Architecture by Sonya Lee
Brooklyn, NY
This three story brownstone in Bedford-Stuyvesant has a simple organizational structure. Bedrooms on the third floor, living on the parlor and dining on the garden level. The large modern kitchen opens to the garden and is detailed with clean lines and lots of hidden storage. On the upper levels, many layers of paint and wall to wall carpet needed to be stripped and parquet floors and plasterwork were restored to create a consistent palette of white and wood throughout the house.
Openings and thresholds are treated as architectural elements in their own right. Doorways, reveals, and trim depths establish a clear order through the rooms, so circulation reads as a connected sequence instead of isolated moments.
Material contrast remains disciplined: warmer timber notes balance cooler painted or stone surfaces, while metal accents are concentrated at touch points like pulls, fixtures, and hardware. The result is tactile without becoming busy.
What stands out most is consistency of detail language. Joinery lines, panel rhythms, and floor direction support how each space is used, giving the project a calm, lived-in character that still feels specific to Sonya Lee.
Tags: Sonya Lee, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
