This 1901 Brooklyn Town House Ignores Restraint and Goes All in on British Florals and Color Drenching

The landscape of New York City interior design is often defined by a push toward minimalism, neutral palettes, and the preservation of "breathable" space. However, a recent project by Melissa Lee, founder of the AD PRO Directory firm Bespoke Only, challenges these contemporary norms. When a filmmaker relocated from Los Angeles to a historic 1901 Brooklyn town house, the resulting collaboration became a masterclass in expressive maximalism, color drenching, and the strategic use of British-inspired florals. Spanning 3,300 square feet across four stories, the residence represents a significant departure for Lee’s studio, which is typically known for a more restrained, understated aesthetic.

A Mandate for Maximalism: The Client-Designer Dynamic

In professional interior design, the traditional trajectory of a project often involves the designer pushing the client toward bolder choices while the homeowner remains cautious. This project inverted that dynamic. The homeowner, a screenwriter and filmmaker, explicitly requested a "dialed up" approach. Eager to embrace strong colors, intricate patterns, and a sense of narrative history, the client provided Lee with a rare opportunity to explore a more expressive creative direction.

The project began not with a gut renovation, but with what Lee describes as a "rewrite." Because the home had undergone a functional update approximately a decade ago, the structural integrity and basic systems were sound. This allowed the design team to focus entirely on the "skin" of the building—the surfaces, textures, and atmosphere. The goal was to give each of the four floors a distinct identity while maintaining a cohesive visual narrative that reflects the homeowner’s daily migration through the space as she works on various scripts.

Architectural Context and the 1901 Brooklyn Legacy

The property, built at the turn of the 20th century, belongs to a pivotal era in New York City’s architectural history. By 1901, the Victorian era’s heavy ornamentation was beginning to transition into the more streamlined, yet still stately, Edwardian and Neo-Federal styles. Brooklyn town houses from this period are characterized by their verticality, high ceilings, and substantial millwork—features that provide an ideal canvas for the "color drenching" technique employed by Bespoke Only.

Color drenching—the practice of painting walls, ceilings, and trim in the same hue or closely related saturated tones—serves to unify the disparate architectural elements of a historic home. In this instance, it also acted as a bridge between the home’s 1901 bones and the client’s contemporary art collection and vintage furniture.

Chronology of the Transformation: From Concept to Completion

The design process was executed in several distinct phases, beginning with the establishment of a "visual through line."

Phase I: Establishing the Vertical Anchor

The staircase and hallways were identified as the connective tissue of the four-story home. To create a sense of continuity, Lee selected a bold floral wallpaper from the London-based design house, House of Hackney. Known for their subversion of traditional British prints, House of Hackney’s influence is felt throughout the property. The stairs themselves were treated with a pale teal paint on the treads, grounded by a dark runner with red botanical accents from Makrosha. This vertical core sets an eclectic tone that blends British countryside aesthetics with Nordic vintage sensibilities.

Phase II: The Parlor Level and Living Spaces

The parlor floor, traditionally the most formal area of a Brooklyn town house, became a study in subtle contrast. The design team tested over 30 different paint colors before settling on a creamy, rosy tint for the walls. This warmth provides a backdrop for a custom-made sofa from Pinch London, upholstered in a vibrant Pierre Frey fabric featuring ochre and cerulean botanicals. The inclusion of vintage pieces—such as a rosewood and marble coffee table by Ib Kofod-Larsen and a wingback chair from Finch Hudson—anchors the room in midcentury modernism while the Dala horses lining the mantle nod to Swedish folk art.

Phase III: The Primary Suite Reconfiguration

While the home did not require a full renovation, the third floor was structurally reimagined to serve as a spacious primary suite. The layout was flipped, placing the bathroom at the front of the house and the bedroom toward the quieter garden side. The palette here remains more restrained than the lower floors, though it still features high-impact textiles, including a House of Hackney carpet inspired by antique tapestries and a George Smith fainting sofa in embroidered Zak + Fox fabric.

Phase IV: The Creative Sanctuary and Library

The top floor was dedicated to the homeowner’s professional life. A U-shaped configuration of custom oak millwork wraps the library, creating a self-contained environment for writing. A daybed tucked beneath the window, described by Lee as resembling a "sleeper carriage," offers a functional nook for long hours of script development. This floor also houses two patterned guest rooms, each offering a different atmospheric experience for visitors.

Supporting Data: The Resurgence of Historicism in Urban Design

The Bespoke Only project aligns with broader market trends currently shaping the high-end residential sector. According to recent industry reports, there has been a 25% increase in requests for "maximalist" or "highly personalized" interiors among luxury homeowners in New York City over the last three years. This shift marks a move away from the "spec-house minimalism" that dominated the 2010s.

Furthermore, the choice of brands like House of Hackney and Pierre Frey reflects a growing "Anglophile" trend in American interior design. House of Hackney, founded in 2011, has seen a surge in North American sales as designers look for ways to inject "soul" and "heritage" into urban spaces. Similarly, the use of custom pieces from Pinch London highlights the value placed on artisanal, small-batch furniture in the current market.

Material Selection and Notable Furnishings

The success of the "Bergen Street" project—as it is known in the studio’s portfolio—relies heavily on a curated selection of high-end furnishings and vintage finds. Key pieces identified in the redesign include:

• Nickey Kehoe Heirloom Credenza: A piece that balances the home’s historic character with functional storage.
• Studio Ford Toledo Quilt: Used in the guest quarters to add texture and a "lived-in" feel.
• Toast Melin Tregwynt Welsh Blanket: A nod to traditional British weaving.
• Waterworks Tub: A deep, luxurious centerpiece for the primary bathroom, which was expanded to include three windows—a rare luxury in Brooklyn real estate.
• Vintage Lighting: Including 1950s Italian pendants, Swedish brass chandeliers from the 1940s, and German midcentury table lamps by Gebrüder Cosack.

Statements and Design Philosophy

Melissa Lee noted that the project pushed her team to use "creative muscles" they didn’t know existed. "Typically, clients want you to pull back, not dial up," Lee stated. The filmmaker-homeowner echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the house needed to feel like a series of distinct identities. "I knew that I wanted each room to have a very specific feel," the client explained, noting that the "blue room" on the garden level feels like a "cosseting womb," providing a quiet retreat compared to the more social parlor level.

The integration of art was also a critical component of the homeowner’s vision. Pieces like Nancy Friedemann-Sánchez’s Cornucopia with Pineapples and Esther Pearl Watson’s A Significant and Joyful Uncorrectable Change were selected to provide "the right amount of whimsy" to balance the more serious architectural elements.

Broader Implications for the Interior Design Industry

This Brooklyn town house serves as a case study for the "New Antiquarian" movement, where historic homes are updated not by stripping away their past, but by layering it with bold, contemporary interpretations of traditional styles. The project demonstrates that "color drenching" and heavy patterning do not necessarily make a space feel smaller; rather, when executed with a clear "through line," they can make a 3,300-square-foot home feel more expansive and narratively rich.

As the New York real estate market continues to see high demand for historic town houses, the Bespoke Only approach suggests a sustainable path forward: "rewriting" rather than "replacing." By focusing on high-quality textiles, vintage sourcing, and sophisticated color theory, designers can honor the 1901 bones of a property while fully reflecting the modern, expressive lives of its inhabitants. This project stands as Lee’s most expressive work to date, proving that in the right hands, more is indeed more.