Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/48190
definitive Jesus Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's silent 1927 epic, The King of Kings. Today, his best-known role is probably that of the drunken pharmacist in the perennial holiday favorite It's a Wonderful Life. When he and his Salem-born wife came to their East Coast summer cottage, the neighbors called it "The Movie House." In the early 1950s, a Gloucester family win- terized the rustic, Arts-and-Crafts-influenced structure. When Hamilos and her late hus- band, Chris, bought the house in 2001, they became the fourth owners. "As I approached the front door on that first visit," Hamilos recalls, "I felt the house reach out and envelop me." She spreads her arms and pantomimes a broad hug. "Every time I come home, it still feels that way. Guests con- stantly tell me that, while they are here, they feel welcome and at peace." Her warm and hospitable new home re- quired little beyond paint and wallpaper. The previous owners were successful and talented interior designers who updated the systems, enclosed a screened porch, and added decora- tive touches, like the columns that flank the front hall. They carefully preserved important architectural elements, such as the handsome butler's pantry. "I loved the house before I knew this room existed," Hamilos says of the pantry, "but this would have clinched it." She slides a large glass-fronted door across one of the upper cabinets. The glass is wavy with age, but the storage inside the mahogany cabinets is time- less. "This pantry keeps the kitchen looking neat and uncluttered." The historic pantry connects to a sleek, white kitchen. Living rooms and hallways re- flect Hamilos's favorite hues of gentle gold and greens, while upstairs bedrooms are warmed with more saturated colors. Hami- los transformed an unused third-floor at- tic into a large, light-filled sitting room, and she stripped all the downstairs dark-stained CREATURE COMFORTS Top: Hamilos enjoys her light-filled sunroom, formerly a screened porch. Right: French doors open to a flagstone-paved patio at one end of the kitchen, which was sensitively retrofitted to the 100-year-old house. Opposite: Guests find the house welcoming and peaceful, as do the inhabitants. Romeo, a sociable eight-year-old feline, displays complete ease while enjoying a catnap atop a sturdy chest. 152