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A sculptural stair connects Lien and Jeremy’s living area to a guest suite above.

The ceiling height in this room was dictated by the dimensions of the lofted bedroom above. In order to preserve the eight-foot-tall windows, Kaplan designed a light well around the top. “We did not want to cut off the tops of those triple windows because they’re really stunning,” says Kaplan. “I love that about our renovated projects, where you turn a deficit into a strength.”

The custom cabinetry is painted Benjamin Moore “Rooftop Garden” and topped with Sea Pearl Quartzite. The island has oak cabinets with an ebonized maple counter, lined with stools by Joel Edmondson for Denver Modern.

The contractor rebuilt the coved ceiling with plywood, and restored the original windows, wainscot, and chalk ledge atop the wainscot in the main room. The white table is by Joel Edmondson.

The couple’s architect, Dan Kaplan of Bowerbird Architects, envisioned a modern addition in this corner of the building that is clad in standing seam metal, to house the two new bathrooms and preserve the original architecture.

Guest beds are from Lulu & Georgia.

Engelsman gave the kitchen an L-shaped layout with a large island workspace at the center, and pushed the tall storage into the garage, to create a wide circulation space to access the dining room and backyard.

A gallery wall includes six generations of Holly and Matthew’s families.

In the powder room, the marble hex floor tile was sourced from Tile for Less in Seattle, while Matthew copied the design for the wainscot from the lobby of the historic Publix Hotel, now an apartment building. The sink and faucet are both salvaged finds, with a sink bowl from Elkay. Matthew and Holly chose the Scalamandre wallpaper because it was designed for the NYC restaurant Gino’s, where Matthew’s grandfather was a regular.

The original fir floors were patched and refinished. Holly fell in love with an Italian marmoleum that Matthew installed in the kitchen. The fireplace artwork is from Holly's grandmother. Says Matthew: “It's a pastel drawing by Kay deGreef, an artist whose main gig was painting Hallmark cards.”

Wall shelving is made of wood salvaged from other parts of the house.

Matthew and Holly opened up the foyer and kept the exposed framing in place to speak to the house’s history. The figurine on the newel post is not original to the house, but a vintage replacement found online and rewired by Matthew.

Matthew previously fabricated custom furniture for a decade, so built all of the kitchen cabinets, banquette and table, and island. The latter is made of a 120-year-old beam from the house that had to be replaced. Matthew counted the rings and surmises it was from a tree that started growing before the American Revolution. The perimeter counters are cherry and Butcher designed the upper cabinet to float over the window, which casts sunlight through the glassware and rainbows over the room.

"All appliances were new and selected to have integrated panels,

"Being that the sink was not on a window wall, we added a walnut floating shelf spanning from the refrigerator to the pantry to add interest and a more open feel,

Thanks to a few good thrifty finds—like the $300 stainless steel fridge from Craigslist or the black wood countertop saved from the landfill—Ben and Emilio were able to cut costs while investing in more modular features, like the custom-made aluminum shelving ($100 each).

Rakks shelving ($400) and two BluDot cabinets ($1200) mark the transition from front to back of house. A well-loved Tobia Scarpa Monk chair and Robert Sonneman Orbiter Sconce stand guard to the left. Because they’re not monsters, Ben and Emilio also disconnected the industrial overhead lighting immediately upon moving in.