WOOLWORTH
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Take a tour of four iconic NYC structures that went from derelict to dazzling.
By MATTHEW PHENIX
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Jonathan D. Schulz
Licensed RE Salesperson
BY E.J. KELLEY
Blue’s Clue
What was once a nondescript auto repair shop, on Powers Street between Union and Lorimer, has been innovatively reimagined as a sleek modern townhouse, a one-of-a-kind urban oasis emphatic on indoor-outdoor living.
It’s impossible to tell from the curb what lies behind the curious blue exterior, but its clean-cut facade, replete with ivied mesh paneling, gives some hint that what lies behind that varnished hardwood door is anything but a common garage.
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Jason T. Miller
Licensed RE Salesperson
Behind a discreet cerulean facade in Williamsburg lies a home
New York Magazine once called “one of the coolest abodes in the city.”
NUMBER 475 PRESIDES OVER BEACON'S BUSTLING MAIN STREET SCENE.
The two-bedroom, two-bath pad encompasses 2,180 square feet of interior, the focal point being a cavernous living and dining area with 28’ ceilings. It’s directly adjacent to an equally-detailed kitchen, featuring movable counters and appliances by Fisher & Paykel, Wolf, and Sub-Zero. Poured concrete floors with radiant heat extend throughout the main level, which also includes a home office, full laundry room with a washer and vented gas dryer, a powder room, and a custom coat closet well-engineered to combat those winter storage woes.
This loft-like living space couldn’t possibly be better dressed: Sleek industrial light pendants and a dieselpunk-looking Big Ass® fan dangle from above, while the stovepipe from the mid-century cone fireplace reaches upwards beside the back glass wall. Perpendicular, and of equal height, is the reclaimed-wood east wall, milled from the structure’s original roof joists. The second-floor metal catwalk, accessed via floating staircase, extends right alongside it, carrying through a glass door outside to connect the expansive roof deck. That’s in addition to the street-facing terrace off the upstairs suite, an intimate space for grilling or a glass of wine paired with the lush tree tops that shade this leafy North Brooklyn block.
While the insides are as swoon-worthy as they come, the true heart of the home is almost certainly its courtyard. Turfed and decked with salvaged Coney Island boardwalk sections, this central outdoor space acts a functional gateway between the living area and main suite, with retractable NanaWalls on opposing sides in effect creating an open-air hallway. Those glass accordions flank not only the primary bedroom but the adjacent spa-like bath, outfitted with a sunken Jacuzzi tub and an open shower. In the spirit of climate reality—it’s off the BQE, not Abbott Kinney—there’s also a proper, indoor connection beneath the two wings, fully glassed to continue the effect through inclement forecasts. But in summertime, when the weather is fine, there’s nothing quite like catching some urban rays en route to breakfast.
Perhaps the most fitting amenity, in a welcome dose of hipster irony, pays homage to the building’s previous life: A rare, functioning garage with a curb cut, making for easy Batcave egress whether you’re headed to Whole Foods (Wegman’s is also an easy haul, once you’ve got a car for the extra mile) or a weekend in the Catskills. Should you prefer more underground means of transportation, the recently-reopened Powers and Union entrance to the Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station is barely three doors down — the back mezzanine, with two exits hardly apparent on most maps, quietly reopened during the 2019 L Train reconstruction project.
