Editor’s Miscellany: Show House Underway

By Kyle Hoepner

Two weeks ago I shared a few designers’ concept sketches of rooms in the upcoming Junior League of Boston 2012 Show House. Now I have been lucky enough to take a tour of the premises as construction proceeds. Show house coordinator Anita MacKinnon escorted me top to bottom through the entire place and I snapped away with my trusty camera while we dodged various patches of wet paint and plaster, not to mention designers and installers lugging rugs, lengths of millwork and great curling scrolls of wallpaper. Here are a few of the things that caught my eye.

An avian mascot and charming old encaustic tile welcomed me at the front door.

How will the Theodore and Company designers incorporate the colors from these windows in the living room?

This is the raw conservatory space that Gerald Pomeroy will transform using art and fabrics shown in my previous post.

The conservatory, too, is graced with leaded windows.

Theo and Isabella Design Group will get to work with these leather ceiling panels in the library.

Tile arabesques in the butler’s pantry adjoining Kay Bailey McKallagat’s dining room…

…are echoed in the framed mirror she chose for the chimney breast.

Anita MacKinnon and designer Suzanne Logan in the soon-to-be family room.

Yoked oxen haul cargo across the fireplace surround in a guest room to be transformed by Hilary Bovey.

Which lantern will make the cut in designer Frank Hodge‘s study? This one?

Or this one?

Frank’s room also boasts a lovely cast-iron fireback.

Ladders and scaffolding made an abstract composition in a stairway.

Yet another charming window.

I knew this bedroom was Mally Skok’s as soon as I spotted the wallpaper, from her India Collection.

A brand-new floor had just been laid in the kitchen being renovated by Sticks and Stones…

…while a service area nearby was in the process of acquiring newly graphic impact.

I hope this fabulous radiator will remain in view!

There were other shapes and textures I found beguiling, but I’m afraid you won’t see these unless you can cajole your way into a basement tour.

Doesn’t all this make you even more impatient to see how these spaces will be transformed, and how the house’s many delightful period details will be incorporated into contemporary decorating schemes? The show house opens to the public on October 16, but tickets are already available (at a $5 discount if purchased online before October 12). You can also follow show house progress on its Facebook page.

Related content you may enjoy:
More about encaustic tiles
A recent show house in Connecticut
Other recent show houses in Maine