CLASSIC COOL A LATE 19TH-CENTURY
FEDERAL-STYLE TOWNHOME GETS A NEW LEASE ON LIFE.
T E X T I N T E R I O R D E S I G N A R C H I T E C T U R E P H O T O G R A P H Y
DEBORAH L. MARTIN ANNBRITT NEWEY MICHAEL MCCAFFERY ARCHITECT PETER KUBILUS
W hen the owners of this Chelsea townhouse decided to renovate the historic home, they called in designer AnnBritt Newey and architect Michael McCaffery. The couple bought the home in the 80s and raised their family there, but once the kids left home they decided it was time to do a gut renovation. “When we started to remove drywall,” says Newey, “we discovered that not only was the property leaning dramatically, but also there was no mortar left. It was literally a pile of bricks.” Working with con- tractor JF Roesemann Builders, they began to peel back the layers and discovered that everything was compromised. “There were areas where we could see charred brick, where there had been localized fires. The structure needed to be rebuilt.” In addi- tion to securing the building, they also decided to raise the roof a couple of feet to give the third floor some more headroom, and added a rooftop terrace overlooking the High Line. “The third floor had 7-foot ceilings which is very tight, so we raised the roof about three feet and were able to give them a staircase to the roof.” While the designer and architect changed and modernized the floor plan, they kept the original functions of each floor intact. The ground floor or service level, which is below street level, is the kitchen and dining area, the first floor is the parlor level, the second floor is the master bedroom suite, and the newly enlarged third floor is the guest bedroom suite. Says Newey, “We wanted to
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