“Foolish, Thrifty, and Not Too Severe”: Architects Maria Berman and Brad Horn at Dwelling in Harlem

One of many highlights of our latest guide, Remodelista in Maine? The island house of architect couple Maria Berman and Brad Horn. Thumb by way of and also you’ll see it perched on a cliff on the Maine island of Vinalhaven, its shell considered one of architectural brilliance: a contemporary, über pared-down model of a quintessential New England farmhouse, its two sides joined by a spacious display porch. However the home by no means takes itself too significantly, both. Inside, it’s all easy-going supplies, riotous shade and sample, and mismatched finds from unlikely sources: thrift shops, property gross sales, even—memorably—the swap store on the Vinalhaven dump.

So when Maria and Brad emailed us with photographs of their place in New York Metropolis, the place their agency, Berman Horn Studio, is predicated, we had been delighted to notice their attribute strategy applies simply as effortlessly to a historic Harlem row home, with an architect’s sense for construction and movement and a collector’s irreverent mixture of finds.

“It’s a turn-of-the-century row home that was constructed when the brand new subway system started to hyperlink higher Manhattan to downtown,” Maria writes of their place. “Within the nineteenth century the realm was very rural, with small body homes. The subway system made it a part of the town.

“We discovered this place after we completed structure college in higher Manhattan. We had been dwelling in a very uncooked loft house behind the outdated Fairway market within the Harlem meatpacking space and wished one thing that was extra steady and safe. We additionally liked the realm and felt it was a group we wished to be part of.”

The couple inherited the home’s historic bones and made refined, sensible updates that just about mix into the background. However just like the oft-quoted notion that design, executed effectively, is invisible, the impact is obvious: in a doubtlessly awkward structure unified by a single paint shade and a so-efficient-you-might-miss-it kitchen house. “In a method, not feeling obligated to revive historic interiors allowed us extra freedom by way of discovering a structure and aesthetic identification that labored for us,” Maria writes.

Be part of us for a stroll by way of.

Pictures by Greta Rybus.