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A Gut Renovation Worth Every Headache

A semi-detached, 1919 neo-Federal brick house on Prospect Park West gets a desperately needed renovation.

Photo: Jason Schmidt
Photo: Jason Schmidt

If you’re contemplating a renovation of a historic treasure, then you better be ready to submit your plans to multiple watchdog agencies. Or as architect Jeff Sherman, who renovated this four-story Prospect Park West house, puts it: “It required the approval of a gauntlet of governing agencies: the DOB, the DOT, the LPC, the Community Board, the Parks Department, and the Trust for Architectural Easements.” It took Sherman roughly two years to complete the renovation after getting the relevant approvals. This included adding an extension to the back of the house, which had originally lacked direct access to the outdoor space, seen above after the renovation and landscaping by Jennifer Colao of Lilac Garden Design. In order to gain access to the garden, Sherman cut into the addition and added French doors.

From left: A view of the backyard prior to renovation. The roof was filled with A/C equipment, a far cry from the oasis of alfresco living it would become. Photo: Courtesy of Delson Or Sherman Architects.
From left: A view of the backyard prior to renovation. The roof was filled with A/C equipment, a far cry from the oasis of alfresco living it would be... From left: A view of the backyard prior to renovation. The roof was filled with A/C equipment, a far cry from the oasis of alfresco living it would become. Photo: Courtesy of Delson Or Sherman Architects.
“We added a small rooftop addition,” Sherman says, “which hides the relocated equipment and opens gracefully onto a new deck lushly planted with boxwoods and wisteria.” Photo: Jason Schmidt
Prior to renovation, this room on the top floor — with exposed beams, a dormer window, and skylight — held potential charm. Photo: Courtesy of Delson Or Sherman Architects
After a coat of fresh paint and new window treatments, the same room was transformed into an office sanctuary, with a vintage desk by Ste. Marie & Laurent, a vintage Louis Vuitton trunk as coffee table, and a vintage Murano-glass chandelier. Mitch Berlin and Milan Lint, the new owners, did the decorating. Photo: Jason Schmidt
Pre-renovation, the interior was, per Sherman, “a jumbled mess of run-down bathrooms, a closed-off kitchen, no foyer, no closets. We gutted it.” Here, a view of the kitchen before work began. Photo: Courtesy of Delson Or Sherman Architects
“The owners favored a palette of blacks, whites, blues, and greens,” Sherman says. The open kitchen and dining area beyond are all part of the ground-floor extension. The kitchen has a statuary marble backsplash and matching countertops with waterfall edges. Photo: Jason Schmidt
The original dining room was closed off, with little natural light. Photo: Courtesy of Delson Or Sherman Architects
Sherman’s extension includes a new dining room flooded with natural light that opens onto a raised deck leading down into the garden. The dining table is Maxalto from B & B Italia; the dining chairs are from Bonaldo, Italy, and are covered in Edelman leather. The custom rug is from The Rug Company. The curtains are from Anjali Pollack Design. Photo: Jason Schmidt

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