interiors by: Jennifer Hanlin (Hanlin Design)
architecture by: Chris Cooper (SOM)
passive house consulting by: ZeroEnergy Design
builder: Carlo Perry / CCP Design+Build
photography by: Hanna Grnkvist and William Jess Laird
via: New York Times
Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, New York
A 12-foot-wide 1899 Cobble Hill townhouse becomes a much more rigorous project than a cosmetic refresh in Tim McKeough's December 15, 2025 New York Times visit: Jennifer Hanlin and Chris Cooper renovated their own home around passive house principles while keeping the spaces warm, tactile, and highly personal. The result is not preservation theater and not a generic minimalist gut job. It is a narrow Brooklyn row house rebuilt as a performance-minded family home.
Sustainability and envelope performance are central to the work, not a side note. Working with ZeroEnergy Design, the couple wrapped the basement, front facade, rear facade, and roof in an airtight membrane and thick insulation, installed triple-pane windows, added an energy-recovery ventilation system, and capped the gas line. That passive-house approach shapes the architecture directly: deeper wall assemblies, tighter detailing, and a calmer interior environment become part of the design language.
The visual character is closer to a reduced, Shaker-inflected domestic modernism than to brownstone nostalgia. White-painted brick, exposed joists, and visible joist hardware are treated as finish, while new interventions are crisp and deliberate. The stair railing is one of those interventions, not an original survivor: Cooper and Hanlin designed the sinuous, Shaker-inspired balustrade with builder Carlo Perry. In the kitchen, tall Shaker-inspired cabinetry is paired with a blue-and-white illustrated tile backsplash by Ann Agee that depicts Brooklyn backyards, adding a hand-drawn counterpoint to the restrained envelope.
The furniture and lighting are similarly specific. The dining room image shows a Pinch Soren pendant lamp over an antique Swedish dining table, with bentwood chairs and a grid of framed flower studies that reinforce the house's quiet, collected tone. In the bedroom used as the lead image, the paper lantern, carved console, and full-height curtains continue that balance of softness and precision, while the open door to the terrace makes the rear addition and outdoor connection feel integral to daily life rather than decorative.
Tags: Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, Jennifer Hanlin, Hanlin Design, Chris Cooper, Passive House, ZeroEnergy Design, New York
