Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum had been dating for just seven months when they began looking for a Brooklyn, New York, brownstone to buy together. Eight years later, they’ve parlayed their experience renovating their home into a successful business.
In 2018, Slocum and Bordelon purchased a $1.5 million brownstone built in 1890, and spent the next eight months bringing the home back to life.
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsSlocum and Bordelon met on a dating app in 2017.Valentina Duarte
Now, Bordelon, 46, and Slocum, 42, are the founders of The Brownstone Boys, an interior design and restoration company they launched in 2020.
They’ve written a book about renovation and design, appeared on HGTV and helped dozens of aspiring DIYers highlight their homes’ vintage charm.
Today, Slocum and Bordelon employ four other designers and project managers at The Brownstone Boys, and they’ve completed more than 32 full renovations in New York City.
Searching for a home with ‘good bones’
The couple met in early 2017 on a dating app. “For me, it was kind of love at first sight,” says Slocum. On their second date, they discovered that they shared a passion for historic architecture, particularly Brooklyn brownstones.
At the time, Bordelon worked in software sales and Slocum worked for an ice cream company, helping design and develop new store locations.
The couple decided “very early on” that they wanted to buy a home together, Bordelon says, and they started looking at brownstones in summer 2017.
Not everyone was excited about their plan. “I freaked my parents out when I told them that I was buying a property with someone that I had only been dating for such a short period of time,” Slocum says. “I just remember my mom telling me I was crazy.”
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsBordelon and Slocum bought their brownstone in October 2018.Courtesy of Jordan Slocum
Before buying a home together, they had “a full, honest conversation around finances” and what it would take to achieve their goal, according to Slocum. Bordelon already had experience renovating and reselling apartments as a hobby, and Slocum had been saving up to buy his own apartment.
Their aim was to find a home with “good bones” that they “could bring back to life and restore,” Bordelon says. “We wanted a beautiful, tree-lined street. We wanted a stoop out front that we could sit on and have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee.”
In October 2018, Bordelon and Slocum purchased a 2,400-square-foot brownstone in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn for about $1.5 million.
“We had to really stretch our budget” to purchase the home, Slocum says. They pooled their savings for a down payment of approximately $475,000, according to Bordelon, and took out a mortgage for the rest.
Learning the art of renovation
When Bordelon and Slocum started renovating the brownstone at the end of 2018, their main challenge was their “very limited” budget, according to Bordelon.
When contractors quoted them up to $1 million for the project, the couple realized they would have to do most of the renovations themselves.
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe couple decided to DIY as much of the renovation as they could.Courtesy of Jordan Slocum
Brownstones can be challenging to renovate due to the age of the buildings and materials, according to Bordelon. New York City’s brownstone rowhouses, named for their reddish-brown sandstone facades, were primarily built in the latter half of the 19th century. There are few craftspeople left who specialize in working with brownstone, Slocum says, so “replicating the beautiful craftsmanship” is difficult.
The couple took pains to preserve historical details like the house’s original wooden shutters. Early on, they hired a wood restorer who showed them how to strip and restain the antique woodwork, which allowed them to “learn the craft” and then tackle the rest of the project themselves.
The brownstone was previously used as a short-term rental property, Bordelon says, so they had to modify the layout to turn it into a functional home. They transformed a former bedroom into a custom-built kitchen and dining area, and converted a small, “useless” room into a spacious guest bathroom.
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsBordelon and Slocum turned a spare bedroom and bathroom into a spacious kitchen.Valentina Duarte
The initial renovation cost was approximately $300,000, according to Slocum, which the couple funded from their savings. To save money, they also lived in the brownstone throughout most of the eight-month renovation project.
Today, Bordelon and Slocum occupy the second and third floors of their brownstone, which they transformed into a duplex with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. They turned the garden-level floor of the brownstone into a one-bed, one-bath apartment unit that they rent out for $2,500 per month, which covers about half of their $5,000 monthly mortgage payment.
The major renovations are largely finished, but for design fanatics like Bordelon and Slocum, “there’s always going to be a project to do,” Slocum says. The couple recently revamped their living room and kitchen, adding details like crown moldings, vintage lighting and custom banquette seating, which cost approximately $12,000.
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe large windows in the living room are one of the couple’s favorite features, they say.Valentina Duarte
It’s all worth it to live in their “forever home,” says Slocum. The couple even had their wedding on the stoop of their brownstone in October 2024. “This home truly is our love story,” he continues.
Becoming ‘The Brownstone Boys’
While they were renovating the brownstone, Slocum had the “really amazing idea” to chronicle their journey online, Bordelon says, so they started an Instagram page and a blog called The Brownstone Boys.
The blog got picked up by a larger Brooklyn real estate website, Brownstoner, and developed a dedicated online following of architecture enthusiasts and aspiring DIYers.
“We were telling our whole story: all the finances involved, what was working, what wasn’t working, problems we had and how we solved them,” Bordelon says. “It really became a community.”
In 2019, a few months before they finished renovations, one of their Instagram followers reached out to Bordelon and Slocum asking for their help with a similar renovation project.
Bordelon and Slocum agreed to help with project management and design, and soon other potential clients started reaching out.
After taking on their third client, Bordelon and Slocum quit their jobs to focus on The Brownstone Boys full-time. They officially filed their LLC in January 2020. “Honestly, we haven’t even had time to look back yet, because we’ve been so busy since,” Bordelon says.
Running a business as a couple isn’t always easy, Bordelon says, but having each other’s support has been key to their success.
“There’s two of us in almost everything that we do, every decision that we make,” he says. “Although there are, of course, disagreements and hard moments to work through, I really think it’s been a benefit and an asset throughout everything we’ve done.”
