PARK SLOPE BROWNSTONE

Most of our restoration of this stately brownstone focused on re-creating vintage details. But we used modernist designs to open the inward-looking house to the outdoors.

For example, we replaced half of the rear wall with steel windows. These look out on a newly landscaped garden, a parlor floor deck, and a new connecting stair.

Given an attic ceiling that sloped down to knee height, we opted to remove its roof, turning this substandard crawl space into an extraordinary outdoor space. Wide glass doors open onto this new roof deck, bringing daylight to the middle of the house. And a new exterior stair links this deck to an upper roof deck with Manhattan views. The resulting house is historically authentic but with a fresh connection to the outdoors.