Brooklyn onfidential C
Above and top right: Here, as in many Brooklyn
brownstones, the parlor floor houses the kitchen and
dining room. Below: An Eileen Gray desk and a chair
from a Paris flea market face Cole & Son wallpaper.
64 SEPTEMBER 2010
traditionalhome.com
WE HAD A LOT OF FUNKY
CHARM TO WORK WITH.
—HOMEOWNER SUZANNE MYERS
than 40 years. “That left us a lot of funky charm to work with,”
Suzanne says. The happy discovery that they did not need to
reconfigure the layout of the house (they live in the top three
floors and rent out the ground-floor apartment) added to this
cheerful attitude. But the decay of the old house’s inner workings
did dictate that it become a major renovation project.
Suzanne’s father, renowned California modernist architect
Barton Myers, drew up what plans they needed. “Stylistically,
it’s not his thing, but he does have a soft spot for traditional;
he’s from Virginia, after all,” Suzanne says with a laugh.
When it came to decorating the house, Suzanne and Adam
leaned toward a style that is a mix of off-center traditional and
mid-century modern with a healthy dose of whimsy thrown
in. The cobalt-blue kitchen was Suzanne’s vision. “I imagined
the inside of a Fabergé egg, all sparkling blue and white.” The
stainless-steel nautical hardware and collection of Bauer pottery
are Adam’s contribution. (A native Californian, Adam is head
of content for a media agency and a television producer who
recently worked with George Clooney on a documentary.) He
has scoured flea markets and junk shops for Bauer since he was
a teenager. He scored the antique tripod lamp that’s now in
the den at a Paris flea market and persuaded a skeptical flight
crew to let him stash it in an overhead compartment for the
trip home. He also found almost all of the doors and hardware
for the house at salvage outlets.
The “parlor floor,” or second level, is furnished with a mix
of traditional furniture (the reproduction Chippendale sofa) and
modern classics (the antique Corbusier armchairs), many of
which are hand-me-downs from Suzanne’s family. Much of the
like-minded couple’s decorating style seems to be intuitive. ➤
