One of many highlights of our current e-book, Remodelista in Maine? The island house of architect couple Maria Berman and Brad Horn. Thumb by means of and also you’ll see it perched on a cliff on the Maine island of Vinalhaven, its shell one in all architectural brilliance: a contemporary, über pared-down model of a quintessential New England farmhouse, its two sides joined by a spacious display screen 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 pictures of their place in New York Metropolis, the place their agency, Berman Horn Studio, is predicated, we had been delighted to notice their attribute method applies simply as effortlessly to a historic Harlem row home, with an architect’s sense for construction and circulate 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 faculty in higher Manhattan. We had been residing in a extremely uncooked loft house behind the previous Fairway market within the Harlem meatpacking space and needed one thing that was extra secure and safe. We additionally liked the realm and felt it was a group we needed to be part of.”

The couple inherited the home’s historic bones and made delicate, good updates that just about mix into the background. However just like the oft-quoted notion that design, performed nicely, is invisible, the impact is obvious: in a probably awkward structure unified by a single paint shade and a so-efficient-you-might-miss-it kitchen house. “In a means, 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 a part of us for a stroll by means of.

Pictures by Greta Rybus.