A Brooklyn Townhouse Built By a Pioneering Architect Gets a Second Life

"When Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, the Brooklyn-based design duo known as the Brownstone Boys, take on a historic renovation, they unearth stories. For the past six years, the couple has built their reputation on meticulous brownstone restorations that honor the past while making space for modern life-thus far, they've completed over 25 projects across Brooklyn. But when they stepped into a four-story brownstone on a quiet Bedford-Stuyvesant block, they discovered something that made this project different."

"Russell was a trailblazer in every sense, developing nearly 90 row houses in the Bedford Historic District, located in northwest Brooklyn, New York, between 1871 and 1892. She often served as the owner, architect, and builder simultaneously-unusual for a woman working in the male-dominated building industry of the Gilded Age. Her designs feature distinctive feminine flourishes: delicate plaster tapestries running along hallways and staircases, graceful curves in woodwork, and ornate ceiling medallions."

"The client had lived in the house for seven years before approaching the duo-an arrangement that gave him an intimate understanding of how the vertical four-story structure actually functioned. Splitting his time between New York and Berlin, he brought a distinctly European sensibility. "I remember on our first walkthrough, going in there, and seeing that he had a really nice art collection," Slocum notes. "I just knew that it really was homey and he really cared for the property.""

Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, known as the Brownstone Boys, specialize in meticulous brownstone restorations across Brooklyn. Over the past six years they completed more than 25 projects that balance historic preservation with modern living. During a four-story Bedford-Stuyvesant renovation they discovered the house had been developed by Susanna E.C. Russell, one of Brooklyn's first female developers. Russell developed nearly 90 row houses between 1871 and 1892 and often served as owner, architect, and builder. Her designs include delicate plaster tapestries, graceful woodwork curves, and ornate ceiling medallions. The client’s long residency and European sensibility informed restoration choices that honored the original details.

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