Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1037573
30 FALL 2018 W ALKING INTO THIS KITCHEN IS LIKE WALKING on a luminescent cloud. The room is pure serenity: soft white shades and gleaming surfaces, with an unexpectedly cozy air. No one would guess that renovating the room and adjoining areas involved complex structural challenges and a few squirrelly moments of doubt. "The soothing space belies the chaos in creating it," the homeowner says with a light laugh. Finding solutions meant re- routing ductwork around beams, relocating pipes from a removed interior wall, and finding an innovative ap- kitchens nshoremag.com/nshorehome/ proach for radiant-heated floors. And these were just a few of the challenges. The homeowners, a couple with young-adult chil- dren, reveal the magic behind their home's transfor- mation: a team with an atypical mix of artistic talent, engineering brilliance, and intuitive design sense. The contractor, S+H Construction, Inc., in Cambridge, is headed by a former Fulbright scholar, Sarah Lawson, who watched her architect father build her family's home while growing up. The S+H project manager, Dan McLaughlin, is also an artist. Interior designer Ingrid Núñez of Design.Create in Lexington grew up amid a minimalist aesthetic, also has an architect father who built her family home, and possesses an innate sense of line, color, and shape. Timothy Coleman of Shel- burne, a master craftsman who exhibits in galleries and museums across the country, designs custom furniture. The top-notch structural engineer, Fergal Brennock of Watertown, also played a critical role. The original house, on a hilltop surrounded by conservation land, was custom-built in the 1960s. While its lines were beautiful, some key elements—in- cluding steel beams and walls of windows—presented obstacles to renovation. But the owners longed for a transformation, especially in the kitchen, which was small, closed, and off-putting. "We wanted a welcom- The designer envisioned the project—the kitchen and adjacent spaces— as one open, well- lit area. PURE SERENITY A HOME'S KITCHEN BECOMES A WARM, WELCOMING, AND WELL-LIT OPEN AREA WITH VIEWS OF THE ADJACENT GARDENS, PERFECT FOR BRINGING GROUPS TOGETHER. By Mary Grauerholz Photographs by Greg Premru