cozy in cobble hill
So their hunt for a new home began that July. After viewing three places in Cobble Hill, they made an offer on a landmarked, Federal- style, 4,000- squarefoot brownstone on Clinton Street; it’s comprised of two rental units and a twobedroom, two- bathroom owner’s duplex.
“This building is special because it has a lot of the things that beautiful, turn- ofthecentury brownstones have,” says Kornbluth, 32, referring to its high ceilings, crown moldings, ceiling medallions, exposed brick walls and marble mantels.
“The owner had raised two sons in the duplex, and she had met our son at the open house,” says Kornbluth, who, with her husband, has a son Arthur, 3, and daughter, Louisa, 9 months. “So I wrote her a letter, hand- delivered it, and said we’d love to raise our son here.”
Then it was time for renovations— which kicked off in the summer of 2012 and ended a year later. “The first thing we did was renovate the top [ rental] floor, since there were no tenants,” says Kornbluth of the tweaks, which included refinishing the floors and a paint job.
The duplex’s parlor floor’s living and dining rooms were repainted, and the original herringbone wood floor was refinished. The existing moldings were also sanded, and a pair of built- in units was added.
As for the decor, Kornbluth relied on her personal sense of style. “The spaces I’m always drawn to are the ones that have a really clean palette,” she says. “The best homes are a collection of eras and design aesthetics.”
The centerpiece of the living room is the Bubble Chandelier, suspended from the ceiling by leather cording, from Red Hook design firm Pelle. “Light fixtures are the jewelry of the home,” Kornbluth says.
Beneath the chandelier are a pair of green leather poufs by Cisco Brothers, an Elite Leather ottoman partially covered in a Brahms Mount woven throw and a Moss Studio oatmeal Belgian linen fabric sofa— all from One Kings Lane. Also in the room: a vintage children’s rocking chair from Kornbluth’s godfather.
Other living room pieces bequeathed to her by loved ones include an oval wooden table, a gift fromher father- in- law, and a Richard Segalman painting fromher grandparents.
In the adjoining dining room is a showpiece of a table created from a salvaged maple bowling alley lane in Pittsburgh that was closing. Vintage Tiger Maple chairs found on eBay provide the seating, while a baker’s rack by Étagère Industriel holds dishes, cookware and cutlery.
At the rear of the parlor floor is the kitchen, which was fully gutted. “We raised the ceiling, painted the window frames black and the walls white, tiled the background [ with tiles from Home Depot], got an awesome Smeg stove on eBay and classic Shaker- style cabinets from a cabinet maker in Williamsburg,” Kornbluth explains.
A bench with drawers was also built in to the wall on one side of the kitchen, where a Ralph Lauren ceiling light hangs.
The vestibule, off the kitchen and partly covered in Pierre Frey floral print wallpaper, is anchored by a Legends of Asia sky- blue Asian- style console from One Kings Lane. Off the vestibule is one bathroom. “All we did to the bathroom was replace the sink and paint it blue,” says Kornbluth.
Downstairs on the garden level are the two bedrooms. The children share one, which received a paint job, built- in cubbies, window treatments and beautifully refinished parquet floors.
On thewall hangs a favorite piece of Kornbluth’s called “Snorkeler,” a fish themed print of an abstract collage by British artist Ben Giles, from One Kings Lane.
Down the hall, past a bathroom they enlarged, is the master bedroom, which opens up into the backyard.
The bedroom’s walls were reconfigured, creating a new entrance, closet space and vanity area. The bed, covered in Matouk for One Kings Lane bedding, is flanked by a set of Global Views steel bedside tables with a brass finish from One Kings Lane. There is also a pair of white dressers— on which an Aerin lamp from One Kings Lane sits and a Thomas O’Brien for Visual Comfort light hangs from above— plus a brown leather Eames chair and a vintage khotan rug from One Kings Lane.
Given the home’s — and area’s— kid- friendly features, Kornbluth says she isn’t itching to move. “What’s nice about the building is that it’s across from Cobble Hill Park,” she says. “The other amazing thing is that La Vara, a Michelin- starred tapas restaurant, is just across the street. We can go there with our baby monitor.”