Mosaic House in Cobble Hill
Just outside a Brooklyn Brownstone historic district you’ll find Susan Gardener’s house. Starting in 2001 in a fit of creativity, the retired art professor she just went outside and began gluing different things to the front of the house. Today it’s covered in a mosaic of tiles, toys, shells, stones, mirrors, costume jewelry, and more.
351 Keap Street
After buying a 20 by 40 foot plot of land and finding out it would cost upwards of $500,000 to build a home there, this couple took matters into their own creative hands. They built a home out of 6 shipping containers complete with two rooftop decks, repurposed furniture, and a yard for their dog Zero.
In most areas of the city a 325 sq. ft. apartment would be prohibited, but the city’s first micro-unit apartment building on East 27th St. (set to be finished in 2015) will consist of modular pre-fabricated units exactly that size. The winners of Mayor Bloomberg’s micro-apartment design competition will create units featuring tall ceilings, Juliette balconies, and the efficiency (including transformable furniture!) to create four rooms within the one space.
Sylvan Terrace
If you were just walking by, you probably wouldn’t see the steps that lead up to this picturesque street on St. Nicholas Avenue between 160th & 161st streets. What you’ll find, is a beautiful cobblestone block that was originally the carriage way to the Morris-Jumel Mansion (which is Manhattan’s oldest house built in 1765). The 20 wooden row houses are landmarked so you’ll find beautiful wooden shutters, bracketed eves, and wooden stoops all painted in the original colors from the late 1800s.