A stone's throw from a main commercial street northwest of Boston, an 1850s Italianate farmhouse basks in the serenity of an intimate lot separated from its neighbors by mature trees and hedges. Restrained yet resplendent, the green-shuttered white house with a deep front porch and storybook porte-cochère is endowed both with the reverence of American colonial history and an element of je ne sais quoi that some say only the French are able to conjure. But it wasn't always this alluring.
"Our client wanted to redo a number of things that previous builders had done to the house and try to get it back to the original," says architect Patrick Ahearn, a classicist whose eponymous firm specializes in homes that are sympathetic to the past but conducive to 21stcentury living. "They also wanted to add a European flavor." The wife, an artist, is French and she uses the carriage house, formerly a garage, as her studio.
Bringing 19th-century character back to the four-bedroom abode required "reimagining it as a kind of country house," says Ahearn. "The transformation was dramatic, but we did not have to rip the whole house apart. We really didn't add on to it, we just revised every surface and every space as well as the landscaping." Ahearn has built or renovated a number of houses on Martha's Vineyard, where the owner of the antique has a second home. Calling Ahearn’s ability to restore historical homes “genius,” the homeowner says she wanted some of that “Vinyardesque” flair in her mainland home.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Summer 2024-Ausgabe von Northshore Home.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Summer 2024-Ausgabe von Northshore Home.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
CLEARING THE WAY
SHRINKING AN ISLAND, TAKING DOWN A WALL, AND OUTFITTING A PANTRY HELPS GIVE A CLOSED, CRAMPED KITCHEN NEW LIFE.
CHANGE OF SCENERY
BO PERKINS DESIGN CREATES A PLUM ISLAND DREAM HOME FOR EMPTY NESTERS.
REMODEL REWARDS
A FAMILY HOME IN NEWBURYPORT GETS A STYLISH KITCHEN AND BATH UPGRADE.
TASTE OF EUROPE
LARA SHAW EXPANDS AND REIMAGINES A KITCHEN IN ARLINGTON, INSPIRED BY THE HOMEOWNER'S EUROPEAN ROOTS.
A Designer's Eye
IT TOOK A PROFESSIONAL TO SEE THE POTENTIAL IN A RANCH HOUSE IN TOPSFIELD.
VIEW FINDER
ZeroEnergy Design creates a contemporary, energy efficient home set in the dunes in Gloucester.
FUNCTIONAL FARMHOUSE
An Ipswich farmhouse gets aesthetic and functional upgrade from Kristina Crestin Design.
Dreamscape
Dan Gordon Landscape Architects designs an idyllic outdoor setting for a young family.
REIMAGINING the Past
Patrick Ahearn brings 19th-century character back to an 1850s farmhouse.
Storybook Ending
A collaboration between Found Design Studio and Carpenter & MacNeille transforms this 19th-century cottage into a gracious family home.