Writer Michelle Young designed her Crown Heights home for work and play, with space for culture and community included

Michelle Young is an author, journalist, and founder of Untapped New York, an online publication that unearths New York City’s many secrets and hidden treasures. She’s also the author of the new non-fiction book, “The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland.” Her Brooklyn townhouse, which she shares with her husband, Augustin Pasquet, and two young daughters, is an enviable oasis of great design with an additional dimension: On some enchanted evenings, it becomes a candlelit literary salon, hosting award-winning authors and chamber music performances. The directive for its recent renovation, a collaboration with architect Côme Ménage of re-A.D, was to create a home that combines life with small children, work, and hosting cultural events that include the larger community.

Michelle and Augustin both work from home during the day; having two young children has a long list of requirements of its own. Yet the family was able to create space in the 1890s townhouse for The Lit Salon, hosting informal conversations with award-winning authors, paired with book-inspired specialty cocktails and introduced by a chamber music performance.

The townhouse was a finalist in the 2023 NYCxDesign awards House Renovation category and was featured in Dwell magazine. We asked Michelle to share her inspirations, discoveries, and advice on designing a home that includes family life, work, community events, and a passion for architecture and design.

How did the idea of having salon events at your home come about? What were some of your inspirations?

When Augustin was a kid, his parents would host people visiting from all around the world. He would either attend the dinner or help with activities like coat check, and through that experience, he got to listen to conversations about wide-ranging topics and be exposed to diverse new cultures.

On my end, I grew up as a trained classical cellist at Juilliard, and close friends of mine, Eric and Colin Jacobsen, who are now the artistic directors of The Knights orchestra here in New York City, would host chamber music “sightreading parties” at their place. Their father was the concertmaster at the Met Opera, and he would run around the parties collecting cigarette ashes that would fall from, say, a virtuoso teen violinist who would be smoking and playing at the same time. ‘Not on the carpet!’ he would holler. These kinds of creative get-togethers became emblazoned in my mind as an ideal for collective gatherings.

One of our first dates together was at the Paris house of a man called Jim Haynes, who invited people over to dinner every Sunday for decades. It’s estimated that 130,000 to 150,000 people came through his doors, shared bread, and conversation.

Augustin and I knew we wanted our daughters to grow up in these kinds of atmospheres—ones in which they would be encouraged to participate creatively or verbally or both—and where they could absorb diverse ideas from a young age. For over a decade, we had casually talked about hosting salons but did not have the right kind of space to do so until we moved in and finished renovating our townhouse in Crown Heights during the pandemic.

In the fall of 2023, as I awaited the edits for my latest book, ‘The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland,’ I was becoming dangerously bored. Downtime is not good for someone like me, who is used to running at ten times speed with multiple projects. It seemed a good enough time as any to finally launch a salon, and for the first time, I had a clear conceptual focus for it.

I named it The Lit Salon, and it would feature an author conversation on the launch of his or her new book, curated with music and cocktails inspired by the topic or the time period of the book. For most of the salons, I’ve also performed cello with a chamber music group. Since we launched The Lit Salon, we’ve hosted New York Times bestselling authors like Colum McCann, Julie Satow, AJ Jacobs, and others. We’ll be closing out this spring season of salons with an event for my own book.

With the salon, the idea of home includes opening your doors to the arts/cultural community; what were some ways you designed the home’s interior spaces to integrate that idea, and the community events?

We designed this house with gathering and hosting in mind. It was a vision we had from the very beginning. Design-wise, it was in harmony with concepts I have long held about the preservation of the volumes and flow of townhouses. Spatially, they were designed to allow light to reach from both sides of the house, so that it does not get too dark in the middle.

The rooms flow from one to another, closed off when needed by pocket doors, but normally left open, so that light and air can flow. There is an organic nature to the original townhouse form in terms of flow and design, and I believe that one of the main reasons it remains such a desirable typology in New York City.

To that end, even though we had to fully gut the townhouse to the brick walls, we kept, or rather rebuilt, all the main elements, including the partition wall that delineates the living room, to allow for full circulation and a separation of spaces. The spaces are therefore flexible, yet flow into one another, and you can create distinct experiences within each space for events and gatherings.

We carefully considered things like the width of the hallway, the distance between the kitchen and the island, and the size of the living room to find the optimal design that made sense for us as a family, as well as for large gatherings. And of course, we kept and restored the historic details.

What effects have the salon events had on your home and daily life?

Sometimes, before we host the salons, it can feel like a lot to turn our house around and execute the event, especially when things are busy with work or the kids, or life in general, but afterwards it’s always exhilarating. We’ve met so many interesting people, the kind who are open to accepting an invitation into someone’s home for an event with people they don’t know.

We know we’ve created a unique experience, and the one thing that people express afterwards is gratefulness that we’ve brought something inspirational and magical into their lives. People are looking for authentic experiences and connection with one another, particularly post-Covid, and in a world that has become increasingly corporatized, there is something more tangible in the ground-up events curated by individuals and small groups now.

At the last salon, someone told me, ‘I’ll remember this night forever,’ and I was so moved and gratified. We’ve also had a lot of people who live nearby or used to live nearby attend, and even a group that came because a tour guide stopped in front of our house and recommended the salons!

As a family, the salons give us things to discuss, especially during our post-event debrief we do with our daughters, where they tell us who they spoke to, what was the most interesting thing, and other topics. My favorite memory is of [my daughter] Charlotte in deep conversation with the world’s eminent Barbie scholar. What could be better than a six-year-old who is a huge Barbie fan chatting with a Barbie scholar? They regularly ask us, ‘When is the next Lit Salon?’ We often have a mini dance afterparty just with them.

The one resounding feeling we have after each event is that it’s exactly how we imagined this house being used. It’s exciting how we were able to fully make that vision— to design a house that serves the many facets of our personalities and interests—come to life. I have more dreams of dinners and concerts in our backyard.

You live in an established, culturally diverse, and ever-changing Brooklyn neighborhood. How do you feel your neighborhood and NYC in general affect your idea of the importance of community? For example, do you think you could do the same thing in a small town or suburb, or a different city?

We moved to Crown Heights in 2015, and this particular block in 2021. There’s a great rapport on the townhouse stretch on our side of the block. We’ve been to each other’s potlucks and parties, and we chat with each other when we see each other. My next-door neighbor, the patriarch of a Jamaican family who has been here for 40 years, makes homemade hot sauce for us. We do collective stoop sales.

We also tackled the Covid rat problem collectively, sitting out on our stoops and comparing notes. We knew that we had to work together, otherwise it wouldn’t work. One neighbor tried to lure the rats into traps with gourmet cheese, while another flooded them out. On our end, we studied their movement patterns and habitats closely to figure out the optimal place to put traps.

What makes New York City special is its density, which means you will always be in close proximity to our neighbors. Crown Heights is a particularly open and friendly neighborhood, with a tradition of living out in the front yard and stoop. It’s harder to build that sense of community based on geographic proximity in a suburb—I know it well, since I grew up in a Long Island suburb.

But I do think the sense of wonder and inspiration from an event like The Lit Salon could be easily recreated in a small town, suburb, or different city. We’re also very cognizant that we are part of a larger neighborhood change that is taking place in Crown Heights, and all over the city, and we always respect the existing dynamics and customs that were here before us.

Though the idea isn’t as new as some may think–creative ateliers and live/work lofts, for example, have a long history–combining “live” and “work” presents unique challenges. How does the fact that both you and your husband work from home affect the way your space was planned and designed? 

Augustin and I have discovered that we have completely polar opposite ways of working and thinking. It makes us a great duo, since we complement each other and make each other stronger, but it’s impossible to work next to each other, work in the same space, or work on the same project at the same time. It inevitably leads to disaster. Yet, somehow, we’ve successfully run three companies together, and Augustin was heavily involved in the evolution of my book ‘The Art Spy,’ which was more or less birthed in this house.

The solution? We have to work separately and then come together to discuss and push things forward. We also need very different work environments. When we had an office outside the house, we joked that there always had to be a ‘buffer zone’ between us, like another employee’s desk.

Augustin needs laser focus and no distractions, while I’m someone you could throw onto a highway median, and I’d be able to work without getting distracted. Our office is built for two, with a built-in desk made from the original historic beams of the house, but it’s mostly become Augustin’s office, and I work at our dining table. I need open vistas—even if it’s the vista of my kitchen or mantel—so I don’t feel trapped or constrained.

When I write, I need a space that feels expansive, that allows my brain to wander and create. I can’t do that in the office, which is quite narrow and the desk faces the wall, so I usually do my writing at the dining table. To write my latest book, ‘The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland,’ I would often spread out all my research and books, completely filling the entire eight-person table. Occasionally, I’ll also work in the window nook, on my bed, or on the back terrace.

What are some ways you’ve found that the addition of a growing family affects the way home design needs to function? How do you handle the chaos and clutter that comes with kids?

Storage storage storage! The layout of the house is super optimized. For example, there’s a secret closet under the staircase accessible by pushing the wood paneling. The powder room is also tucked under the staircase and opened in the same way. All of that was cleverly fabricated and installed by Chateau Brooklyn, who implemented the design by our architect Côme Menage of re-ad architecture + design.

Upstairs, we squeezed a lot in without it looking cluttered at all or sacrificing the minimalist design. There are closets in every room, but also in the hallway, which we built using Elfa in order to be able to reconfigure as our needs change. But children’s toys just have a way of multiplying and becoming unwieldy.

We’re constantly devising new ways to store them and swapping out furniture, like the kids’ beds, to have more built-in storage. The beds also pull out as trundle beds or full-size beds for sleepovers and guests. We also designed our basement to have storage spaces, which are separated out in case a renter wants one storage space for themselves.

The front of the living room with the bookshelf and piano is an unofficial play area, bounded by the carpet. We’ve had Lego sessions, doll house sessions, book reading, art, birthday gift unwrapping, and other activities there. When my older daughter Charlotte was six, she would set up her own ‘beach club’ with low lawn chairs, music, and games. The kids often also play in their rooms, but it gets chaotic fast up there with doll paraphernalia everywhere.

What part of the house would you say you and your family spend the most time together?

We spend the most time in the kitchen and living room. We entertain a lot, so the kitchen is always a hotspot with its open design and big island. My favorite spot in the house, however, is the front living room window. Our architect, Côme, came up with the brilliant idea to set the framing back deep enough to make it both a bench and an architectural frame.

The same wooden paneling is on all sides of the interior cutout, which creates a very organic cocoon. I read here, looking out onto the street in all seasons, drink my tea, and read books to my kids in the morning before school. The girls sometimes display their art in the window or put seasonal decorations, and in the winter, we line the bench with sheepskin seating pads for maximum coziness.

What’s the most relaxing part of the townhouse for you?

The living room. I work very intensely and often have to pull myself out for short breaks. I’ll head over and plop on the couch, watch some TV, or read a book or magazine. The master bath is another relaxing spot, with its dark gray resin walls that mimic concrete. I have a tile phobia, and Augustin wanted a dark bathroom, so we compromised and went with the resin.

The Brooklyn backyard is a unique and special space (and yours is so lovely!). What do you love about having a backyard?

When the weather is nice during the salons, we let people out onto the terrace and backyard, and often it’s the after-hours hangout for the events. We also regularly host ‘Fire Pit Fridays,’ an open call for neighbors, friends, and new people we’ve met or who are brought over by friends, to hang out and drink by the barbeque pit. We also hosted a big 40th extravaganza for a friend recently, and the event planners set up a lounge outside with lots of pillows, blankets, and a tee pee.

There’s usually a movement post-dinner or post-party to head outdoors. We bring blankets and sit outside. It’s such a unique feeling to be surrounded by old-growth trees that are hundreds of feet tall while simultaneously being in the concrete jungle. Sitting that low, you get a sense that there isn’t anywhere else in the world that’s like it with such a juxtaposition of elements. And then the Catholic Church will ring its bells a block away, and suddenly might be transported to the French countryside.

I have to admit—I’m not a big outdoors person, but I like to see nature. So, the multiple levels of the backyard space are perfect. I observe from the safety of the terrace while Augustin loves gardening. He finds it relaxing. The kids like to play out there too, especially among the laurels in the back, or help with the seasonal cleanups.

Our block is particularly unique because the backyards are deeper on our side than any nearby or any I’ve seen in Brooklyn. The block behind us is also higher in elevation, which affords a much more private space than most Brooklyn backyards.

When you were going through the process of selecting an architect for the renovation, what made you choose Côme Ménage/re-A.D?

I went to architecture school with Côme, at Columbia University GSAPP, where I’ve been an adjunct professor since 2014. Back in 2009, he was in the urban design program and I was in urban planning/urban studies, and a studio teacher we had in common, Moji Baratloo, introduced us. Years later, Côme sent me a message, “Why are you in pictures with all my friends from France on Facebook?” Turns out, he and my husband had numerous friends in common in France but had never met. I introduced them and they really hit it off personally and from an aesthetic, design perspective.

Augustin knew Côme was the architect to achieve our mission, and really didn’t consider anyone else. I personally always like collaborating with the people we know who are doing interesting work. Côme is really one of the most brilliant architectural problem solvers I know working in New York City, while simultaneously having this beautiful, modern design aesthetic and ethos that is rooted in a historical understanding of place and space.

Preserving the home’s history was important to you. What are some ways you accomplished this?

Preserving the home’s history was the most important aspect of the project to me and Augustin. The question was, how do we modernize a Brooklyn townhouse without sacrificing its history?

First and foremost was the restoration of the historic details. Everything, apart from the mantels, was removed piece by piece, stripped, restored, and reinstalled in place. The mantels were restored in situ. I also fought to keep the original tiling in the mud room. I had seen similar patterning on the floor of Central Synagogue in Manhattan, and I knew it represented a very particular era of design in New York City.

But equally important to me was the preservation of the volumes and flow of the original house, as I mentioned earlier. My personal opinion is that when you fiddle too much with the volumes of a townhouse—let’s say, extend the house back into the garden, or tear down the partition wall in the parlor, you lose the historic feel that makes a townhouse a townhouse, and you disturb how the house was intended to be used. You might as well live in a suburban house or a loft.

I know it’s all the rage right now to blow out the back wall and put in those industrial-style windows with black framing, but that’s also not my preference. Instead, you can install doors or windows with thinner framing to allow in more light—this modernizes the space without departing too far from the volumes and sight lines.

As part of the process, I did in-depth research into the history of the townhouse and put together a timeline of the past owners and events. I learned there were weddings, deaths, and all sorts of interesting history that happened in this house, and that five families have owned it, beginning with a freemason and ending with the latest, a French-Taiwanese-American family—us!

Your home’s interior style combines modern and contemporary design within a historic frame. Did this renovation reveal anything to you about your own aesthetic?

We’re not fussy people, in design or in life. We like to live in calm, simple, relaxing spaces with clean lines. Augustin is very much inspired by Japanese architecture in general, and in particular, its minimalist expression. The simple design decision to have infinity walls with no baseboard does at least 50 percent of the job.

The nuance of the design is to ensure that modern and historic co-exist side by side seamlessly and don’t compete with each other. Materials-wise, we wanted materials that feel organic and earthy, yet modern. Warm woods, a touch of concrete,

Like with everything else, Augustin and I are completely aligned on the fundamentals of things, and I don’t remember there being a time when we disagreed on the design of the house. We also picked out all the fixtures, including bathtub, faucets, sinks, and door handles, and sourced them ourselves.

What were some of your inspirations for the interiors? What are some of your favorite design sites or designers to follow?

We aren’t into brand names or being show-offy. There was a shoot done just after completion, and the photos ended up in Dwell where the house was styled by someone in complete antithesis to our aesthetic—truly staged—with fancy décor, fixtures, and art, and it was honestly painful and embarrassing for us to have that out there. Our actual aesthetic is about surrounding ourselves with art and objects made by people we know and/or have personal significance.

Many of the paintings and drawings are by Augustin’s mother, Anne-Claire Pasquet, an artist in her own right. The artist Danica Lundy, who is a long-time friend, made drawings of our daughters at birth. Photographer Kerry Payne gave me a picture she took of me performing with my band at Mercury Lounge in the late aughts, which hangs above the piano. There is also a set of maps of New York City and Paris that an artist friend made as a wedding gift.

My wedding dress designer, the multi-talented Laurent Kapelski, makes these incredible ceramics, so we have vases and cups all around the house by him, each of which is one of a kind. And there are also the vintage items we’ve picked up along the way. An old map of America, a $40 painting we found on a thrift store in the Berkshires, and numerous vintage cameras. When Augustin and I met, we bonded over the fact that we were carrying the same Nikon camera. Finally, I frame art made by our daughters.

Augustin is a big fan of Dwell and Dezeen. I’m more of an on-the-ground absorber of ideas, and I get a lot of inspiration from student work at Columbia.

How do you feel about design trends?

We follow them and like to track what’s going on, but our aesthetic preference veers towards timelessness. I’m the same way with fashion, even though I worked as a fashion merchandiser for many years.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking of undertaking a similar renovation project? What are the top things to keep in mind?

It’s important to have a pretty robust idea of what you want aesthetically before you work with an architect, because the process can just keep going around and around in circles, costing you time and money. Doesn’t mean you need to know the details or the vocabulary. But, as Augustin says, ‘Stick to your vision! When it comes to life, it is one of the best feelings.’

Augustin also adds: ‘Buffer your budget by 15 percent as there will be unforeseen expenses. The key to a successful reno is a successful partnership between architect, contractor and client. Prioritize and protect this relationship.’

What advice would you offer for creating a great workspace at home?

One tip is that you don’t have to custom-design it. We used kitchen cabinets from Ikea along with strip lighting. The showstopper was the reclaimed wood built in desk, from the old beams of the house.

How might someone go about creating a community or art space like your salon at home, especially if they have less space to dedicate? What are some resources and first steps?

I’ve been reading about people doing art shows out of their small apartments. I used to love Threesome Tollbooth, a speakeasy inside a broom closet for two guests and the bartender. It’s mostly about getting creative, defining the concept and building a brand around it. Anything I do however, I try to do it as professionally as possible. Put up a website, have a social media presence, and execute your idea—small or large— as best as you can, and people will come.

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