Brooklyn, New York · Est. 1920s
A story that began
a century ago
on a Brooklyn stoop.
When a remarkable woman, who was my great grandmother, Lina came to DUMBO in the early 1900s, she and her husband made their home on the block around the corner. When he died, she sold his business — and bought the brownstones. She planted roots deep enough to last four generations. This is that story.
The Beginning
Lina.
A widow.
A Brooklyn original.
Lina arrived in DUMBO in the early 1900s with her husband. They made their home on the block around the corner from the brownstones that would one day become theirs. When her husband died, she didn't retreat — she sold his business and used the money to buy the brownstones in the 1920s.
She raised her family there. She managed the building herself. She planted roots deep enough to last four generations — and she filled every room, every closet, every corner of the cellar with the objects of a life fully lived.
For decades the brownstones filled with family. Children were born in those rooms. Holidays happened around that table. And the cellar — that deep, dark, century-old cellar — accumulated layer after layer of American life. Furniture. Textiles. Lighting fixtures. Playbills. Photographs. Things that nobody had the heart to throw away.
The neighbourhood changed around them. Manufacturing left. The waterfront quieted. But the brownstones stood, and the family stayed, and the cellar kept its secrets.
The Family Story
Anne, grandmother.
Lina, great-grandmother.
Sarah, who got to know them
by going through their treasures.
I never got to meet my grandmother Anne. She passed away years before I was born. But when I started cleaning out the brownstone, I found her anyway.
She was in the photographs tucked inside shoeboxes. In the handwriting on the backs of envelopes. In the objects that had survived every decade, every change of tenant, every season of the building's long life — because someone had looked at them and simply couldn't let go.
What started as clearing out a cellar became something I didn't have a word for at first. An archaeology, maybe. Or a conversation — the kind you have across time, through objects, with people who aren't there anymore.
Some of it was trash. A great deal of it was treasure. All of it told me something about the women who lived in this building — their taste, their care, the things they thought were worth saving.
I've been sharing every layer of this on TikTok as @sassaronio — the cleanout, the demo, the renovation, and the finds — and over 304,000 people have joined me. That still amazes me.
Getting to know my grandmother and great-grandmother through their things has been one of the most unexpected gifts of my life. And it has inspired me to share what I've found — because these pieces deserve to be seen, and used, and loved again. That's the whole idea behind this collection.
The Collection
Every item in the Our Brooklyn Brownstone Collection carries a piece of this story. Genuine one-of-a-kind finds from the cellar, alongside pieces inspired by the era, the aesthetic, and the spirit of Lina's Brooklyn — beautiful things, made to last, waiting for someone who will love them the way this family did.
From the Cellar & the Closets
Family Photos Discovered Cleaning the House
Hidden in drawers, tucked behind shelves, and folded in old albums — these photographs emerged from the brownstone during the great clean-out. Generations, preserved in silver and paper.
Lina & Anne — a wedding day
Brooklyn · Circa 1940s–50s
Anne, dressed for something wonderful
Brooklyn · Circa 1940s–50s
The family, together
Brooklyn · Circa 1940s
The Neighborhood
DUMBO, Brooklyn — Then & Now
Understanding the block where Lina raised her family makes the whole story richer.
Early 1900s — Lina's Era
An immigrant neighbourhood in full swing
A working waterfront. Over 7,000 manufacturing businesses humming. Cobblestone streets full of carts and commerce. The cardboard box was invented here. The Jay Street Railroad ran along the block. Lina arrived in the middle of all of it.
Mid-Century
Quieter streets, deeper roots
Manufacturing declined. The waterfront emptied. But the family stayed. The brownstones stood solid. Children were born in those rooms. And the cellar kept filling with the objects of a life that refused to leave.
Today
Brooklyn's most celebrated neighbourhood
Cobblestone streets, iconic bridge views, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Jane's Carousel — restored from 1922. One of NYC's most sought-after addresses. And in the middle of it all, a brownstone with a cellar full of stories.
From the Cellar
Decades of American life, waiting in the dark.
The cellar of a DUMBO brownstone doesn't give up its secrets easily. But Sarah has been patient. Tucked among the old plumbing and the dust: vintage playbills, a 19th-century Singer sewing machine, period light fixtures, textiles, and artifacts from the very decades that shaped American culture. These are the finds that belong to you now.
Shop the CellarShop the Collection
Every piece has a story.
Now it can have a new one.