WHY I CHOOSE TO LIVE IN BROOKLYN
DESIGNER PROFILE
Ellen
Hamilton
This designer’s brand
of “happy, energetic
decorating,” re;ects the
borough where she built
her business and raised
her family—and where
she maintains a base of
clients who turn to her to
enliven their townhouses
with color, pattern, and
plenty of chutzpah.
“In the iconic Brooklyn
house, things with
provenance and things
that are junk are put
together with a
nonchalance that’s style
con;dent,” she says.
“You get colorful art, lots
of kids, and it’s just a
little messy.” The sense
of connection is palpable
in these places—and it’s
not just because the row
houses are physically
attached, although that
certainly contributes to
it. “I’ve always said this
is a place that’s
recognizably real,” she
says. “It has street life
and an intimate scale.
No matter where you
come from, you can
identify. Running into my
clients on a daily basis
has given me a sense of
place and purpose.”
Her own apartment—
catty-corner from P.S. 29
where her kids went to
grade school—is ;lled
Ellen and her daughter, Grace
with personal meaning
and provides a sterling
example of her ethos.
But as homey as all this
seems, Hamilton also
appreciates Brooklyn’s
worldliness. “We even
see French tourists here
now.” ( hdanyc.com)
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JONNY VALIANT
Brooklyn Bookshelf
Literary lions have long
been drawn to the
borough—and today’s
writers uphold the
tradition, living in the
’hoods and basing their
stories there. We love
coming-of-age classics uch as Betty Smith’s A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN and Paule Marshall’s 1959 portrait of a Barbadian community, BROWN GIRL,
BROWNSTONES. Also try
Jonathan Lethem’s
recent novels set in
Boerum Hill—FORTRESS
OF SOLITUDE and
MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN.
For Paul Auster’s take
on life in Park Slope, dive into THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES. Peter Hedges’ THE HEIGHTS offers a perspective on Brooklyn Heights types. For non;ction, pick up
BROOKLYN IS MINE, a
compilation that Valerie
Steiker and Chris Knutsen
edited, or BROOKLYN: A
STATE OF MIND, edited by
Michael W. Robbins and
Wendy Palitz.
Historic District, just across Atlantic Avenue from the Heights.
Cobble Hill’s WARREN STREET MEWS on Warren Place are a
di;erent story, having been built as workers’ cottages in 1878.
With lush central and side gardens, they’re magical—even more
so because of their proximity to the Tower apartment building,
“model tenements” built in the 1870s by Alfred Tredway White,
and to the rushing tra;c on the BQE, just half a block away.
Once these parts were home to Walt Whitman, Thomas
Wolfe, and Truman Capote. Now, the brownstone neighborhoods are attracting the likes of Norah Jones and Maggie Gyl-lenhaal, writers Jonathan Lethem, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Paul
Auster, and countless more or less celebrated creative types.
The borough has become a haven for anyone who loves
design. Preservationists ;ercely protect their 19th-century
blocks, while emerging (and established) designers continue to
bring new ideas. According to Judy Stanton, president of the
Brooklyn Heights Association—which is celebrating its 100th
year—protecting the architecture helps preserve a sense of
community. She was instrumental in the ;ght to make the
Heights New York City’s ;rst landmarked neighborhood, which
means that a board of overseers must approve all exterior
renovations and new buildings. She also helps protect the
neighborhood’s 50-foot height limit, a zoning regulation that
contributes to maintaining its human scale. Meanwhile, in areas
like WILLIAMSBURG and BUSHWICK, young artists and designers
push things forward, living in lofts, former tenements, and
apartments that they make their own.
; IF A CITY ON ITS OWN, BROOKLYN WOULD BE THE 4TH LARGEST IN THE UNITED STATES.
traditionalhome.com SEPTEMBER 2010 71
