Tour a Brooklyn Town House That’s Filled With Midcentury Magic

Decorator and native New Yorker Courtney O’Sullivan crafts her own Brooklyn Town House.

When interior decorator Courtney O’Sullivan of Left Bank Design was growing up in New York, brownstones were either being hastily converted into apartments or demolished to make way for white glazed–brick high-rises. Back then, if you desired your own home, you moved to the suburbs. Today, however, scores of brownstones in all five boroughs are shrouded in scaffolding as they get converted into some of the most desirable residences in town. May they all turn out as beautifully and livable as the one transformed by O’Sullivan on DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn.

Below, check out the incredible Bro0klyn town house decorated by Courtney O’Sullivan that is filled with midcentury magic in every corner, furniture piece and color palette!

“The staircase was one of the few elements we kept,” O’Sullivan says. “The newel post was jacked up, but we restored the original wood.” An Isamu Noguchi lamp lights the entry foyer.

The living room is a perfect example of O’Sullivan’s aesthetic. An angular brass chandelier by Gaetano Sciolari hangs over a massive oak table attributed to Charles Dudouyt that O’Sullivan discovered at Paris’s famed Clignancourt flea market. Both are flanked by a painting by German artist Martin Kaspar. A Curtis Jere brass starburst above the fireplace overlooks a gracefully curved Vladimir Kagan sofa recovered in Knoll bouclé wool and a Hans Wegner woven sling chair centered around a Silas Seandel metal-based and glass-topped cocktail table from the ’70s. Of the three framed works on the right, the paintings are unattributed Paris flea market finds. The ink art is by Marco del Re from the Galerie Maeght in Paris.

The near floor-to-ceiling windows spotlight one of the sensually undulating Baumann and Fil screens that were originally designed in the ’40s to hide cash registers in department stores. It stands behind a Poul Jensen Z chair upholstered in Schumacher velvet and an Angelo Mangiarotti black marble table. On the side is a Harry Balmer patinated steel lamp atop a lacquered burl wood table by Edward Wormley.

Light pours in from a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows to add a glow to the kitchen’s custom-polished tinted concrete tiles. In front of the custom cabinetry is a custom matte concrete countertop and two bentwood stools by Zeitraum. The Lindsey Adelman chandelier and the Knoll table are surrounded by chairs found in the Paris neighborhood Clignancourt.

Right off the kitchen, a greenspace awaits.

The ample bluestone-tiled backyard gets sunlight—an unusual fact for a brownstone’s backspace. O’Sullivan considers it “a marvelous oasis we try to use year-round. In the fall, all the foliage turns a stunning yellow and orange.” Note the massive windows that capture the sunlight for the kitchen and dining room.

The all-white second floor library is notable for its Stilnovo chandelier, curvaceous Harry Balmer patinated steel lamp, the ’50s George Mathias etched bronze coffee table, and vintage Beni Ourain woven rug from Marrakech. The vintage chair is from the ’40s, and the leather sofa in the foreground is by De Seda.

William Morris wallpaper surrounds an RH framed bed. This bedroom also features another Noguchi light fixture and another rug from Marrakech.

The primary bedroom is made serene by a pale gray mural by Susan Harter. The bedside table were custom built by a furniture maker named Brion Morehead, who regrettably is no longer making furniture.

The wide and dark wood double sink vanity was custom built, and it is accented by Waterworks fixtures, RH mirrors, and vintage sconces by Audoux Minet.

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