Hidden in New York’s Upper East Side, this 19th Century Church was blessed to become the new home of a family. Zoned in a residential district and not designated as a Landmark, the opportunities for this city gem were endless but the concept was clear. The concept was to maintain the original bones of the church by extending it with the necessary program of 4 bedrooms, a kid’s playroom, large kitchen and an artist’s studio in the cellar. In collaboration with the design firm S4Architecture, the living room was placed in the original nave of the church and the alter was turned into the dining area. The original windows were brought down to floor level and are now passages to the new kitchen space furnished with a new massive window front to bring in northern light. The center of the project though is the cascade stair leading up to the new roof addition with a floor to floor span of twenty feet.