Michelle Williams Plans Major Renovations At Her Albemarle Road Home

Actress Michelle Williams is planning a series of renovations — interior and exterior — for her impressive Albemarle Road home.

Brownstoner reports that Williams’ proposal for exterior changes to her home at 1440 Albemarle Road will be reviewed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission next Tuesday.

Built in 1905 for J.C. Woodhull, a prominent lumber dealer, the Albemarle Road mansion was designed by architects Robert Bryson and Carroll Pratt, both of whom designed other houses in Prospect Park South.

Williams is planning to restore the house’s original clapboard siding, and replace the porch in the back with one that is significantly larger, but architecturally simpler, says Brownstoner.

Williams’ architect, Matiz Architecture & Design, also secured a Department of Buildings interior demolition permit this month, says Brownstoner.

The actress plans to remove a basement apartment and restore a parlor. Even more interesting, Williams will move the house’s kitchen back to its original location on the ground floor, Brownstoner writes.

But the biggest change for the neighborhood will be the removal of the dreary asphalt shingles that have been on the house for years.

Says Brownstoner:

“The proposed alteration will give the south elevation quite the face lift and a much more deliberate, cleaned up design than its current remuddled appearance, renderings prepared for the LPC [Landmarks Preservation Commission] reveal.

Significant changes include replacing a door with a window, altering the rear facade and porch, replacing the siding, and installing HVAC units and fencing in the rear yard.

The largest proposed change is taking a small back porch that currently has four columns — clumped into pairs — and creating a porch twice the current size but with just three columns.”

As we noted when Williams bought the 110-year-old house last year, 1440 Albemarle Road is “a stunner of a home” that includes everything from wood-burning fireplaces with original mantels, stained glass windows, an “awesome” claw-foot tub, indoor and outdoor porches, a rooftop deck and much more.