When couple Mary Gillen and Ed Blythe decided to move in together last year, they could never have imagined how a strange twist of fate would lead them to the apartment of their dreams in one of the finest Romanesque Revival mansions in the country. 

The four-story brownstone, located at 838 Carroll Street between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West, was built in 1887 for James H. Remington, President of the United States Law Association.  Designed by noted Manhattan architect C.P.H. Gilbert, the façade is surfaced almost entirely with rough-faced stone laid in random ashlar.  Though the building boasts many exquisite details, its round corner tower with slate roof is especially impressive.

In late 2009, Blythe and Gillen began their search for a two-bedroom rental, hoping to find that mythical apartment that one sees only on television.  Originally from Australia, Blythe had been living with friends in Clinton Hill, while Gillen, a native New Yorker, called the East Village home. 

"We wanted something that felt like country in the city, an oasis," said Gillen, a graduate student at Columbia's film school and part-time yoga instructor.  "In theory, we loved the idea a loft space, but really needed a two-bedroom so that Ed could have an office." 

Blythe, who received his graduate degree from Columbia film in May, works from home much of the time, so the couple needed a space that would afford them a tranquil environment in which to live and work. 

After three months of looking at neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, the couple found a loft in Williamsburg that fit their needs.  Though neither were in love with the space, they decided to take the apartment anyway, and scheduled an appointment to sign the lease shortly after.  The evening before the signing, however, fate intervened. 

Blythe had "a strong feeling" that they needed to see one last apartment.  Weeks previously, a Park Slope broker had casually mentioned a one-bedroom rental that was under renovation on picturesque Carroll Street in Park Slope.  The couple declined to see it at the time assuming it would be too small.  Now, just hours away from their lease signing in Williamsburg, Gillen skeptically called the broker, and as luck (or fate) would have it, he was not only available to show it that same evening, but shared that they would be the first ones to see it.

"I literally gasped when I walked in," said Gillen.  As if something out of a dream, the 1,200 square foot one-bedroom rental not only had all the elements of a loft, including high ceilings and spacious, light-filled rooms, but also an abundance of exquisite Victorian details. 

Originally part of the landlady's duplex apartment, the first floor had never been rented out before and was in the process of being renovated.  Though dusty, covered in sheets and under construction, there was no disguising this stunning gem with its marble fireplaces, wedding-cake moldings, crystal chandeliers, and working pocket doors.  Adding to its charm and allure, a lovely garden area could be accessed via spiral staircase.  Blythe and Gillen jumped at the chance to make this magnificent Park Slope apartment their new home and signed a lease shortly after.  

Before moving in January 2010, Blythe and Gillen questioned how they were going to fill their massive Victorian digs, having both lived in small New York City apartments where a dining area was considered an unthinkable luxury.  As if fate couldn't be any kinder, the couple's landlady made them an unusual offer–to use her late mother's furniture, which would soon be sent off to storage. 

Intrigued by the kind offer, the couple agreed to let the landlady leave pieces in the apartment before they moved in, which they could then decide to use or not.  To the couple's disbelief, a spectacular piece of antique furniture would arrive each week, including a lovely dining set, mahogany carved sideboard and hutch, elegant lamps and beautiful Victorian rugs in rich blues and reds.  "It was like a dream," said Gillen.  "I couldn't believe how lucky we were."

In decorating the space, Gillen and Blythe enjoyed the challenge of integrating the loaned antique furniture with their more modern pieces.  Having both grown up in families where vintage furniture was appreciated, the couple relished in the fact that so much in their home had an intriguing past.  In the dining area, Blythe's favorite retro-style SHAG art prints hang next to an elaborately carved antique cuckoo clock, a storied piece lent by the landlady.  The cuckoo, carried by hand on a plane from Bavaria by the landlady's husband, was a unique family treasure. Unlike many traditional cuckoo clocks that have depictions of dead game animals, this particular clock was decorated with all live animals.  Gillen, an animal lover and dedicated activist, was more than happy to give this special piece a home in their dining area.  

In the office nook, a sectioned-off space in the living area, Blythe works from an antique roll top desk, which Gillen playfully shares, "has a funny little story."  When the couple first moved in to the apartment, Blythe had a functional, yet unattractive, plywood IKEA desk that severely clashed with their new Victorian surroundings.  Since the office nook was out in the open, it was decided that Blythe should go on the hunt for a desk that was not only attractive and functional, but would "hide the mess." After responding to two ads for antique roll top desks, Blythe drove three hours into New Jersey to look at the first one, and then four hours into upstate New York to see the second.  Realizing that the first desk was the better fit, he then drove back down to New Jersey that evening and purchased the roll top. 

"There were a couple of things Ed did when we moved in together that made me feel like it was the ultimate act of love" said Gillen sweetly, "and the desk was definitely one of them." 

Gillen's prized possession, a striking vintage wood coffee table made from an old ship hatch cover, is the centerpiece of the living room area.  "My dad bought the table in the South Street Seaport area in the early 80's, and I grew up with it in every home." 

When Gillen's parents divorced, the table spent years in her mother's basement, until she rediscovered it and claimed it for her new space.  Also in the living room, a watchful plastic owl sits in the decorative marble fireplace surrounded by beautifully carved cherubs. 

The owl, which the owners of a neighboring brownstone had probably used to scare off pigeons, had been thrown away and left on the curb.  "I saw it and loved it.  It's amazing what people in this neighborhood will put out in the trash," said Gillen.  "It's amazing what Mary will pick up," responded Blythe.

Whether by luck or fate, Blythe and Gillen found their way to the apartment of their dreams.  Decorated with storied pieces both old and new, the couple have created an impressive space that reflects their creativity, individual style, and appreciation of the past.