Chef’s kitchen facing the backyard. Most of the houses were built using salvaged materials.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
When Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber bought their carriage house in 2009, they were looking for a space that would serve dual functions: a home and a showcase. The married architects run the design firm SHED Studio and wanted their clients to get a feel for what they could do. They were looking for a building that was in need of a complete refurbishment, and the site itself was likely to hold treasure behind the walls and under the floorboards. Their studio is known for clever recycling, like the copper lamp bases Faber found on the sidewalk and twisted into faucets in an old Greenpoint rental property. They found it all at 497 St. John’s. (Having a garage here was no problem; Faber has been racing for 20 years.)
The couple replaced the laminate door with wood made from scrap wood they collected from building the rest of the house. Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber / Hayley Ellen Day for Corcoran.
The couple replaced the laminate door with wood made from scrap wood they collected from building the rest of the house. Provided by Colin Fab…
The couple replaced the laminate door with wood made from scrap wood they collected from building the rest of the house. Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber / Hayley Ellen Day for Corcoran.
According to its appearance on old maps, the three-story carriage house was built in the mid-1800s, with Belgian blockstone peeking out from the dirt behind what looked like an old stable. But the main house had been divided into four rental homes equipped with cheap materials and a bleak carpeted staircase. The couple hired 12 workers to get the complete guts and tried to spend most of their budget on labor by harvesting all the scraps pulled out during demolition. Rust-colored Douglas fir boards appear on the partition walls, creating a Japanese-style screen that highlights the floating staircase. Scraps were put together to create a new front door, garage door and “the most amazing flooring I’ve ever built,” Faber said. He mentioned the end-cap floor at the back of a former stable that had been converted into an office.
The main house and back garden have extensive gardens, and the grounds are 131 feet deep. To spruce up the landscaping, they dug up an entire Belgian block and repurposed it as a patio, and built a deck out of sequoia wood ripped from an old water tower. Other wood they brought in was salvaged and given a kind of patina. The beams left exposed in the ceiling and the treads on the floating staircase are yellow pine salvaged from a demolished Brooklyn warehouse. The floorboards were carved from walnut trees felled at a construction site in North Carolina. Rosewood salvaged from the old Concord Hotel in the Catskill Mountains became the paneling in the master bedroom. (Faber liked to imagine Frank Sinatra, a regular at Concord, dancing behind his head.) Even the fixtures, like the industrial lamps from the prison, are recycled and are “very durable,” Niemegius Faber said.
The old rental staircase has been removed. The new staircase was built using some of the Douglas fir boards found on the partition wall. Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber / Hayley Ellen Day for Corcoran.
The old rental staircase has been removed. The new staircase was built using some of the Douglas fir boards found on the partition wall. Provided…
The old rental staircase has been removed. The new staircase was built using some of the Douglas fir boards found on the partition wall. Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber / Hayley Ellen Day for Corcoran.
“Our home became a model home of sorts, where we could walk potential customers through and see what materials they were drawn to,” Faber said. It helped that every corner of the place was a little different. While the downstairs is Venetian stucco, the upper level has many custom details, including a two-tone lime wash, three-shaped cast concrete sink, and a shower with a drain hidden beneath the tile grout line that started the trend. “We had to use it several times after that,” Niemegius Farber said. Contemporary metal windows were removed in favor of wide glass panes framed in wood, and skylights above the stairs were enlarged, showing how to bring more light into the sometimes dark townhomes used to reimagine them.
Windows were replaced to let in more light and ease access from the den to the deck, and were made from redwood reclaimed from the water tower. Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber / Hayley Ellen Day for Corcoran.
Windows were replaced to let in more light and ease access from the den to the deck, and were made from redwood reclaimed from the water tower. Provided…
Windows were replaced to let in more light and ease access from the den to the deck, and were made from redwood reclaimed from the water tower. Colin Faber and Leni Niemegeers-Faber / Hayley Ellen Day for Corcoran.
But all of these experiments were also done for my own comfort. Radiant heated floors are an intangible perk. Broker Linda Penn said the laundry chute, which connects the top-floor bedroom directly to the washing machine in the basement, is unusual. “This isn’t just some developer special that someone built to flip,” she said. “They thought everything through, took advantage of it and took their time to make a decision.”
The guesthouse has a steam room and deep cypress bathtub. Slide the slats closed for privacy. From left: Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/CorcoranPhoto: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The guesthouse has a steam room and deep cypress bathtub. Slide the slats closed for privacy. From the top: Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/CorcoranPhoto: Hayley Ellen De…
The guesthouse has a steam room and deep cypress bathtub. Slide the slats closed for privacy. From the top: Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/CorcoranPhoto: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
Eventually, two young boys arrived to fill the additional bedrooms on the top floor, and the SHED office in the back doubled as a dreamy guest suite with a bathroom inspired by Japanese hot springs. It has a deep cypress bathtub, a steam room, and a glass wall shaded from the neighbors by salvaged Douglas fir slats and a canopy of birch trees the couple planted when they moved in. “We wanted to bring the forest there,” Niemegius Farber said. Faber, a serious home cook with a Rolodex of chef friends, installed a full-fledged chef’s kitchen with a pizza oven and a table that seats 15 people. The storage area in the basement became a wine cellar, where we could also dry the ducks. And, taking exception to our salvage obsession, we installed an entirely new ceiling in the kitchen: a tin ceiling. It’s practical for cooking, but can be a little romantic, Faber said. “It was a homage to all the apartments we lived in over the years. We left it bare and unpainted.”
Exiting from the garage, the front door opens into a narrow hall that leads straight back through the living room and kitchen, or the study where the family kept the baby’s grand piano. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
Exiting the garage, the front door opens into a narrow hall that leads straight back through the living room and kitchen, or the family study.
Exiting from the garage, the front door opens into a narrow hall that leads straight back through the living room and kitchen, or the study where the family kept the baby’s grand piano. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
The couple remodeled their garage to fit two cars. Colin races as a hobby. A door at the back of the garage leads into the family residence. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
The couple remodeled their garage to fit two cars. Colin races as a hobby. A door at the back of the garage leads into the family residence. Hayley Ellen Day for C…
The couple remodeled their garage to fit two cars. Colin races as a hobby. A door at the back of the garage leads into the family residence. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
The family study door opens into the garden, where Belgian blocks and bluestone dug out of the earth were repurposed to create a patio and path. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
The family study door opens into the garden, where Belgian blocks and bluestone dug out of the earth were repurposed to create patios and paths. Haley…
The family study door opens into the garden, where Belgian blocks and bluestone dug out of the earth were repurposed to create patios and paths. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
Up the stairs in the main house is the open kitchen and living area.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The walnut flooring was made from trees felled on-site in North Carolina. The wood with carved scrolls comes from Chinese temples and decorates the supporting beams.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
One of the three wood-burning fireplaces is located in the living room. Powder room for guests. Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran.
One of the three wood-burning fireplaces is located in the living room. Powder room for guests. Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran.
The furniture is arranged in stages, but the couple was able to fit a dining table that seats 15 people.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
Faber is a serious cook and is located in a chef’s kitchen. He wanted a tin ceiling for its heat resistance and nostalgia.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
A custom pizza oven and wine cellar (located in the basement) are perks for the chef. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
A custom pizza oven and wine cellar (located in the basement) are perks for the chef. Corcoran’s Hayley Ellen Day.
The master bedroom is located at the back of the house and has a wood-burning fireplace. The wood on the left that is no longer visible is from the Concord Hotel.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The first bath had a 1920s copper bathtub that we bought off Craigslist. The shower drains invisibly around the tile grout. From left: Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/CorcoranPhoto: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The first bath had a 1920s copper bathtub that we bought off Craigslist. The shower drains invisibly around the tile grout. From the top: Photo: Hayley Ellen Day…
The first bath had a 1920s copper bathtub that we bought off Craigslist. The shower drains invisibly around the tile grout. From the top: Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/CorcoranPhoto: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
A pink lime wash in the larger of the two bedrooms where the children grew up.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
Soft gray lime wash in the smallest bedroom in the main house.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
To the rear, the guesthouse has a patio made from salvaged Belgian blocks.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The end cap’s wood flooring is made from salvaged wood and was inspired by Faber’s carriage house research. This type of flooring is just as durable as traditional wood flooring, but its durability makes it popular among carriage house owners who have their horses’ comfort in mind.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The couple used this space as an office for their design firm, SHED Studio.
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
The bathroom is decorated like a Japanese hot spring and includes a cypress bathtub and steam room (left).
Photo: Hayley Ellen Day/Corcoran
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