All in the
With the help of designer Estelle Bailey-Babenzien, Adrian Grenier instills the lessons his mom taught him, from sustainability to community, into one epic Brooklyn brownstone renovation.
TEXT by Lindsey Mather
INTERIORS by Max Burkhalter
PORTRAITS by Emily Andrews
STYLING by Francesca DeShae
Adrian Grenier missed his mom. Although the actor-turned-environmentalist and his mother, Karesse, both lived in New York City, getting together required a long trek across boroughs. “I made a deal with her,” he says. “If I could make you a nice house, maybe you’ll consider having a shorter commute so I can see you more often.”
The two had a tradition when Adrian was young: Karesse, a veteran real-estate agent (who also runs organic fruits, nuts, and seeds company International Harvest), would let her son tag along to see her listings. Decades later, in 2016, they revived that routine until they walked into a 160-year-old Brooklyn brownstone right across the street from one of Adrian’s favorite restaurants. “There’s nothing like old brownstones,” he says. “They have such solid bones.”
It took four years and an epic renovation, but Adrian kept his original promise—and then some. “If I’m going to make a home for her, it’s got to have all the values that she instilled in me,” he says of her lifelong generosity, not just for other people but also the planet. “We’re part Apache, and my mom has always connected very much with that lineage,” he explains. “She would tell me stories of the different ways in which our ancestors lived and their reverence for nature.”
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