Home Design Inspiration

Billinkoff Architecture recently completed this bold West Village brownstone for an intrepid New York City couple and their college age son. Everything the family accumulated sold or given away in anticipation of the move from their Upper West Side pre-war apartment to their new home downtown. They were starting over.

This is the second home Billinkoff Architecture designed for the family. The first was a sprawling country house on a rural eight-acre site. That house was informal with an emphasis on casual weekend living. In contrast, the owners wanted their city home to be formal and contemporary, yet distinctive in plan, finishes and furnishings. Together with principal, Donald Billinkoff, and Senior Associate, Yvan Prokesch they left no detail unconsidered. The result is an inventive design perfectly suited to family-life and the frequent entertaining they enjoy.

The original five-story structure had been subdivided over time into small apartments. Several of the earlier renovations removed structural elements leaving floors out of level. To achieve a high standard of finish the entire interior structure and rear wall of the building was removed. Only the street elevation and party walls were saved. On the rear a new aluminum and glass facade announces the contemporary character of the house and forms a perfect backdrop for an elegant garden.