A Summer Cottage in The City

I'm telling you, one can find just about anything through Craigslist. Even this 1899, 2-story carriage house that German architect Thomas Warnke was lucky to find in the listings. After much frustration looking for a home he liked, he turned to the infamous Craigslist where he saw an ad for what would become his nest in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, NY. The fact that the property was in need of some TLC was the selling point for him. Being an architect, I'm sure he wanted to create something very special by putting his personal touch. The idea he had was to make this property a contemporary version of a vacation cottage in the city since he couldn't afford to own a Summer home. Basically, that's how his design concept for his home came about — and was very well done indeed.

In the renovatioin process, he had to remove some of the original ceiling beams in order to accommodate the staircase that links both floors — giving them a new life as shelves in the living room. I'm really impressed how beautiful and functional this abandoned carriage house turned out. Well, you wouldn't expect anything less from an architect, right?

Images by Trevor Tondro via The New York Tiimes