House of the Day: Heavy Metal in Bed-Stuy
Price: $855,000
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Type of Home: Apartment
With a freight elevator for a front entry, exposed brick walls and a massive metal sliding door, this Bed-Stuy apartment still references its gritty past.
Before buying a co-op apartment at 93 Lexington Ave. in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Anne Peabody and her husband Tony Hoyle had a major gripe with New York housing: thin walls. 'I could hear everything,' Ms. Peabody said, when they walked into this apartment, with its 18-inch-thick exposed brick walls and industrial vibe, their search took a turn. Ms. Peabody said they bought the unit for $450,000 in 2003.
For Ms. Peabody, a 44-year-old artist who works with glass and other heavy materials, the sturdy apartment had some added advantages. 'It's really one gigantic room,' she said, with a multi-purpose space in the front that the couple has used as an art studio and storage space. The open floor plan allows Ms. Peabody to easily rearrange the 2,500-square-foot space to better suit her art projects. Mr. Hoyle, also 44, is an attorney.
Originally from Kentucky, the couple moved to New York for Ms. Peabody to attend a graduate-level art program. Through mutual friends she met the architect Victor Sidy, the dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in New York. Together with Mr. Sidy, the couple remodeled the space around 2005 'to make the home as versatile as possible,' Mr. Sidy said.
The kitchen islands and bookshelves that demarcate the space were all designed by Mr. Sidy and built by the couple. The moveable furnishings came in handy, for instance, when Ms. Peabody created a chainsaw-carved wooden sculpture in the apartment that weighed about 4,000 pounds, she said.
The apartment has direct access to a commercial freight elevator, a remnant from the building's past that allows Ms. Peabody to move her colossal sculptures. The building was converted to residential use in 1987, according to city records, but in a previous life it stored hay and horses, Ms. Peabody said.
One industrial vestige that puzzled the couple at first was this sliding metal door. 'We didn't realize for years that it opened,' Ms. Peabody said. Several years ago, before an adjacent building was converted for residential use, the door would open directly into the next apartment. Since then, she said, the connecting space has been closed off, and the couple uses the remaining nook for storage.
The dining area is shown here. Ms. Peabody said that some furnishings, including all of the moveable pieces designed by Mr. Sidy, will be included in the sale. The new buyer will also receive a copy of the designs for the mobile furniture. The 16th-century French table will stay with the couple.
The bedroom area is partitioned by a wall of bookcases in the rear of the apartment. Behind the movable bookcases there is additional closet storage.
One way Mr. Sidy tried to maximize natural light in the home was to build with a translucent material called Panelite. The material was used to create partitions for the bathroom, pictured here. The apartment has two bathrooms.
'We're moving because we've outgrown the place,' Ms. Peabody said. The couple was renting a second studio for Ms. Peabody's art, but now would rather consolidate in a larger space. Ms. Peabody said they hope to build a new home, possibly in the same neighborhood.
The home was listed in 2008 for $1.3 million, then in 2009 for $995,000 with another brokerage. It was relisted in July for $855,000 with Georgine Paulin at Corcoran Group.