Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock showed off his enviable Portland indie palace recently, but I’m pretty sure the National’s Aaron Dessner has him beat — if only for the great music to come from his Brooklyn home/studio. Profiled in an interview by the NY Post today is the guitarist/producer’s 2,800-square-foot, three-story, two-family house that he bought for $700K in 2003. “I could never afford to buy a house like this now,” he said of the extensive restoration taken on mostly by himself. “It’s now worth about double what he paid for it.” Always ready for late-night jams, frontman Matt Berninger rents the top two floors from Dessner, who lives on the first floor.
The Williamsburg pad’s coolest feature, however, is the garage studio where Dessner has tracked a number of impressive recordings, including cuts for Sharon Van Etten’s next album, as well as the National’s recent Portal 2 and Win Win theme songs. The studio, which was designed by his brother-in-law, features “skylights with power-retractable shades that give the place an airy feel, and cedar-lined walls that improve the acoustics and resemble a Scandinavian sauna.” You can check out a few photos of the National’s crib alongside more details here.