Haralabides calls it, between the historic detail at the front and the new interventions at the rear. The passthrough is painted a rich, dark color to frame the views in either direction, and storage and mechanical systems are tucked behind thick paneled doors with glass knobs.

Before: Back Bedroom

After: Kitchen and Dining Room

The material choices provide a consistent thread throughout the home, from the white oak floors that have “a similar scale to the parquet without doing parquet,” says Haralabides, to the Heath ceramics tile on the kitchen backsplash, which echoes the tile in the primary bathroom upstairs, as well as the fireplace surround in the front room. The streamlined, stained casework echoes the color of the preserved fretwork. “Our approach to the new was to keep it very simple, and give the historic more room to breathe.”

Since the family moved into the finished house in May of last year, the casual dining area has proved a popular spot, thanks to a custom banquette that everyone gravitates toward sitting on. “It’s just an easy place to hang out,” says the owner, noting that they perch there while getting meals ready for the family, or hosting their “California crew” for a visit.

“Right after we moved here, we had a big housewarming party with them—three couples and three children,” says the owner, and everyone was able to sleep over at the house. The first thing their West Coast friends noticed when they walked in? The owner points to the Heath Ceramics tile around the fireplace: “Everyone was like, this tile looks so familiar.”

Before: Rear Facade

After: Rear Facade

After: Powder Room

After: Kid's Bathroom

After: Primary Suite

More Before & After stories:

First-Time Homebuyers Prioritize Fun in a $514K Brooklyn Brownstone Rehab

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

They Loved Their Vintage Brownstone—So They Embraced Its Many Quirks

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: reBuild Workshop / @rebuildworkshop

Builder: reBuild Workshop

Interior Design: reBuild Workshop

MEP Engineer: Green Solutions Consulting Engineers

Also Appears In

Before & After: They Returned From California and Filled Their Brownstone With Sunshine