When their son, Jay, was a baby, Joe McGuier, cofounder of JAM Architecture, and his wife, Kelly McGuier, who runs finances for the Brooklyn-based firm, were living in a garden-level rental in Park Slope, Brooklyn. “We had him in a glorified walk-in closet,” the architect laughs, describing the nursery, a setup that ultimately prompted the search for a larger family home with more light, space, and a sensible number of bedroom doors. McGuier recalls thinking: “We’re adults now; we’ve got a kid. Everybody should have a bedroom door, and we need a two-bedroom.” Serendipity stepped in on a walk through Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood, where McGuier spotted an ad for a converted toy factory—one that met just a single qualification. “It’s this old concrete building with huge concrete columns, high ceilings, and amazing light, but no real bedrooms.” At 1,000 square feet, the space was smaller than they’d hoped for, but they opted in anyway, persuaded by the 10-foot ceilings and lofty windows.
A Danish Rosewood wall-hung shelving from the 1960s holds a collection of the family’s curiosities: design and reference books found at the Strand, an assortment of vintage glass decanters, and an unsigned Surrealist painting from Main Street Modern in Canton, Ohio. The marble column drinks table was also sourced at Main Street Modern. A vintage cast aluminum figural sculpture from Circa Modern in Chicago sits on the counter, and on the sofa is an Icelandic wool blanket the family found on a vacation.
Gieves Anderson
Bebop Side Table by Tristan Lohner
Vintage Art Deco Bedside Table (Set of 2)
In place of the bedroom doors they thought they needed, the apartment—essentially a studio with an outdoor patio—demanded a more inventive approach to separation. McGuier cordoned off the primary bedroom from the living area by installing floor-to-ceiling Belgian linen curtains by RH on a track, along with a sculptural, custom armoire designed by his firm and built by New Collar Goods. He used oversized art pieces—including a mixed-media collage painting found at Dial M for Modern in Chicago that clocks in at nine feet—that hold their own against the room’s proportions. A rarely used TV takes the form of a projector that disappears when not in use, freeing up visual space, while closed storage keeps the detritus of family life out of sight. “Anything we bring in the house, from a furniture standpoint, has got to have closed storage. You just stuff it full!” he says.