Brookline Historic Home

Location:
Brookline, MA

This grand Brookline residence once served as a summer home for Isabella Stewart Gardner. It remained in the Gardner family until 2011 when it passed to new owners. Although it had been well cared for over the years the house was in serious need of renovation work. The family called on architect Dell Mitchell and contractor Jim Youngblood to help with an update that would preserve the original architectural elements that lent the dwelling so much character.

Soon after, the owners approached Elms to redesign their parlor and the husband’s office in a more modern vein—while also mixing in some prized pieces of family furniture and making sure that the resulting decor would continue to coexist happily with the home’s historic envelope. As a lover of classic design, Dee jumped at the chance to engage with architectural history so directly. It was also an opportunity to tastefully push boundaries, enlivening tradition with a spark of the contemporary and injecting a bit of asymmetrical movement into a formally symmetrical setting. Disparate elements now meet in a purposefully complex harmony, such as the hand-painted wallpaper in counterpoint with a cylindrical, drum-feeling chandelier. “Formal yet informal” is the look, gracious but not at all stuffy, creating a setting that works equally for a family game night, doing homework, or as a place for company to gather after dinner.