Collection by Tim Vienckowski
A painting by Karl Benjamin hangs in the dining area beyond. The living room features a Noguchi Rudder table and artwork by Tony DeLap.
Roscoe, the couple’s English bulldog, enjoys the sun on the covered deck that connects the living room to a bedroom that was added before they arrived. It’s now occupied by the Lemkins’ daughter, Lucille.
By setting an Amsterdam house a few feet back from the street, 31/44 Architects ensured the city’s planning department that the new construction would not block light to the surrounding structures. The gray brick facade references the building material of choice in the formerly industrial neighborhood, which has seen a residential resurgence.
Here, the material palette continues: Plywood makes up the deep window frames, built-in shelving, and wall panels, which have been cut into gently jagged, unconventional forms.
Once unkempt terrain (1), the lot was replanted by Elysian Landscapes. Board-formed concrete walls now hold a lush collection of Bloodgood Japanese maple trees, Canyon Prince wild rye grasses, and Blue Fox Tail agaves. A Spun stool by Heatherwick Studio for Magis joins an outdoor furniture set by Plain Air.
A section of the facade—a cross between a shoji screen and a barn door—slides open. Planter boxes contain edible varieties that fuel Mary’s culinary explorations.
The sloped roof of Carlton’s art studio grows a colorful mix of sedum species.