It is not often a police procedural can be described as light-hearted and cheerful, but such is the case with “Instinct,” the short-lived series that debuted on CBS in 2018. Based on best-selling author James Patterson’s 2017 book “Murder Games,” the show (which is currently available to stream via Paramount Plus) chronicles the work and home lives of CIA-operative-turned-NYPD-consultant Dr. Dylan Reinhart (Alan Cumming), aka “Professor Psychopath,” and his partner, Det. Lizzie Needham (Bojana Novakovic). While the episodes deal with murder, kidnapping and serial killers, the overall arc of the storylines are poignant, warm and full of heart. And the locations aren’t too bad to look at either!
Though the show was canceled after only 24 episodes, two seasons and less than a year and a half on the air, it managed to showcase a number of interesting New York sites. Lizzie and Dylan report to work each day at the city’s 11th Precinct, which in reality is the 41 Cooper Square building on the Cooper Union campus. The ultra-modern structure, which features a stainless steel façade that appears to undulate across its nine stories, was designed in 2009 by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, FAIA, of Morphosis Architecture, who was also behind the oft-filmed Emerson College Los Angeles and Al Pacino’s infamous “dead tech, post-modernistic bullshit house” from “Heat.”
The fictional The Rafters bar, owned by Dylan’s husband, lawyer-turned-proprietor Andy Wilson (Daniel Ings), is really Trestle at 34-02 Broadway in Astoria. Another design marvel featuring ceilings fashioned to look like the underside of a bridge (or elevated subway tracks, depending on which website you happen to be reading), walls cloaked with massive black and white photographs of local bridges, cobblestone flooring dotted with manhole covers and a bathroom circulating with MTA announcement broadcasts, the space is unique, to say the least.
“Instinct’s” most captivating spot, though, is easily the highly singular structure where Dylan and Andy make their home. Clad in vibrant orange brick and terra cotta paneling and capped with a handsome slate mansard roof, the property is nothing short of arresting and immediately caught my eye the moment it was first shown on the series’ pilot episode.
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Image Credit: Compass I figured the building was likely historic and thankfully a quick reverse Google image search of an establishing shot from “Instinct” led me to this 2020 New York Times article that featured an image of the property along with a name. As it turns out, Dylan and Andy’s house is the former William Ulmer Brewery office located at 31 Belvidere St. in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)
The two-story Romanesque Revival and American round arch-style structure was designed in 1885 by local architect Theobald Engelhardt as an addition to the adjacent brewery, which was completed 13 years prior. Founded by German ex-pat Willaim Ulmer, the facility was one of the largest and most successful breweries in the area at one time, producing more than three million gallons of lager each year according to a Landmarks Preservation Commission report.
Though the operation was lucrative, William fortuitously branched out into other avenues. As noted in the Commission report, “For personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.”
When Prohibition hit in 1920, forcing the closure of the brewery, the investments proved fruitful, allowing William’s two sons-in-law, who had by then taken over operations, to shift their focus solely to their real estate dealings. They sold off the large brewery facility but held onto the office building for 30-plus years, utilizing it as the base of their new venture, which they dubbed the Ulmer Park Realty Company. Following their eventual sale of the building in 1952, it was used as an office for an electrical manufacturer and then a lighting company before finally being sold to two artist friends in 1985.
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Image Credit: Compass The property was in a bit of disrepair at the time, and the two spent the next six years rehabbing it, ultimately transforming the site into a magical two-unit living space/artist’s studio (not to mention a defacto filming location!). The result of their efforts is stunning.
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Image Credit: Compass Today, the building boasts a total of seven bedrooms, four baths (three full, one half) in a spacious (especially for New York!) 6,050 square feet.
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Image Credit: Compass The interior is awash with original detailing including exposed brickwork, cherry wood flooring and an incredible 46 windows, most of which are arched and exquisitely framed.
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Image Credit: Compass Other deluxe amenities include 13-foot ceilings, wainscotting galore, moldings bedecked with marble, etched glass doors and granite fixtures.
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Image Credit: Compass Though the structure stands on a scant 5,125-square-foot (0.18-acre) lot, it is not short on features. Guarded by an ornate iron gate believed to be original to the property, the grounds boast a picturesque cobblestone courtyard and an attached 530-square-foot former stable, which now serves as a workspace or garage.
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Image Credit: Compass The locale, which has served as a residential rental for the past few decades, hit the market last May for $3.99 million. The listing made quite a splash being that it was the first time the place, which is a city landmark, had been up for grabs in more than 35 years! Repped by Nathan Horne of Compass, it sold this past March for $3.5 million. The listing notes the pad is the “most interesting building in Brooklyn” and that’s not just hype! So it is no wonder the extraordinary structure wound up illuminated onscreen.
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures The exterior of the William Ulmer Brewery office was featured regularly in establishing shots of Dylan and Andy’s home on “Instinct.” Though the distinctive “U” embellishment displayed at the top of the roofline was left intact in the imagery, the lettering spelling out “OFFICE.” above the front door was digitally removed. Regardless, the place certainly makes for a remarkable homestead – one completely suitable to the quirky and exceedingly brilliant Dylan.
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures -
Image Credit: Compass According to production designer Ray Kluga, “Instinct’s” pilot episode made use of the actual interior of the building, where Dylan’s office was created in one of the property’s great rooms.
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures For the filming of subsequent episodes, sets based on a few of the brewery’s key rooms were constructed, including Dylan’s office, which was given a vibrant facelift by Kruga for the studio build. The designer embellished the set with clerestory windows, a hallway, an alley entrance, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with colorful tomes, exposed brick walls, wood beams galore and an orange-toned couch, resulting in a thoroughly dynamic space somewhat reminiscent of the beloved Central Perk set from “Friends.”
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures Interestingly, a kitchen and living room were not initially included in the set build, so the production team returned to the brewery to make use of its kitchen for episode 10, titled “Bye Bye Birdie” (above), and its living room for episode 13, “Tribal.”
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures For season two, a more extensive set of Dylan and Andy’s residence was erected, which included a living room, a main bedroom and a much larger kitchen, all designed by Kluga who looked to various city lofts for inspiration.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television Studios “Instinct” is not the first production to make use of the William Ulmer Brewery office. In fact, the building seems to be one of Brooklyn’s most oft-filmed spots! It pulled double duty on the HBO series “Girls,” first showing up in a couple of season two episodes as the home of artist Booth Jonathan (Jorma Taccone).
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television Studios Several years later, during season four, it popped up as the apartment of Mimi-Rose Howard (Gillian Jacobs).
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Image Credit: Netflix Pete (Nick Stevenson) and Polly Harper (Maria Dizzia) live there, and teach Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) how to make soap, in the season one episode of “Orange Is the New Black” titled “Tit Punch.”
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures The building serves as the London home of Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), where he instructs new protégé Kitty Winter (Ophelia Lovibond) on the art of lock picking, in the season three episode of “Elementary” titled “The One That Got Away.”
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures And in the season 10 episode of “Blue Bloods” titled “The Price You Pay,” the William Ulmer Brewery office plays the residence of cult leader Daniel Shapiro (Gideon Emery), where Eddie Janko (Vanessa Ray) rescues a woman who is being held captive.
It is quite a spectacular film resume for quite a spectacular house!