{"id":302831,"date":"2025-11-20T08:23:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/302831\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T08:23:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:23:11","slug":"merz-house-rooftop-addition-proposal-draws-pushback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/302831\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz House rooftop addition proposal draws pushback"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Joseph and Mary Merz House in Brooklyn Heights<\/a> at 48 Willow Place was completed between 1965 and 1969\u2014as part of the redevelopment of three lots on Willow Place the Merzes purchased.<\/p>\n

The Merzes, both architects, moved into 48 Willow Place after its completion, and designed separate, architecturally comparable homes on the two other nearby parcels, 44 and 40 Willow Place.<\/p>\n

Dubbed colloquially \u201cthe Merz House,\u201d 48 Willow Place echoes Louis Kahn\u2019s Margaret Esherick House, adding late modernist contrast to the brownstones it fronts and the stately Greek Revival colonnade it abuts.<\/p>\n

\"interiorThe Merz House\u2019s interiors were recently redesigned by Starling Architecture. (Adrian Gaut)<\/p>\n

The Merz House sold<\/a> on the market for $10.6 million in 2024 to new homeowners. Afterward, Starling Architecture<\/a> was hired to carry out a top-down interior renovation of the 5,500-square-foot building.<\/p>\n

The eponymous office of Ian Starling, featured on AN\u2019s 2025 Twenty to Watch<\/a> list, honored the home\u2019s existing material palette\u2014redwood, maple, stone, and glass\u2014while adding new amenities in the courtyard.<\/p>\n

But now, a proposed rooftop addition to 48 Willow Place has preservationists, community members, and Merz family members thinking: d\u00e9j\u00e0-vu?<\/p>\n

BWArchitects<\/a> recently submitted existing and proposed elevation drawings to Brooklyn Community Board 2 for consideration.<\/p>\n

The submittals contain drawings of a new rooftop addition that perks up from 48 Willow Place, visible from the street down below. For Katie Merz, daughter of the Merzes, this will compromise the historic home\u2019s architectural integrity.<\/p>\n

\"elevationThe new homeowners and their architects submitted a rooftop addition proposal to Brooklyn Community Board 2. (Courtesy BWArchitects via Community Board 2)<\/p>\n

Opponents of the addition to 48 Willow Place are now appealing with the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC<\/a>)\u2014Katie Merz has started a petition<\/a>, which has over 250 signatories and counting. The home sits within the Brooklyn Heights Historic District.<\/p>\n

Merz states in the petition \u201cthe new owners have every right to personalize their home,\u201d but the signatories are asking the LPC to uphold a previously established precedent mandating any rooftop addition to the three, landmarked homes on Willow Place \u201cnot be visible from the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

The petition cites a similar proposal that added a rooftop volume to 40 Willow Place. The LPC determined then \u201cthe unique sculptural design of these buildings would be severely compromised by a visible pillbox roof addition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"merzAn alcove in the recently renovated Merz House features a bookcase. (Adrian Gaut)<\/p>\n

The rooftop addition to 40 Willow Place was ultimately built, albeit setback from the property line, thereby not visible from the street.<\/p>\n

Merz wants to see a similar outcome this time around, at 48 Willow Place. \u201cThese buildings aren\u2019t beautiful by accident,\u201d the petition states. \u201cEvery line, every proportion was intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"merzMerz House bathroom detail (Adrian Gaut)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Merzes designed these homes as complete sculptural compositions, where the roofline is as essential to the design as the facade,\u201d the petition continues. \u201cA visible addition doesn\u2019t just change the top of the building\u2014it undermines the entire architectural statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LPC will convene on November 25 and hear testimonies from those in opposition to, or in support of, the proposed rooftop addition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Joseph and Mary Merz House in Brooklyn Heights at 48 Willow Place was completed between 1965 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-302831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}