In the early days of the Covid pandemic, as some New Yorkers were leaving the city while others were settling down, Chris Cooper and Jennifer Hanlin saw a chance to finally buy the property they wanted: a townhouse in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
“Chris and I had been trying to buy a brownstone in Brooklyn for years and were always outbid by developers or buyers with cash offers,” said Ms. Hanlin, 55, founder of the interior design firm Hanlin Design.
With less competition, their prospects improved. And when they saw a modest brick townhouse for sale in September 2020 that was just 12 feet wide and lacked the trim details of nearby brownstones, they became even more optimistic.
“We knew it was such a strange property that we might have a chance,” she said. “It wasn’t for everyone.”
They immediately made an offer at the full asking price of just under $2 million, the seller accepted, and in December they closed on the purchase agreement for the property.
The townhouse — a sleek, three-story structure built in 1899 — needed renovations, which made it perfect for the couple.
Mr. Cooper and Ms. Hanlin met as architecture students at Harvard in the 1990s, and they still enjoy nothing more than tackling design problems together. Since they both have a great interest in environmentally friendly construction, they wanted to renovate their new home according to sustainability-oriented passive house principles.
An airtight, well-insulated home would reduce energy consumption, but there would be other benefits, too, said Mr. Cooper, 57, a partner at the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. “There’s also the healthy environment, the fresh air, the silence.”
As they continued with the renovation, the couple worked with ZeroEnergy Design to wrap the basement, front and back walls, and roof with an airtight membrane and thick insulation. They sealed the gas line leading into the house, added triple-pane windows and installed an energy recovery fan to provide a continuous supply of fresh air to the interior.
At the same time, the project was a chance for the couple to embrace their minimalist tendencies. “We talk about this philosophy of radical reduction,” Mr. Cooper said. “We limit ourselves to the essentials and are very conscious and modest about what we put back into it.”
Since there were no elaborate decorations to be preserved on the building, the couple tore out all of the interior furnishings during the demolition. “We literally stripped the house down to the bare bones,” Mr. Cooper said.
Because there are no moldings or ceiling medallions, “the architectural detail of the house is the old beam hangers, the brick structure and any corrections that were made to the brick,” Mr. Cooper said, including an old door that the original builders used during construction but filled in later. Instead of covering up these elements, the couple painted them white.
Achieving such a raw look required some architectural finesse. To expose the ceiling beams on the parlor level, they raised the floor on the second level, where they built their master suite, to create a gap to hide the electrical wiring. To make the basement ceiling height acceptable for Ms. Hanlin's office, they dug the basement six inches deeper.
Realizing that their lot size would allow them to expand the house by 1,500 square feet, they built a tiny two-story addition at the back that connects to Ms. Hanlin's office and the living room, creating a terrace for the master bedroom.
The reduced shell of the building showcases a carefully selected selection of works of art, furniture and architectural elements. The kitchen features a Delft-style tiled backsplash by artist Ann Agee, depicting a scene from Brooklyn's backyards viewed through a window.
Working with their contractor, Carlo Perry of CCP Design+Build, the couple designed a curved, Shaker-inspired stair railing that provides an elegant counterpoint to the angular brick. The parlor level leads to the master suite on the second floor and then two additional bedrooms on the top floor for the couple's adult children.
The walls are decorated with the couple's favorite works of art, including a photo of sequoia trees by Mitch Epstein and photos of flowers by Karl Blossfeldt. The furniture includes an antique Swedish dining table beneath a Pinch Soren pendant lamp that Mr. Cooper purchased as a 50th birthday gift for Ms. Hanlin just as the project was beginning.
The remodel took seven months of design and planning and 13 months of construction before the couple moved into their long-awaited townhouse in August 2022. The renovation cost was just under $1 million.
“We’re super happy,” Ms. Hanlin said, noting that the endeavor has been more fun than stressful.
“The funny thing is, we really enjoyed the process of creating this house,” Mr. Cooper said, adding that he and Ms. Hanlin miss direct collaboration now.
“That could tempt us to do it again,” he said.