
12. This 19th Century Brooklyn Brownstone Got a Modern Upgrade
Jewelry designer Ippolita Rostagno grew up in Florence, Italy, and moved to New York City. When she purchased a 19th century Brooklyn townhouse, it was architecturally beautiful, but not Rostagno’s style. At first, she made due with minimal adjustments, until the opportunity arose to purchase the downstairs half of the duplex from the family who lived there. Once she had the bull brownstone to herself, she set out to do a full renovation from top to bottom in order to have her dream house.

Before Ippolita started any renovations, much of the original historic details had already been ripped away by the original owners, or were worn down beyond repair. The staircase was buckling, and much of what hid under the floors was rotting away. So without the fear or guilt of conserving historic features, she hired architects named Robin Elmslie Osler and Ken Levenson to create a completely new, minimalist house. Since she is a jeweler, Ippolita was able to import crystal and rocks to help give the space luxurious natural features. If you want to see more, check out the Architectural Digest article here.