Gieves Anderson for ArchDigest.com.Photo: Gieves Anderson for ArchDigest.com
Maggie Gyllenhaaland her husbandPeter Sarsgaardfirst fell in love with their Brooklyn brownstone twelve years ago, when Gyllenhaal was pregnant with their first daughter, Ramona.
“When we walked into this house, it really felt like a home to us,” Gyllenhaal tellsarchdigest.com. “The light is beautiful and the rooms feel airy because the ceilings are unusually high.”
But the brownstone, which is located in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, still felt cozy — a must for the family of four.
“There are lots of places to curl up with a book,” Sarsgaard says.
Gieves Anderson for ArchDigest.com
The couple teamed up with with architect Elizabeth Roberts and designer John Erik Karkula, to make the 3,600-square-foot space all their own, decorating the walls with an extensive personal art collection full of gifted works from friends and family.
The actors, whoshare daughtersRamona, 12, and Gloria, 6, also incorporated a music room where they sometimes have early morning jam sessions with their musically-inclined friends. The space includes a piano and a signed piece of sheet music from jazz composer Ornette Coleman.
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“There’s just two chairs in it, but after all, most music you play standing up, and our eldest is a dancer,” Sarsgaard says. “I just wanted to have a space where there was room for expression. And I would say that’s true for a lot of the house. I wanted it to feel like a place where it’s easy to make something.”
The film-loving pair also wanted to incorporate a projector into their parlor where they host parties andfamily movie nights.
“The nice thing about having a house like this is that you can use it to help support things that you believe in,” Gyllenhaal says. “When I was young, my mom used to loan our house out to political organizations that she believed in and that was her way of supporting them. And that’s something I try to do with both our friends, people we respect, and organizations that we believe in.”
Outside, the townhouse boasts with a bathtub and Sarsgaard’s garden full of tulips, roses, and a Meyer lemon tree.
“It’s unheard of to have a fruit-bearing Meyer lemon tree in Brooklyn,” says Gyllenhaal.
source: people.com
