When a lawyer and a dance professor came across a brownstone in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, they imagined that it would be the ideal place to raise their two young children — that is, after a full renovation was complete. The building had previously been split into four distinct apartments, and the entire structure was in need of repairs. Thankfully, Elizabeth Roberts and her eponymous firm looked at these tasks as blessings rather than headaches. "Because the house needed to be gutted, we seized the opportunity to create an open floor plan," Roberts said, noting that the owners didn't want to do a period restoration. "Only a few original details, like the fireplaces and staircase, were salvageable anyway, so historical references were kept to a minimum." Once the new layout of the four-bedroom home was finished, the team filled it with items that were in keeping with a modern, clean aesthetic. But even then, Roberts made sure that everything in the house was kid-friendly. Like her clients, she kept the two sons in mind.
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