
Inside The Art-Filled Brownstone Of Kate Huling Of Marlow Goods
Written by James Kicinski-McCoy
Photography by PHOTOGRAPHED BY BELATHÉE PHOTOGRAPHY
If there is one woman who truly has a lot on her plate, Kate Huling just might take the cake. The founder of cult-followed Marlow Goods, a stellar leather handbag brand, is a mother of four (Elijah, 15, Beatrice, 10, Roman, 7, and Paloma, 4), and is co-founder, alongside her husband Andrew Tarlow, in several of Brooklyn’s hot-spot eateries, including Marlow & Sons, The Wythe Hotel, Diner, Roman’s, She Wolf Bakery, Marlow & Daughters, and Achilles Heel. We caught up with the successful career woman and three of her littles on a sunny afternoon for a tour of their incredible, 1863 brownstone and a chat about life, kids, food, and business. Talk about inspiring!
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“We lived in a gigantic 6,000 square foot loft on Broadway a block from the Diner for 10 years, and when I got pregnant with our first son in 2000, we started hunting for a house in Ft. Green, Brooklyn. It took us seven years to find the right one. It had the right amount of original detail, 70’s bathrooms, and a kitchen that we didn’t mind tearing out and refreshing.”
Kate wears a top by Gallego Desportes, pants by Caron Callahan, and a navy sweater by Marlow Goods.
- “For whatever reason, Andrew and I don’t like spending money on furniture or renovations, so every piece we own is either found, handed down, or built by our friends. That creates a certain lived-in feel that we like.”
- “We aren’t precious about anything, so things come and things go depending on how they are making us feel. We pick up a lot of rugs and objects when we travel, which is always inspiring since they are little memories.”
- “All of the artwork is painted by Andrew, so I love each and every one of his pieces, especially since I got to see through the process of them becoming. I also am in love with the leather pieces that we are making. We have leather floor cushions, bolsters, and a leather charpoy. A charpoy is an ancient-style bed that is usually made with rope and wooden legs, but we made ours with wooden legs and leather."
- “Ha! The kids don’t have a lot of things, just books and clothes, and those things live in their rooms. Our kids never hang out in their rooms and never play with toys on their own. They are always hanging out in the kitchen, helping make dinner, or drawing at the kitchen table.”
- “We spend all of our time on the parlor level—both in the kitchen, at the dining room table, and relaxing on the couches.”
- We love the eclectic, European feel from room to room.
- “I got pregnant right after my 21st birthday, so it has been awhile. I was a teenager and traveling the world, living in France and Africa, and all over the country in high school. I met Andrew when I was 20, we opened the Diner that year, and I was pregnant the following. I was ready to be a mother when I was 16. Waiting until I was 21 was a challenge. I never partied, never really had my own space, my own time, or my own needs. Opening the restaurant was equally very much like having a baby, so Elijah really felt like our second baby.”
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“That they truly are their own people. What you put in is not what comes out. They have their own ideas and their own ways, and we are just here to help them on their journey. We do not create them, they create themselves.”
Kate wears a dress by A Détacher.
- “How there is always more to learn, and new challenges and successes around every corner.”
- “That I won’t have taught them some vital lesson that will in turn cause them pain or suffering, and I will hate myself for it forever.”
- Mama snuggles.
- “They are really just random names we liked.”
- “Getting to spend so much so much time with them. I cherish it all.”
- “The things I love about each of them that also are the things that are the most challenging for me. Also, the things about them that aren’t at all like me are a mystery, but I love those, too.”
- “It’s really hard to describe, but since we spend so much time together, I work hard to teach them to be the kind of person that I want to spend a lot of time with. I’m not trying to be a perfect, saintly mother who is infinitely patient and caring, because the world is not patient or infinitely caring. If they are annoying me, then most likely they would annoy others, so I work hard to be completely myself with them and teach them how to be likable.”
- “Zero. Never read one.”
- “My mother and I are different in so many ways, but my parenting style is almost identical to hers. I can hear her voice in my own when I am speaking to them.”
- “My mom, my step mom, and my host mother in France where I lived when I was 17. I also get a ton of great insight from Mona Kowalska from A Détacher, whom I met when her daughter was three in 1999. She has always given me invaluable nuggets.”
- “I love David Tanis’ cookbooks! He makes whole meals with a starter, main, and dessert, and they are the best.”
- “The best piece of advice I’ve received is from Mona Kowalska from A Détacher, which is to be completely ourselves with our kids and to not put on any act. We all know that they would find out that we aren’t angels sooner or later, so it’s better they find out sooner.”
- “Ugh. I have to do it all the time and I hate it, because my advice is actually to not listen to anyone’s advice. Follow your gut, and do what you believe is right.”
- “Always put the marriage first. My kids will grow up, find their own love, and make their own families, and I want to make sure that Andrew and I are still in love and want to be together. There are many, many beautiful years once the kids leave to explore and see the world, and I want to still feel the same way about him then as I did when I was 20.”
- “I am hard on my first child. My own pride, for some reason, is all wrapped up in who he is, whereas, it isn’t as much with the others. I can let them be their own people. I wish I could chill out and enjoy him exactly as he is, which is really hard with a 15 year old boy, I’ll tell ya.”
- “During the summer, we wake up at 9am and get the kids to camps. My eldest son does an internship at Achilles Heel, and my eldest daughter does an internship in the pastry department at Marlow & Sons. I work at my shop in the city from 10-4 pm, then I pick everyone up from their respective daytime activity, we meet up with Andrew and other friends to have dinner at one of our restaurants. We hang until dark with a gaggle of Brooklyn friends and then head home for a movie. Bedtime is at 11pm for everyone.”
- “Nope. I wanted two boys and two girls, and I wanted to not have kids after 33, and I did it. Now I can enjoy each one.”
- “We eat rare, grass-fed steak and salad whenever we eat at home. It takes only five minutes to prepare and I think it is the healthiest meal on the planet.”
- “My main salad trick is that I always add sauerkraut for flavor and for the probiotics. I put in dark, leafy greens, grated carrots or grated raw beets, sauerkraut, and then toasted sesame seeds, avocado—you name it.”
- Green goodness!
- “I love how many incredible role models they have. They go to an amazing public school in Brooklyn where every day they learn the humility of how many beautiful, talented people live here.”
- “We really don’t hang in Manhattan as a family at all. We stay in Brooklyn all week, and escape to Long Island for the weekend, because that’s where all four of them can run and play outside together. In the city, it would be hard for us to find activities that both a 15-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl enjoy.”
- “I’m not sure that there is another diverse, rich place on this planet like NY. I could certainly live for three to six months somewhere else, but there isn’t another subway on the globe where you can admire such a rainbow of different people, and that is what I live for.”
- “I really like my clothes to stand out. I am not a jeans and a t-shirt babe. I like no makeup, big hair, and loud clothes and shoes.”
- “Nope.”
- “I wear one of my A Détacher dresses with sandals in the summer and riding boots in the winter. I love a light mackintosh, heavy wool, or tweed coat in the winter. I also wear a lot of short, small cardigans.”
- “Some days are really plain. I love a crisp white shirt, white sailor pants, and sandals. Other days, I feel more like peacocking in one of my many dresses that I have collected over the past 17 years.”
- “Caron Callahan, Ulla Johnson, and A Détacher.”
- I can’t wait for Ulla Johnson to open her store, so I can shop her entire collection! I am also excited to get down to A Détacher and pick out the spring pieces that I’ve had my eye on since April.”
- “I use Earth Tu Face face wash, toner, and face oils. I love everything that those babes make. I’ve also recently picked out some RMS Beauty mascara, and different lip and cheek colors. I haven’t ever worn makeup, so I am an amateur, but I love her products. I feel like they were made for me.”
- “Since I was 13, I have been a raw foodist, and as a restauranteur, I can get away with eating around 70% raw food and 30% cooked. I consume a lot of raw milk and raw eggs, and I eat grass-fed beef and greens. My way of eating is the fuel to my life—if I ate any other way, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace of it. I also don’t drink alcohol or coffee, and never have, and I always sleep eight hours a night.”
- Art at every turn.
- “I have a leather brand called Marlow Goods. I organize the tanning of all of the raw cow hides that come from the same farms we buy meat from to serve in our restaurants. I’ve designed a line of simple, practical leather goods in flirty colors with local leather that is produced in Union City, NJ.”
- “Well, I always start with the restaurants because they are the genesis of everything. I’ve always wanted to work with leather. I started a leather line back in 1999 with my best friend who was a leather worker, but it never took off, because I didn’t have any connection to the leather that we had access to. Once we were able to tan our own leather and have a connection to the animals and farmers, the whole thing ignited for me. My products meant so much more as a part of the story of our family and our businesses that way.”
- “I grew up in Vermont until I was 13 when my parents divorced. I was able to travel around with my stepmom whose career took her to DC, LA, and NYC. I also lived abroad in France, and spent time on my own in Western Africa. I started at Columbia University here in the city at the same time that I met Andrew. We fell in love, and I jumped in to his dream of owning restaurants, but always wanted my own business. I loved working with leather and when we realized that we could work with the same farmers to build my business, the whole thing took off.”
- “I love how much I am learning about supply chains, where things are coming from, and why my project is so different. Leather comes from farms where leather is the main commodity and the meat is the bi-product, so the quality of the leather is the priority, every step of the process. For me, the leather is the bi-product and there are no systems in place at any step of the process to create perfect leather. The leather tells the story of the cow’s life, which is foreign to most people, but I love it. I love everything that makes the story of a bag.”
- “Ease. Also, helping people to do what they need to do to live their busy lives.”
- “The Lexington Bum Pack is the bag that I always wanted to make all of these years. When I had Elijah, I was still using my North Face bum pack that I had purchased on Broadway my senior year of high school. It became my baby bag, and I always wanted to share the ease and functionality of being hands-free with other moms. It’s only fitting that it is by far my most popular style.”
- “I was a mother first, so my work has been formed by my priority to my children, who always come first.”
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“I go into work after the kids are dropped off and leave at 4pm to pick them up everyday. Luckily, my kids’ school goes until 4! It is a huge help.”
Kate wears a white Caron Callahan dress and A Détacher cardigan.
- “It’s on the best block in the city. I have been on the second floor above Marlow and Sons, as well as in the lobby of the hotel, but I have never been able to be on street level, where people of all ages and backgrounds can wander in. I love feeling like we are in the action, and anyone can just come in and say hello. I also love how tiny the space is, so I can keep the focus on the leather.”
- “I would like to continue to build a healthy business, which isn’t easy when so much of the leather I commit to purchasing is covered in scratches and scars. It will be a long road before the whole cycle is really flowing.”
- “Honestly, the most important thing is to have another source of income. Make your designs your passion, but earn money elsewhere. Then, you can enjoy what you make, and not need to make sacrifices to try to make money.”
- For more on Kate, her family, and Marlow Goods follow her Instagram page.
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