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Alexandra Barker

Alexandra Barker

Brooklyn, NY, US

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Brooklyn House

This semi-attached 25' wide wood frame house is located on a lot with a driveway and two story hayloft in the rear yard.  The building was demolished to its foundations, rebuilt and expanded to create a modern, light-filled custom cedar clad volume housing a family of five with huge interconnected interior spaces that manage to incorporate touches of reclaimed materials,  restored elements and contextual details.

The rectangular volume of the building is eroded at the corners to accommodate access points and allow light into the site. An entry porch is carved from the southeast corner  to allow diagonal views toward Prospect Park, one block over.  A secondary porch at the northwest corner allows access to the house from the rear yard and patio.  The northeast corner of the roof is sliced at an angle to allow light to penetrate into the yard and interior.  

Inside, the open plan living-dining-kitchen space includes a mix of minimal modern detailing and rich textured materials and reclaimed elements.   The loft-like volume of the living space incorporates reclaimed wood beamed ceilings, highly-figured walnut floors, and large double-hung windows, and a stone-wrapped gas fireplace. The grand walnut-clad stair that spills into the space has a stainless steel balustrade.

 The four-bedroom second floor is divided into children's and parent's wings separated by a pocket door.  Toward the front, the master suite has a bedroom with wraparound views toward the park that are partially shielded from view by a large locust tree, a large skylit bath with a windowed shower room, and a windowed walk-in closet.  The children's rooms are each distinguished by the varying roof line at the rear of the house.  The basement rec room has a floating projection wall separating social space from storage. The hayloft was reclad with stucco and  new door and window panels.  A garage was demolished to create an enlarged fenced rear yard, with a gate connecting to the neighboring yard.

 
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Status: Built
Location: Brooklyn, NY, US
My Role: Principal
Additional Credits: Francis Dzikowski/Esto, photographer