Known today for the arts, shopping, and entertainment, Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill neighborhood once served as a chandlery and rope-making center that supplied the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yards. Those nautical and manufacturing elements served as design inspiration for the 196-room Hilton Brooklyn New York, which recently opened in the landmark community (the hotel occupies the first six floors, while 128 condos are housed on the upper floors of the 19-story mixed-use building).

Stonehill & Taylor handled the interiors and were given the freedom to “reinvent what a Hilton-branded hotel could be for a small neighborhood like Boerum Hill,” says Michael Suomi, principal and interior director of design for the New York firm. “Our initial ideas were more abstract, subtle, artistic. The design should relate back to the original story but not in a way that it’s a museum.”

Boerum Hill’s bygone rope industry serves as a unique motif, welcoming guests at reception with a wall of woven, intertwined ropes that highlight top-notch craftsmanship of the 1800s. It subtly perpetuates the polished nautical theme across a warm, tan palette. “These colors along with the materials of rope, sailcloth, and high gloss bridge the gap between a classical feel and contemporary design,” Suomi explains.

The intimate bar area showcases two laser-cut metal screens, sketched by the Stonehill & Taylor team to depict maps of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. The adjacent Black Market restaurant is inviting and comfortable, clad with walnut-paneled walls, marble floors, and modern furnishings.

Deep navy carpets span the hallways, appointed with a winding rope design. And the yacht-inspired guestrooms provide simple and airy interiors where white linen walls complement charcoal carpeting with a cream knotted-rope pattern. Wallcoverings crafted by the firm’s in-house artist bear etchings of various activities typical of the 19th century.

Understated nautical tropes abound, including the sailcloth window curtains, which feature leather straps and ship cleats, and the  beadboard trim and lacquered wood headboard, both recalling what is found in a yacht.

This urban Hilton is “very luxe” but also very cozy, says Suomi. “We did that to make it feel like a neighborhood place, where you want locals to come, lounge, and have a drink. When you’re successful with locals, you’re successful with travelers.”