Inside Brandon Blackwood's Brooklyn Town House, Built by Family

Designer Brandon Blackwood outbid 17 people to buy his over 3,000-square-foot town house in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn — and then handed the renovation to his mother, contractor Carleen Haughton. "This house was built by people who really love me," Blackwood says.

The house is the third Blackwood has bought since starting his brand. His first was two blocks from where he grew up in Bed-Stuy; his last was a former firehouse in Fort Greene previously owned by Spike Lee. "I fell in love with this house right away," he says, "but it didn't look anything like this."

How did a neuroscience student become a fashion designer?

Blackwood went viral in 2020 for a mini tote bag emblazoned with "End Systemic Racism." Many in fashion assumed he had come from nowhere. "When I blew up I had been in business for five years already," he says. He studied neuroscience at Bard College before fashion took over. "This was my first real job," Blackwood says of designing. "Before this I was a cashier at Crossroads."

While at Bard, he spent weekends and summers working for fashion brands and magazines without his mother's knowledge. Haughton, a Jamaican-born self-made contractor and former restaurateur, challenged her son to give fashion his all.

Who renovated the house?

Haughton acted as contractor, working with Urban Pioneering Architecture to renovate the four-story town house with an all-Caribbean team of craftsmen and builders. "They are all so proud of me because they've known me since I was 13," Blackwood says.

For the gut renovation, Blackwood set clear priorities: serenity and a neutral base for his art. "I just wanted an escape," he says. "I wanted natural textures, fibers, and natural colors." A cream sitting area greets guests at the entrance, with a painting by Matheus Abu hanging by the front door — a reminder, he says, of childhood summers swimming with his brother and cousins.

The second floor serves as a guest suite and entertainment area, including a "womb-like" bedroom his friends use frequently. "Everyone who sleeps here has the best sleep," he says.

What art is on the walls?

The living room centers on a chocolate 1970s Mah Jong sofa that becomes a room-size mattress for movie nights, alongside a black-tiled coffee table Blackwood designed himself. Works by Mark Delmont, Xavier Scott Marshall, Ferg, Salimatu Amabebe and Chris Ofili cover the walls, together with family portraits and antiques from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "The works in here are my most prized possessions," he says.

Several friends hold keys to the house and use it as a meeting point. "I always take it upon myself to be the gatherer," Blackwood says. Artist Tschabalala Self — a longtime friend, houseguest and client, whose wedding dress and 2025 Met Gala look he made — describes the atmosphere: "Brandon's house feels like a cross between being at a spa, a luxury hotel, and my Auntie's."

The backyard, designed by Kwame Agyapone, hosts meals off the grills. "The smoker is on its last leg," Blackwood says. Leftover bones go to his three dogs: Trill, Mink and Juicy.

What awaits on the top floor?

Under a skylight his mother installed as a surprise, the top floor bridges a two-room walk-in closet and a primary bedroom furnished with a furry upholstered bed and vintage Fabio Lenci chairs. "He's a protector and provider through and through," Self says of the designer — whose story, like the house, is still unfolding.