We specialize in historic building renovation and also design a variety of building and interior projects for investment property development, retail, institutions and private residences as follows:

Historic Building Renovation
Retail
Residential

Historic Building Renovation

This compact three-story residence was once the rear el and library of a magnificent Mt. Vernon Street house on Beacon Hill.  In the current single-family configuration a small courtyard is shared with neighboring condominium residents.  Present owners hoped to create a separate outdoor space for private use and urban gardening in order to keep their young family in the city.  The new roof terrace is now complete.  It connects to a bedroom suite on the third floor and a renovated master bath.  New roof access is designed as an extension of a charming winder stair that ascends from the front door hall.

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Strategic analysis of Building code provisions was instrumental in deterring physical vulnerability of this fragile 20,000 sq. ft. wood-framed building.  Accommodation of a new mixture of uses in a historic waterfront structure has assured its vibrant economic future.

Retail

This newly outfitted shop for children's furnishings has been relocated to a pedestrian lively village-center block near Wellesley College, at 67 Central Street.  Showcasing hand-painted furniture, which Periwinkles Inc., produces and also distributes nationally, was a primary design goal.  And strategic articulation of the 2500 s.f. sales floor into four interconnected selling spaces establishes customer flow to the other retail lines:  gifts, clothing and bedroom linens.  Distinctive cornice elements were invented to complement the traditional vocabulary of merchandise and create a graceful domestic scale, important for effective visual presentation.

Residential

The Coombs House at 82 Powder Point Avenue is the renovation of an original structure that dates probably from the mid-1700’s. A living room extension was created out of the former screened porch, by adding French doors, double hung windows and simple decorative features. It opens to a new slate terrace shaded by a dogwood tree, surrounded by lilac, holly and lavender and from which there are views of the Blue Fish River in Duxbury Bay.

Roof shapes of neighboring Emmanuel Church define the mixture of direct sun and shade in this south facing enclosed courtyard.  It was designed as both a visual amenity to be viewed from the house and as a foreground screen for parking and alley service functions.  Brick paving encourages active outdoor use.  Plantings are arranged in a rectangular bed, once the location of an overgrown ailanthus tree and a wooden coal shed.  Pink dogwoods and a star magnolia offset richly textured evergreen shrubs of ilex, mountain laurel and rhododendron while pachysandra is a complement for peonies and daylilies.  Pots of colorful annuals are added in summer.