{"id":528819,"date":"2026-01-20T02:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T02:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/528819\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T02:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T02:27:12","slug":"this-5-5-million-brooklyn-townhouse-was-renovated-six-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/528819\/","title":{"rendered":"This $5.5 Million Brooklyn Townhouse Was Renovated Six Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSome houses are renovated once and left alone. This Brooklyn<\/a> townhouse<\/a>, however, has been tweaked, rethought, refined, and lovingly obsessed over six separate times over two decades.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe residence, tucked onto a quiet, tree-lined block in Carroll Gardens, is the longtime home of architect James Biber, a former partner at the storied global design firm Pentagram and now a partner at Biber Architects<\/a>. Biber and his late wife, graphic designer Carin Goldberg\u2014best known for designing\u00a0Madonna\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0debut album cover\u2014methodically transformed the 19th-century house into a deeply personal, design-forward family home.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy wife found the house and told me not to bother to go see it\u2014it was such a wreck,\u201d Biber says. \u201cBut it was the kind of wreck that, because it was never renovated, still had all the original details: stairs, railings, doors, moldings, flooring, trim\u2014the things that usually are stripped away in cheap renovations. I knew we could make it into a perfect home, and did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED<\/strong>: Brooklyn\u2019s Highest Residence, a 92nd-Floor Penthouse, Lists for $17 Million<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"carroll<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe parlor-level living room balances restored moldings with midcentury furnishings.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNina Poon for The Corcoran Group<\/p>\n

\n\tThe updates unfolded gradually, beginning with a gut renovation. Later came a top-floor conversion to an open-plan living space, updates to the fa\u00e7ade, and landscaping of the front and rear gardens. The couple undertook an extensive refresh in 2020, and a final round of polishing completed in 2025. \u201cIt is now as nearly perfect as it can be,\u201d Biber says.<\/p>\n

\n\tBuilt in 1901, the 20-foot-wide townhouse spans roughly 3,200 square feet across four floors plus a cellar. Depending on how rooms are used, there are up to five bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. While Biber meticulously restored the original pine floors, plasterwork, trim, and central stair, nearly everything else was modernized behind the scenes. There are all-new plumbing and electrical systems, custom windows, updated roofing and skylights, added steel structural supports, zoned climate control, and a discreetly integrated lighting and home technology system\u2014all carefully threaded into the historic shell.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED<\/strong>: A 19th-Century Manhattan Brownstone With a Modern Twist Can Be Yours for $10 Million<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"carroll<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe dining room overlooks the garden through tall rear windows.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNina Poon for The Corcoran Group<\/p>\n

\n\tThe layout is classic but flexible, with a gracious parlor floor holding adjoining living and dining rooms, plus a service pantry. The chef\u2019s kitchen is downstairs with a stone-topped island, a Bertazzoni range, and a walk-in pantry. Looking onto the tiny front garden is a family room, and out back, outside the kitchen, a south-facing ornamental garden designed in a French-inspired parterre style adds a peaceful escape with bluestone paving, mature plantings, and custom trellising.<\/p>\n

\n\tUpstairs, the full-floor primary suite includes a private study that\u2019s convertible to another bedroom, a windowed dressing room, and a spa-like bath with a mosaic-tiled shower. The top floor reads more like a loft, with an open layout, large skylights, custom shelving, a dramatic pivoting wall, and a bathroom. The space is easily divided into one or two bedrooms. Should the next owner feel compelled to keep evolving and growing the house, there are air rights for future expansion.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe townhouse is\u00a0on the market<\/a>\u00a0for $5.5 million with Dana Power and Falcon Griffith at Corcoran.<\/p>\n

\n\tClick here<\/a> to see more photos of the Brooklyn home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"carroll<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNina Poon for The Corcoran Group<\/p>\n

\tAuthors<\/p>\n