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Above: Sheathed in Le Parc green paint by Ressource, the forest-inspired library doubles as a sleeping area and takes color cues from Prospect Park across the street. The wallpaper is by Iksel, and the picture lights are from Visual Comfort. A grass-seated chair by George Nakashima tucks into the built-in desk. The bed quilt is from Nickey Kehoe.
When most designers get a commission to revamp a prewar apartment in New York City, they’ll often start by opening up the floor plan. These historic units, built before WWII, tend to have strong bones and graceful proportions—but their formal layouts can feel more suitable to a bygone era. Their small rooms create clear dividing lines between public and private spaces, and most have galley kitchens that are all but sealed off from the rest of the home. Rare is it that, in the renovation of one of these units, the number of rooms actually increases.
But that’s exactly what happened when Kevin Greenberg of design firm Space Exploration reimagined a roughly 2,000-square-foot residence perched in a Brooklyn high-rise. The building was designed by architect Emery Roth in the late 1920s, around the same time he completed legendary Manhattan buildings The El Dorado and The San Remo, and the units have a classic prewar layout. Greenberg, an expert at crafting refined spaces within historic envelopes, leaned in. “We started out with nine rooms—and now there’s 14,” says Greenberg. “People are usually opening things up, but in fact we made this one more subdivided.”
Nicole Franzen
The living room features a carved stone mantel from the Waldorf Astoria. Above the Guillerme et Chambron–inspired credenza is a black-and-white etching by Willem de Kooning.
Greenberg began working on the project in the spring of 2023, when a pair of writers who had moved from California with their two children hired the Brooklyn-based architectural designer to revamp their new home and inject it with moments of surprise and whimsy.
“They wanted a large living room where people could gather, a sizable kitchen, and a recording studio,” he says. “There was also interest in having a pretty well-articulated divide between public and private functions.”
Greenberg started with the foyer, installing arched passageways at either end that lead to the sun-drenched living room on one side and the kitchen and dining area on the other. He deliberately minimized the doors to the primary suite, library, and kids’ rooms by blending them in with the foyer’s custom millwork. “I wanted to create this whimsical pathfinding as a way of articulating the public parts and concealing the more private zones,” he says.
Nicole Franzen
The kitchen has herringbone floors, custom cabinetry, and a whimsical hidden powder room. The wall paint is by Farrow & Ball, and the zellige tile backsplash is from Zia Tile. Cherry wood stools by Jambosco line the island. The room also connects to a space with the family cat’s accoutrements, and Greenberg even designed a tiny door so the pet has easy access to the space.
The camouflage continues in the newly enlarged kitchen (formerly a galley and now an eat-in), where Greenberg cleverly concealed a powder room so that it could almost be confused for cabinetry. “What looks like a pantry is a small, well-lit powder room that’s wrapped in a floor-to-ceiling Iksel mural,” he says. “It gave us a chance to do something surprising and romantic.”
That garden scene was a response to another one of the couple’s original requests. They asked to embrace the apartment’s prime location—directly across from Prospect Park—in their home’s design. “They wanted to capture colors of the flora and the changing seasons to reflect where it was in Brooklyn,” says Greenberg.
Nicole Franzen
A painting by American artist Gary Komarin surmounts the dining area, which now adjoins the kitchen and features a banquette upholstered in a Dedar stripe. Around the Lulu and Georgia table are Somerset House chairs in the manner of French designer Charles Dudouyt. The smaller work of art to the right is by Leanne Shapton: “She painted it during a live performance in Los Angeles,” says the homeowner.
The designer also expanded upon those natural motifs in the library. Out of a windowless space off the foyer, Greenberg crafted a verdant jewel box that does double duty as both a library and sleeping area for guests. Save one wall that features another botanical Iksel design, the room is covered in Le Parc green paint by Ressource on nearly every hard surface. “We wanted it to feel enveloping, sort of like a portal into a different world,” he says. “There’s no natural light in there, and it’s naturally dim and cozy, so we went with a lacquer finish that would reflect light.”
Nicole Franzen
Farrow & Ball’s Parma Gray gives the primary bedroom a soothing feel. The Akari desk lamp is by Isamu Noguchi and the chair is from BDDW. On the wall is a framed 18th century chinoiserie handprinted wall covering.
Within both the home’s public and private spaces, the eclectic furnishings feel thoughtful, layered, and collected over time, even though most of the pieces are newly sourced. There are midcentury sling chairs by Charles Pollock for Knoll, an oval cocktail table by Lambert + Hope in solid oak, a Nordic Knots sisal rug, and a delightful wooden stool by French luminary Charlotte Perriand.
The furniture is mostly neutral—Greenberg kept the color on the walls, carefully deploying soothing pastels (the primary suite’s powdery blue Parma Gray feels like a spring morning sky) in select areas. But the lone colorful statement piece is the living room’s forest green sofa from ABC Carpet & Home, which stands out amid the room’s array of shapes and materials.
Inside a Prewar Brooklyn Apartment by Space Exploration
Open Gallery
Sitting among the new pieces is one item that looks like it could be original to the living room: the carved stone mantel. In reality, it came from the pre-renovation Waldorf Astoria, after being salvaged by vintage shop Olde Good Things. “I like that it’s pretty understated and doesn’t feel ridiculously baroque,” says Greenberg. “It’s perfect for the room.”
After a little over a year of design and construction, the family moved into their new home at the beginning of last year, settling into their space—camouflaged doors and all. “These owners have such a sense of humor and whimsical approach to life,” says Greenberg. “We always want our spaces to act as a backdrop against which life can continue … so the owners can fill in the blanks with their own memories and experiences.”
Geoffrey Montes is an associate editor at ELLE Decor with a serious love for all things real estate and design. Before that, he worked at Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Preservation magazines, covering everything from jaw-dropping listings to world-famous architects and design events like Salone del Mobile and Homo Faber.