Perfect Match

With its elegant monochromatic interior, this modern house beautifully showcases a couple’s enviable art collection

- Cheryl Lai-Lim

Picasso, Giacometti, Warhol and Matisse—these are just a few of the most revered names in modern art. Some of the works of these blue-chip artists are proudly showcased in the 8,000 sq ft Boston home of a couple passionate about art collecting. Situated in Brookline, Massachusetts, this house has been designed as the perfect canvas for showcasing their enviable assemblage of museum-quality works by these grand masters.

The clients, a recently retired couple, sought to downsize from their larger and more formal previous home into a new abode that represented the beginning of the next chapter of their lives. “They were looking for a home which reflected new interests and a more relaxed living style,” explains architect Arthur Hanlon, principal and partner of Connecticut-based architecture firm Shope Reno Wharton.

Having worked on the clients’ previous residence, the firm was already well versed with what the couple needed to create a new home from the ground up. The architects teamed up with New York-based studio Foley&Cox to craft an abode with stunning spaces that were visually cohesive inside and out. “We worked together to establish a vocabulary for the interior hardscape of the house that fit seamlessly with the interiors. Like all projects in the age of Pinterest, it took a bit of time to distil down to an aesthetic which defines the home; the process occurred over a series of meetings that started with the big concept and once established, it was (conveyed) through the house in its detailing,” says Hanlon.