WITH EVERY WALL WE
TOOK DOWN, I FELT LIKE
THE HOUSE BREATHED
“THANK YOU.” WE HAD
A RELATIONSHIP RIGHT
OFF THE BAT.
—HOMEOWNER KATIE BROWN
eEven though more than a decade has passed since Lifetime tapped her as the “next Martha Stewart,” there’s nothing blasé about Katie Brown. She’s still your best friend,
not your disapproving mother, although she leaves
you in awe of her boundless energy. With her current
show, Katie Brown Workshop, and a line of home and garden products for Meijer, Katie has claimed and maintained
her niche as a peppier version of the archetypal domestic goddess.
But how did this daughter of the Midwest come to Brooklyn?
After a decade in Los Angeles and another in Manhattan, it wasn’t
predestined. “I always thought we’d never do 718,” she recalls,
referring to the borough’s area code. Instead, she was living in a
big loft on Chrystie and Houston streets, in the maelstrom of
downtown. “But, I fortuitously dropped an
assistant off in Brooklyn one day and thought,
‘Wait a minute.’” That was four years ago, when
Katie and husband William Corbin’s daughter,
Prentiss, was barely 2. She’s now 6, and
Meredith, their younger daughter, is pushing
2 herself.
The new neighborhood, Carroll Gardens,
has proved to be the ideal spot for her growing family—and her business, which she runs
out of a retail shop and workspace in the
nearby Red Hook area—feeding Katie’s
creativity and her sense of place. “My house
is sandwiched between two points of view.
Top and left: Painted in Pratt & Lambert’s Chervil,
the music room has a poetic charm. Homeowner
Katie Brown commissioned artist Jess Ryan to
draw the menagerie on the walls. Right: Curtains
from Casa Fiora dress up the tall windows. The
chandelier is from Circa Lighting.
Preceding pages: Katie and daughters Prentiss and
Meredith cuddle on the living room’s large
ottoman. Many of the room’s new pieces—the
sofas, slipper chairs, and mirror—are from Drexel
Heritage. The mantel is original to the house.
48 SEPTEMBER 2010
traditionalhome.com
