design by: Hunt Architecture
styling and photography by: Louisa and Fyodor
words by: Lidia Boniwell
via: est living
Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, USA
This Chelsea townhouse began as a full gut renovation: as Hunt Architecture partner Nick Hunt describes it, nothing was salvageable, and the team rebuilt from studs, subfloor, and joists while recreating historic detailing throughout. The result is not a nostalgic copy. It is a carefully edited interior that keeps the proportions and ornament of a New York brownstone while making the rooms work as one continuous, contemporary floor.
The main level is organized as a straight sequence from street-facing kitchen to central dining zone to living room and garden beyond. That long axis was a core part of the brief, with views from the front of the house to the rear courtyard. Tall ceilings, listed at 3.7 meters in the source, keep the plan from feeling compressed, while white-painted panel walls and deep crown mouldings maintain a formal envelope around open-plan living.
Materially, the kitchen carries the strongest gesture. Calacatta Turquoise marble is used as cladding and work surface across the range wall, shelves, benchtops, and island, with green veining running through each surface against gray paneled cabinetry. Brass fittings and heritage-style appliances reinforce the old-world register, including the La Cornue Cornufe 110 range and a Sub-Zero Classic Series French door refrigerator. Walnut flooring grounds the room with a warmer, darker tone under the cool stone palette.
Beyond the kitchen, the central dining space is anchored by a full-height bookcase and rolling library ladder, then opens to a living room with a custom carved marble mantel and paneled wainscoting. Bathrooms shift to a quieter material set: Moroccan zellige tile, hand-plastered walls, marble vanity blocks, and warm brass fixtures. The house reads as a reconstruction rather than a restoration, but one that keeps historic language legible at every threshold.
For Brooklyn readers planning exterior or streetscape-facing scope, pair this project with the Brooklyn Brownstone Landmark Approval Guide: What Needs LPC Review?, which outlines the review path before permit filing.
Tags: Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, Hunt Architecture, La Cornue, Sub-Zero
