Remember me
The historic townhouse at 25 Cranberry Street is a template for contemporary living in Brooklyn Heights, an exceptionally well preserved — and tower-adjacent — old New York neighbourhood. Registered in 1828, but thought to date back even further, to 1790, it has a stout, wood-shingle presence and compartmentalised layout that have resisted redevelopment, yet the interiors reflect a modern, functional attitude to new additions.
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Another view of the Donald Judd side table. Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
The homeowner has been fiercely protective of its heritage, stripping back the living space to its original plaster and wood, and even keeping a 1950s robin’s-egg-blue bathroom to avoid damaging the structure. Yet she didn’t hold back when decorating, taking a curatorial approach to styling each room. An art-world veteran, she and her former partner sold an Andy Warhol ‘Mao’ silkscreen to clear the down payment in the 1990s. Then, as a dealer in Donald Judd furniture, she dealt herself a few practical items from his collection.
A Donald Judd daybed on the ground floor. Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
The 3,200-square-foot layout accommodates a sitting room, library, laundry room, dressing room, storage space and four bedrooms, with only 1.5 bathrooms — though the porch is a full 17 feet deep and overlooks a leafy garden. With its exposed beams and brick, its Richard Tuttle chair and Noguchi lamp, the home was deemed elegant enough to feature in a 2005 edition of World of Interiors. The Judd daybed was situated in the dining nook as extra seating, but occasionally served as a couch on which to surf — the most sensible use of it.
The Brooklyn Promenade, with its Manhattan views, is a few streets away. Currently priced at US$4.9 million, the house is listed with Joan Goldberg of Brown Harris Stevens.
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
Photography: Virginia Carey for Brown Harris Stevens
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