Where It Started


Back in 2017, I was considering the next move in my life both in terms of physical address but also in terms of what I really wanted in preparation for my 50s and what I felt passionate about doing. Many of my friends suggested I start to look at downsizing. Having been a wardrobe, prop and set stylist for over 20 years (an ideal excuse to be a hoarder of great things), I decided their downsizing suggestions were counterintuitive to my true nature and decided to do quite the opposite by supersizing.

I had begun to see a big shift in my work from wardrobe and apparel to home and interiors. It was a shift both personally and economically. The apparel market seemed to become more saturated and much less exciting in terms of creativity. It also became less willing to spend on experience. Fashion started to become less avant-guard and expressionist and more mainstream with the onset of social media. (Ironic because every new generation likes to think they are on the forefront of some massive creative evolution but social media has really added a lot of fuel to mediocrity in terms of fashion.) All this thrust me into the interiors realm and my desire to acquire, renovate and decorate a brownstone became a dream to achieve.

Fashion started to become less avant-guard and expressionist and more mainstream with the onset of social media.

How Did I Buy It?


I had seen documentaries about how families like the Rockefeller’s had amassed their wealth by having money going into the recession and using what they had to purchase real estate during the market crash when not a lot of people had money to buy. Fortunately, having seen this but not quite being so strategically cleaver; when the economy was still on the downturn in 2009, I sort of randomly decided to put what money I had into as much of a property as I could possibly buy in the best area that I could get the most for my dollar while extending myself financially a bit more than should have been comfortable. By 2016, I started to see how that investment really increased in value and how carrying it had become more and more of a burden. I was told a lot to sell it and buy something smaller. I couldn’t stomach or comprehend the idea of selling a two-bedroom/ two-bath and buying a one-bedroom/one-bath for the same price I had originally spent. I started to wonder, where could I do this again? I wanted to buy more than I need in an area that would develop within 5-10 years and increase in value drastically. I wanted to buy a large enough place to rent some of it and get that passive income to help afford the renovation and mortgage of the building.

By 2018, I made a purchase of a brownstone in New Jersey and set out to design and renovate a 3-story plus basement fixer upper. I had exceptional knowledge of project and budget management and no knowledge of how that differs from the construction industry.

How Did I Pick Where?


I needed to find an area where there were true signs of gentrification and the most convenient commute into NYC. My friend told me he thought I could buy a brownstone and rent it out in Jersey City. I wasn’t really sold on the idea until he said they just put a Starbucks into his path train stop. After that, I said I’d be right over.

About Hope


Hope Misterek has created many fantasy moments for photography as a wardrobe and prop stylist and set designer. When people told her she should downsize, she stayed true to her roots. Instead, she decided to supersize, by taking on an intimidating renovation project of a neglected brownstone. The renovation exemplifies her love of excess and maximalism, further demonstrating her daringness in layering and depth while challenging the eye to look further and see more. These traits that set her work apart in the photography world are translated into a beautiful, trend-ascending and functional living space for years to come. Inspired by the beauty of some of the neglect, Misterek made nontraditional choices in the re-design by creating a fresh, time worn, Paris apartment chic style where most would have torn away all the deterioration and just built a new.

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