'Ali G' Director, Costume Designer Join BroBrit Ranks

With his purchase of a Cobble Hill brownstone last December, Martin Amis became part of a new breed of New Yorker, the BroBrit—intellectual, entitled and in possession of a robust accent. He now has two compatriots for neighbors, as two L.A.-based film types have followed him to Brooklyn.

Mark Mylod, director of, among other things, Ali G In Dahouse, and his wife, costume designer Amy Wescott (Black Swan, Entourage), have just bought the bottom duplex in a townhouse at 278 Henry Street. The co-op cost $2 million, according to city records, and the sellers were a pair of old-fashioned, even pioneering, BroBos, William Hogeland III and Gail Brousal. The historical author and the head of the high school at the prestigious St. Ann's bought their three-bedroom home way back in 1990.

And, oh, what a splendid 25-foot-wide home it is. "There are handsome mantles, pocket doors, inlaid floors, and many turn-of-the-century details," Brown Harris Stevens' Bill Sheppard writes in his listing. "Also on this level is the kind of kitchen you'll be happy to spend the day in, with its wall of west facing windows, great cooking space, top appliances, and plenty of room for dining and relaxing. The sunny deck and spacious, private garden are accessed from the kitchen and downstairs as well." The location is especially apropos for Ms. Wescott, who worked on the very BroBos The Squid and the Whale.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hogeland and Ms. Brousal are striking out into untamed Brooklyn yet again, having bought an entire house this time in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, 87 Fenimore Street. The historic semi-detached home is located on the edge of the Lefferts Manor historic district, for which they paid $800,000 according to city records. "Priced to sell, historically elegant, warm and lovingly maintained colonial revival style townhouse located in Lefferts Manor featuring three bedrooms, two half baths, one full bath, and original wood burning fireplace," writes Rosemarie Sydney Perry of Corcoran.

Priced to sell, indeed, as the home came on the market last July for $1.1 million and was cut three times thence, to $875,000.

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mchaban [at] observer.com | @mc_nyo