A woman is renovating a rundown Brooklyn brownstone that's been in her family for nearly 100 years

• A Brooklyn brownstone has been part of Sarah Coleman's family for nearly 100 years.
• This summer, Coleman and her parents set out to bring new life to the building.

Sarah Coleman always knew there was a Brooklyn brownstone in her family.

It wasn't until this past June, though, that the 21-year-old finally saw it in person. And that's when she and her parents took on a massive project: restoring the over 170-year-old property to its former glory.

Coleman told Business Insider that her first steps inside the four-level brownstone were "magical." And while there was excitement, she also realized just how much work was ahead of her. The home, which is located in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood, was in disarray, and some floors had been left untouched for decades.

Over the past few months, the Coleman family has made progress, although they still have plenty of work to do before they reach the end goal of making it a livable space for Coleman and other future tenants.

The brownstone has been in Coleman's family for generations

Coleman said the brownstone was built circa 1850, and members of her family bought it in the 1930s, passing it down from generation to generation ever since. Her father even spent time there throughout his childhood, as his mother grew up in the brownstone next door.

The brownstone has four floors, including a basement and a parlor level, as well as a backyard. Throughout the decades, the floors were rented out to tenants, as many brownstones function in New York. But the building became vacant after Coleman's family member who owns the building moved out, leading Coleman and her parents to start renovating the space this summer.

As Coleman started exploring the space with her father, she was struck by her generational ties to the home, particularly the backyard.

"The first thing that my dad did was bring me to the backyard and show me where his mom grew up, and I started crying immediately," she said.

"I didn't really know a lot about my dad's side before other than the things he told me because I've unfortunately never met any of my grandparents on my dad's side," she said. "I finally felt connected."

Coleman and her parents are refurbishing the space

While Coleman could see the magic of the space, there was also an enormous amount of work to be done. Coleman said the building fell into disrepair in recent years, adding that it was in "very, very poor shape" when she first saw it.

The second floor doesn't have a full bathroom, the upper two floors are full of items residents left behind, and two of the floors haven't been cleaned since the 1990s.

Coleman and her parents stepped in to give the building a new life. They started by clearing out the stuff from the upper floors so they could clean and renovate it. Their ultimate goal is to give it an update that pays tribute to the building's history while making it fit for modern living, Coleman said.

As of December, the Coleman family is still carefully combing through items in the home themselves, deciding what to donate and what to keep. However, they have hired a contractor who has started to make a plan for the actual renovation, which includes everything from replacing ceilings to making a small bedroom bigger, as Coleman shared on TikTok.

Coleman is documenting the journey on TikTok

Coleman posted a video about cleaning a sink in the brownstone after her mother made a joke about a sponge company sponsoring the renovation. To her shock, the video blew up.

Coleman continued to post videos about her family's progress on the renovation, and today, her TikTok account, @sassaronio, has nearly 270,000 followers. In her videos, Coleman shares everything from time-lapse cleaning videos and room tours to voice-over videos documenting her discoveries, including the time she found vintage Christmas decor.

Coleman said she's found joy in sharing the process on TikTok. Not only has it motivated her to continue the renovation, but it's also been heartwarming to see an audience care about a place that means so much to her family, she said.

In the fall, Coleman returned to college at Boston University. However, she told BI that she heads back to Brooklyn every chance she gets to continue filming content.

"I even left school two weekends to go to Brooklyn because I needed to make a video for the people who were checking in every week to see how much progress we're making," she told BI.

Coleman intends to move into the brownstone when renovations are complete after she graduates college, becoming the first rent-paying tenant the building has had in years.