Influencer’s Brownstone Goes Viral for Elaborate Decorations (Exclusive)

If you’ve taken a stroll around New York City’s Upper East Side or scrolled on social media recently, you may have come across a vibrantly decorated brownstone stoop — often sporting larger-than-life props and seasonal themes. 

For a while this summer, the stoop was fully decked out in a playful “summerween” exhibit, featuring bold, autumnal flowers and large M&M decorations — a preview of what’s to come as fall draws near.

The stoop, with its constantly changing decor and increasingly elaborate constructions, has become something of a local landmark, attracting curious passersby, neighborhood kids and even tourists from across the country and world.

But, if you aren’t able to make it to see the creative constructions in person, don’t worry. 

It’s all documented on social media under the handle “stoopandthecity” (a fun play on the title of the popular HBO show, Sex and the City) run by Kristi Hemric, who lives in the brownstone with her husband, David Guttag, and their four children.

The TikTok account, which now boasts over 200,000 followers and 12 million likes, offers followers a glimpse into the stoop’s behind-the-scenes, including how the couple constructs their elaborate creations and the day-to-day interactions of neighbors and interested onlookers with the displays. 

Despite the buzz that the stoop has created, the origins of the project are far simpler.

When Kristi and David first purchased the brownstone about four years ago, the pair was excited to begin decorating their new home. Living in a brownstone had been a personal dream of Kristi’s for a while.

“I always knew if I had [a brownstone] I would decorate,” Kristi tells PEOPLE. The decor started on a much smaller scale, but according to the couple, the turning point that changed the game for the stoop was another landmark native to New York City: scaffolding.

“The building next door did construction and had scaffolding that covered our house,” she explains. “In New York City, scaffolding, once it’s up, stays up for a very long time. It was probably January, and I was over it. I asked my husband if we could do a flower arch over our door, so at least when people walked through the scaffolding, there was something beautiful to look at.”

From there, encouraged by her neighbors who loved the lively layout much more than initially expected, Kristi continued on with her decorating, and the stoop only grew from there. 

Decorating for Halloween and Christmas is standard for Upper East Siders, Kristi says, calling the fall and winter seasons their “Super Bowl.” 

“I have a pumpkin stoop planned, a MacKenzie-Childs stoop planned, an apple picking stoop planned, a scary stoop planned,” Kristi says of the lineup on hand for the upcoming season. “This year I wanted to do New Year’s Eve, because why not? We’re in New York City, I think we should.”

Outside of those colder months, the couple switches up the decor, on average, about once a month to every two weeks. In the spring, decadent florals often adorn the space above the brownstone’s door. One of the couple’s more popular designs featured flowers entirely made out of Lego bricks.

“Once every couple of weeks, Kristi will wake me up in the middle of the night while I’m sleeping, and ask, ‘What do you think of this idea for the stoop?’” David, who assists with the builds and is, according to Kristi, “really good at building things,” chimes in. “So it really gets changed like every two weeks. But, if it were up to Kristi, it would change like every 48 hours or so.” 

Despite the many-part, elaborate nature of the displays, the couple is able to reuse many of the components that go into the construction, keeping the displays sustainable for the couple. 

And while the decorating itself has been exciting and fun for both Kristi and David, the best part of the stoop is the community that has rallied together around it, in person and online.

Kristi, who has been a content creator for years now and posts frequently on her personal account @khemric and on @stoopandthecity, shares many videos from the stoop’s doorbell camera where passersby can be seen interacting with and leaving messages for the family. Visitors from as far away as Nebraska and Australia have stopped by the doorstep.

“When people are like, ‘This is on my top 10 lists of things to see in New York City,’ I’m like — really?”

“It’s so flattering,” David adds.

They’ve even hosted a proposal on the stoop, and come next winter, will host a wedding.

“People will ask, ‘How much will it cost?’ and we’re like, ‘Nothing,’” Kristi says. “Yes, we own our stoop, but we’re not going to charge you to get married on a public sidewalk. That’s crazy.”

“We love our neighbors,” Kristi says. “Our neighbors across the street store all of our decor for us. Our block is like the set of Friends in a weird way. Like the restaurant on the corner, the flowers we don’t use they use them for their restaurant.”

Other neighbors have risen to Internet fame as a result of the stoop’s social media. Featured prominently in the videos that Kristi posts to the stoop’s TikTok account is a group of dogs who can be seen in many of her videos posing on the steps in themed doggy apparel, courtesy of a local dog walker and trainer who Kristi says goes above and beyond to engage with the stoop. 

“She sews dresses to match,” Kristi says. “When I did the lemon stoop, she sewed dresses for 18 dogs. For the Easter stoop, she had bunny ears for every dog. And they’re all so well-behaved because she’s also a trainer.”

The stoop has also become a part of local school lessons. “They come by daily now,” Kristi says of preschool classes in the area. “When we did the basket stoop, they went to Central Park to figure out how you make a basket or how birds would use sticks to make nests.”

They’ve also been able to partner with a few companies along the way, to help bring their creative visions to life — including with candy manufacturer Mars, Inc. and Michaels craft store. They’re open to what’s next, but only as long as it stays fun.

“As long as we enjoy it and the community gets joy out of it, I think we’re going to keep doing it,” Kristi says. “But I don’t want it to lose its magic of just being a passion project either.”