Location: Brookline, MA

Completed: Fall 2023

 

The project reconfigures an existing two-family structure constructed in 1852 into a single-family home with a basement-level in-law apartment.   The design for the six-bedroom single family home centers around a dramatic central stair whose configuration changes on each level of the house.  A clear-finish oak screen forms the stair guardrail, which pivots and turns as it rises through the house, allowing different views through the central, triple-height space.  An all-black powder room animates one of the intermediate landings along the stair, and this juxtaposition of natural wood against black forms the basis for the material palette in the house’s primary spaces.  The whole-house renovation incorporates a small east façade addition which brings natural light into the space and allows for a combined kitchen/living/dining space at the rear of the house which opens to the backyard through a large sliding glass door.  The aesthetic of the renovated house is simple and modern, and there is a constant dialog between the Victorian plan configuration of the house and the simple, modern, light-filled spaces within.