Projects
Executive Ambiance
When our young executive clients relocated from L.A. to Boston, they made an offer on this West Newton house without ever stepping inside. They knew what they wanted and were veterans of several gut renovations. Our job? “Turn the house into a show place” where they could entertain friends and colleagues in style.
Inside, we found some nice historic detail — and plenty of room for improvement. The ground floor was a labyrinth of small, underused rooms with poor light. Our redesign began with some big architectural moves. We relocated the kitchen to the east side and opened it up to the morning light. The granite and lacquer-cabinet kitchen is well-positioned next to the dining room for formal meals and new conservatory for informal gatherings. The conservatory is a comfortable four-season retreat that serves as the house’s “lungs” in summertime and creates a soft connection between the home’s interior and exterior. On the west side of the house we added a new library surrounded by custom casework, a dramatic bay window and a powder room with a frameless door that “disappears” into the surrounding paneling.
On the second floor, we transformed two bedrooms into a spacious master suite. The master bath is a warm wood spa surrounded by ash paneling and custom twin wardrobes. The backlit frameless glass doors conceal a tumbled-limestone shower and the commode. We selected a bedroom over the garage—where it is acoustically separated from the rest of the house—and converted it into a home theater. A new cathedral ceiling improves sound quality and creates a distinctive appearance.
The home is finished throughout with luxurious touches that reflect the owners’ personal style. Nice details include custom silk window treatments, rift-cut oak and limestone flooring, blown-glass light fixtures and computerized lighting controls. A variety of unique ceiling and wall treatments complement the clients’ art collection.
