Francis C. Klein & Associates, Architects

06/23/2025

Did Montclair's recent ADU ordinance get you thinking about what it would actually take to build a tiny house in your back yard? If so, check out our new post in the first comment!

05/12/2022

In this month's newsletter, we visit 100 Above the Park in St. Louis, MO. Its design combines a tree-like tower with design features reminiscent of the Chrysler Building. Check it out!

http://www.franciscklein.com/100-above-the-park-in-st-louis/

05/11/2022

The FKA newsletter has returned! In this issue, we visit Washington Heights to check out the neighborhood where Lin-Manuel Miranda staged IN THE HEIGHTS and explore its architectural history. Read more about the location for Miranda's celebration of community, multi-generational families, the immigrant experience, and enduring friendship:

http://www.franciscklein.com/in-the-heights-city-blocks-from-an-architectural-blockbuster/

05/18/2021

As commuters begin to head back to their offices, Moynihan Train Hall, which opened during the pandemic, is coming to life. If you haven't yet passed through it, or even if you have, you can read more about its historic renovation in this month's newsletter:

The current attention to massive investment in American infrastructure has revived hopes of creating a tremendously improved transportation hub for the New York metropolitan area. The newly opened …

05/15/2021

In this month's newsletter, we pay a visit to historic Weeksville, in Brooklyn, the location of a pre-Civil War African American community. Read more about Weeksville's four surviving wood-frame houses and its contemporary Heritage Center here:

During these days when most travel and exploration are virtual, it is exciting to make a new in-person discovery. Having read in the New York Times about Weeksville, a pre-Civil War African America…

01/13/2021

We are delighted to announce that Francis C. Klein & Associates, Architects, has been honored with a 2020 Montclair Historic Preservation Award for its restoration of the Paper Plane Coffee Co. storefront and interior. It’s the second year in a row that FKA has received this honor!

Read more here:

We are delighted to announce that Francis C. Klein & Associates, Architects, has been honored with a 2020 Montclair Historic Preservation Award for its restoration of the Paper Plane Coffee Com…

08/05/2020

What do Veselka :: Beceлкa in the East Village, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in the Berkshires, and the Jersey Shore have in common? They're all places that our readers described when we asked them about QUARANTECTURE: the places and experiences we've been dreaming about during the pandemic. In our August newsletter, we share some of our readers' reminiscences of treasured places, past journeys, and hopes for travel to new destinations:

For our August newsletter, we asked for our readers for their thoughts about quarantecture: the places and experiences they’ve been yearning for during the months of the pandemic. During that…

04/13/2020

Photos of our Brooklyn apartment renovation, which landed in the "On the Market" section of the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2020/01/16/realestate/on-the-market-in-new-york-city/s/16-OTM-NYC-slide-MU5Q.html

04/13/2020

We hope that our clients and friends are staying safe and strong during this time. We thought we'd share another preview of our April newsletter, which we'll be mailing out as soon as we're able: an interview with Pablo de Jesus, who has worked for our firm for over twenty years. In the interview, Pablo talks about his childhood spent exploring The High Line (before it was the High Line), his visits to family in the Dominican Republic, and his advice for young architects getting started in the field. Read more here:

Pablo De Jesus has worked for our firm for over 20 years. His major projects include a beachfront bungalow addition, a restaurant renovation in Newark, a two-family house rebuilding in Jersey City,…

04/03/2020

What feels like ages ago, but really was just last month, I visited Bushwick, Brooklyn, where my younger daughter Amy Rebecca Klein lives and works, to learn about its architecture old and new. Read about my visit, and some walking tour tips for once COVID-19 has passed, in Francis C. Klein & Associates, Architects's April newsletter:

The Ulrich Huberty House, built in 1900, at 1019 Bushwick Avenue. Vibrant murals and graffiti, the cacophony of the elevated train, and the sound of experimental music from backroom clubs blend tog…

01/18/2020

Check out the Real Estate section of today's New York Times! Our Carroll Gardens apartment renovation is featured in this week's On the Market:

This week’s properties are in Midtown East, Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, and Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

01/13/2020

Both of my daughters do much of their work in coffee shops, so I was thrilled to take over the renovation project for Paper Plane Coffee Co. in Montclair. In this interview, I talk with its owner, Jonathan Echeverry, about the coffee shop industry, his move from Brooklyn, and his family's five-generation coffee legacy:

When Francis C. Klein & Associates took over the project to convert the storefront at 194 Claremont Avenue, in Montclair, from an antique shop into Paper Plane Coffee Company, we didn’t know th…