{"id":743140,"date":"2026-07-04T17:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T17:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/743140\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T17:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T17:37:15","slug":"a-park-slope-brownstone-is-restored-with-a-french-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/743140\/","title":{"rendered":"A Park Slope Brownstone Is Restored With a French Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Great Rooms<\/a><\/p>\n

\n A visual diary by Design Editor Wendy Goodman.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Oculus Room The black olive tree is surrounded by Battle Grey Limestone tiles from Artistic Tile. The six-by-six-foot skylight is from Lamilux. \u201cI loved the idea of bringing greenery and natural light into the middle of the house,\u201d says Lusha Wang.
\n Photo: Ty Cole\n <\/p>\n

The fashion designer Lusha Wang and her husband, Rodion Steshenko, a software engineer, were about to close on a brownstone in Boerum Hill when they were outbid. That may have been for the best because the place they bought instead, a 19th-century former boardinghouse in Park Slope, had an unlikely family connection that they took as a good omen. \u201cMy dad was a refugee from the Soviet Union, and he came here in \u201976,\u201d says Steshenko. \u201cThe government placed him in a boardinghouse apartment, and it is literally the house across the street from us now. You have to admit, What are the chances?\u200a\u201d<\/p>\n

To modernize their home, the couple, who have two children, enlisted Themis Haralabides, whose firm reBuild Workshop specializes in architecturally respectful restorations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want the house to feel completely finished on day one. We wanted to move in and let it grow with us over time,\u201d says Wang. \u201cOne of the biggest goals was to open everything up without losing the character of the brownstone.\u201d The renovation process took nearly two years.<\/p>\n

Haralabides found several of the original features worth preserving, such as the millwork. But he took it apart with surgical precision and reinstalled it to make way for current amenities like central air conditioning. He put a powder room on the parlor floor and expanded the kitchen, which was as narrow as a hallway, so that it would connect with rooms across the width of the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany clients have this misconception that you cannot insert anything contemporary into historic settings or that anything new has to appear as if it always existed there,\u201d Haralabides says. \u201cWe believe the old and the new cannot only coexist but the tension between them can be productive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a stained-glass skylight on the top floor gave Wang an idea for a dramatic intervention. It recalled a glass-covered rooftop filled with plants she had once visited in Paris, and she wondered if it would be possible to re-create the effect in Brooklyn. Haralabides proposed replacing the skylight with a mechanical oculus. Wang chose a black olive tree to stand underneath. The build-out was a tricky undertaking that required cutting through floors and performing complicated craning operations, but the effort paid off. The result is a serene, if slightly surreal, indoor courtyard located between the main bedroom and bath.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a good day, you can open the skylight and get some air, hear the birds,\u201d Haralabides says. \u201cIt really feels like you\u2019re outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The Living Room The chandelier is original. The Camaleonda sofa is by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia. The triple-glazed windows are from Bewiso. \u201cEnergy efficiency and air quality are inseparable from what it means to care for a historic building,\u201d says architect Themis Haralabides.
\n Photo: Ty Cole\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The Entrance \u201cI was drawn to old European homes and wanted things to feel authentic and not overly manufactured,\u201d says Wang. The original millwork was restored by Haralabides. The pendant is Flowerpot VP7 from Lumens.
\n Photo: Ty Cole\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The Kitchen The original space was closed off by a wall. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really designed for a family,\u201d Wang says. Haralabides tore the wall down to make a dining room. The charcoal-colored paint is limewash. Wang chose deep green for the cabinetry because of a large tree outside: \u201cWe can see it from almost every window.\u201d
\n Photo: Ty Cole\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n The Kids\u2019 Play Area \u201cI wanted to create the room I wished I had when I was a child, where my daughter could be active even when she couldn\u2019t go to the park,\u201d says Wang, referring to her eldest child, Riley. \u201cIf she wants to put stickers on the walls, that\u2019s fine. It should feel like her world.\u201d The wall gym\u2013climber is from Avenlur.
\n Photo: Ty Cole\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Primary Bath The claw-foot tub, original to the brownstone and salvaged from a lower floor, is the centerpiece. It was reglazed for its new life here. The intact Victorian fireplace mantel was restored in place and kept as a decorative piece.
\n Photo: Ty Cole\n <\/p>\n

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\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the July 6, 2026, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n

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\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the July 6, 2026, issue of
\n New York Magazine.<\/p>\n

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