Galleries

Between the garage and the cottage is a covered brick walkway where Bo Derrick, the family’s mini Australian shepherd, awaits visitors at the arched opening.
“I painted the walls to highlight the paneling,” says Bikoff.
The brick walls play to the vinta
The pool deck is Croatian limestone, while the building facade is stucco to reflect the masonry walls of a typical Cotswold cottage.
Concrete chairs sit outside the potting room and lend a contemporary element poolside.
A carefully crafted stone wall forms the backdrop for the dining pergola.
The color scheme for the kitchen began with the purple tile, which interior designer Sasha Bikoff complemented with red lacquered cabinets. An island of reclaimed oak brings a natural element to the room.
The turret, pitched roof, and dormer on the renovated two-bedroom future guesthouse are reminiscent of an English country cottage. Arched doors on the garage open to the courtyard.
An American antique table and chairs set against a built-in banquette is a study in quiet country simplicity.
Upstairs a daybed in the guest room is upholstered in a classic purple-and-white French gingham; the walls are painted sage green to reflect the natural setting outside.
The first-floor primary bedroom is awash in a soothing rose color, inspired by the Colefax and Fowler print curtains that hang in the bay of the turret.
Mar Jennings sits outside his happy place—the former garage he converted into a studio—at his home in Westport. It’s where he works, entertains, and does much of his creative thinking.
Custom latticework under the garden’s pergola lends both visual interest and privacy
Jennings personalized a small fountain with three vintage letters once displayed at the former Westport Bank and Trust Company (the W was flipped to become an M).
Mar Jennings sits outside his happy place—the former garage he converted into a studio—at his home in Westport. It’s where he works, entertains, and does much of his creative thinking.
The studio’s casual furnishings include faux-wicker chairs from Outdoor Design & Living in Fairfield and pillows and accessories from Millie Rae’s in Westport.
The side garden features natural stepping stones, pebbled walkways, and lush plantings. Sourced from Gault Stone in Westport, the pebbles are native to Connecticut.
Casual seating complements a perfectly pruned hemlock from Oliver Nurseries in Fairfield.
A study in color and composition: Manhattan-based Mazy Path’s offerings include wallpapers, fabrics, pillows, and linocut prints.
Audette’s linocut print, Sambucus Canadensis, is shown in front of two sketches for the print and an image of a wood engraving by Thomas Nason, an early twentieth-century printmaker whose work inspires the artist.
Willow Talk wallpaper explores how trees communicate with each other.
Panel of Perception II wallpaper panels explore the mind-altering powers and inherent beauty of psychedelic plants.
The Hummingbird wallpaper “features flowers that gather around a hummingbird like planets orbiting the sun,” says Audette.
Mazy Path’s Guava wallpaper conjures a taste of South Florida nostalgia.
An original sketch for the Pawpaw pattern is pictured with Audette’s go-to tools: charcoal pencils and gouges for carving blocks.
Mazy Path founder Alexis Audette in her home studio.
Audette carves one of the blocks that she used to print her Pawpaw design.
An Andrea Bonfils painting echoes the color of the leather on a B&B Italia daybed in the front study; the white chairs are from Minotti, the light fixture is from 1stDibs.
The front facade offers a modern take on classic New England architecture. Even the garage (at rear) looks inviting and features an office and art studio on the second floor.
The first-floor guest room is the next best thing to sleeping outdoors, with walls of glass wrapping the bed on three sides. The space is so tranquil, visitors claim they’ve never slept better.
Powder rooms are a great place to make a statement, and this Silver Snake Brazilian granite doesn’t disappoint.
The rear of the house reveals the expansive walk-out basement, as well as the pool, which is framed in grass rather than hardscape to be cooler underfoot and blend in better with the country setting.
The U-shaped house surrounds a terrace planted with boxwoods for year-round greenery.
The living room fireplace was centered on the wall but framed with asymmetrical surrounds of quartzite and oak to give it a more modern look; the furnishings are from Minotti.
Cantoni bar stools sidle up to an island covered in Thunder Bay quartzite; a butler’s pantry behind the range provides additional storage and workspace.
Scenery surrounds the breakfast area and family room, which culminates in a marble-framed gas fireplace shared with the terrace beyond.
Oversized wall dormers illuminate a couple of second-floor bedrooms and contribute to the home’s contemporary character.
An image by Belgian photographer Eric Ceccarini greets guests in the entry hall.
The wife turned an equipment shed into a plein air ceramics studio where she could work while admiring the landscape.
The front entry hall is dominated by a dramatic glass stair tower featuring floating oak steps illuminated by a quartet of Kelly Wearstler pendants. “It’s nice to have that statement of arrival,” observes architect Stuart Disston.
A pair of cedar pergolas spill dappled light onto the dining and lounging areas.
Potted annuals, including petunias and pink mandevilla, join a border of densely planted perennials at a corner of the house.
A honey locust tree provides a lacy canopy off the dining terrace.
Low Connecticut fieldstone walls match the home’s stone veneer and create gentle definition for the various garden spaces. Spreading boxwoods march along the wall by the pool, straddling the line between formal and relaxed. Both pool and spa, which are set off-center in the yard, have motorized covers that open and close in seconds.
Because the property is almost entirely fenced in, Byers was able to forgo a barrier immediately around the swimming pool. Throughout the yard, the landscape architect brought hardscape and plant materials together in a cohesive design with plenty of visual interest, texture, and subtle color.
Beyond the pool, at the edge of the property, landscape architect Renée Byers planted a mix of evergreens, including arborvitae and holly, mixed with deciduous trees and a fragrant southern magnolia. Behind, Byers added rain tolerant shrubs and grasses that draw pollinators.
Byers created visual interest by varying the placement of pavers, setting them close together on the dining and lounging terraces and spacing them out with grass in the area between the pergolas.
Border beds around the lounging terrace sport soft color in dwarf roses, Russian sage, and pots of annuals.
Byers used lots of plantings around the perimeter to conceal fencing and add to the sense of privacy. “We used the concept of borrowed scenery,” she says. “Because we planted in a natural way, with the plants staggered and the species varied, you can’t tell where this property ends and the neighbor’s begins.”
A custom sofa designed by Byers cozies up to a firepit carved from a monolithic block of granite.
The existing Christopher Peacock kitchen flows into the breakfast area and family room for a gathering space that runs the expanse of the house.
Denim-colored grasscloth on the coffered ceiling adds airiness to the husband’s office.
Interior designers Cindy Rinfret and Taylor Mattos placed the antique painting above the living room’s fireplace for styling purposes, but the homeowners recognized the Manhattan location it depicts as the site of their wedding. Needless to say, the artwork has taken up permanent residence.
The existing Christopher Peacock kitchen flows into the breakfast area and family room for a gathering space that runs the expanse of the house. The designers painted and mirrored the range hood to make it feel more connected to the rest of the redesign.
Millwork frames a panel of Gracie wallpaper in the foyer outside the primary suite; the green-lacquered cabinetry down the hall is part of an upstairs family room.
The French chateau-inspired exterior was at odds with the home’s original Italy-meets-Bel-Air interior decor.
A Missoni for Stark runner softens the foyer’s new staircase, and layered custom Charles Edwards lanterns bring down the ceiling height.
Rinfret and Mattos worked with Gracie creative director (and personal friend) Jennifer Gracie on the first-ever install of the heritage brand’s hand-painted Poppies wallpaper in the formal dining room.
A room near the kitchen became a play space for the couple’s young children.
A blue-and-tan grasscloth wallpaper ties the space together, while a bay window morphed into a cozy reading nook.
Rinfret and Mattos custom designed the primary suite’s bed to ensure the posts weren’t too tall.
The sitting area in the guest suite opens to the verdant garden.
The homeowners opted for artwork rather than a TV above the sitting room fireplace, which is flanked by rift-sawn white-oak cabinets from Steve Adam of Platt Builders.
The clients’ existing Design Within Reach chairs in a whisper-pink hue harmonize with gray-washed cabinetry, a collaboration between ZEN Associates and Platt Builders.
When the sun sinks, lighting along the fence illuminates the upper terrace’s “sunset bar.”
Motorized louvers on the dining area’s pergola create just the right degree of shade—and protect the JANUS et Cie table and chairs from rain.
The homeowners enjoy a sprawling view of Boston from the comfort of a Gloster sofa shaded by a Tuuci umbrella—both sourced from Casa Design Group—on their rooftop terrace.
JANUS et Cie chairs and a sectional sofa from Rove Concepts hug a Lumacast firepit on the lower-level terrace of this Brookline, Massachusetts, home.
Wood slats, an element that appears repeatedly throughout the home, allow natural light to infiltrate the formerly dark front entry.
By adding wood slats to the foyer, the designers accomplished two things: they obscured the door that leads into the garage and created a mudroom. The table is by Kelly Hoppen.
A spa and an infrared sauna sit outside the home’s main living area.
The outdoor kitchen, with its convenient pass-through to the pavilion’s interior, is equipped with a grill and double burner, sink, beverage and wine refrigerators, and an ice maker.
DaSilva says he “tweaked” the tail of the pergola’s rafters to depict hungry sharks. A grid of festoon lights is recessed within the rafters, lending the seating areas a party-like vibe.
The pavilion’s fireplace is purposefully oversized and aligns with windows in the home’s new family room so it can be enjoyed from the home’s interior (and from the pool).
On the other side of the fireplace wall is a powder room and storage for cushions and pillows.
A piece of driftwood found on a nearby beach serves as the granite fireplace’s mantel.
Like the main house, the pavilion is clad in red cedar that will weather to gray over time. The bottoms of the pergola brackets are held above the bluestone terrace, points out architect John DaSilva, so that the cedar doesn’t absorb standing water and become stained.
The pergolas of this pint-sized Cape Cod pool pavilion, furnished by interior designer Carolyn Thayer, shade a dining area (pictured) and outdoor kitchen.
The Draenert stone-top dining table from Casa Design Group holds a hidden extension leaf that lengthens the table to seat twelve in seconds. Horticulturist Kerry Preston wrapped the space with bright, bountiful plantings for spring-to-fall color.
Among the many showstopping features of the roof-deck is the wall behind the TV, a handcrafted work by Alex Turco.
The glass tile backsplash of the kitchen area complements the tile used for the base of the bar.
The bar/TV area is surrounded by dozens of plantings, from evergreen shrubs to colorful perennials and annuals, many ensconced in planters painted a punchy magenta.
The bar/TV area is surrounded by dozens of plantings, from evergreen shrubs to colorful perennials and annuals, many ensconced in planters painted a punchy magenta.
The dramatic fire table, Cinta by Lumacast, warms the sitting area so it can be enjoyed even in the cooler months. Designer Robin Pelissier created a vibrant palette of pinks, blues, and purples for the furniture.
The rooftop paradise sports a colorful palette in both the furnishings and the lush plantings. The terrace’s separate areas are marked by ceramic tiles that are surrounded by ipe wood planks.
Boronkay says the landscaping was inspired by a palette he had in his mind’s eye. “I wanted it to be natural looking and not overly fussy. I was most specific about the colors, variations on tones of green and red. We planted two Japanese maples as an homage to my m
Lighting equals drama—even on the garage. A frosted-glass-and-steel door adds visual interest to the exterior.
Boronkay connected the garage (front) and house (back) with a structure that contains a mudroom and kitchen. A wraparound ipe deck ties it all together and provides outdoor living space.
The family room with its indoor/outdoor connection (and radiant heat flooring) is Boronkay’s favorite room in the house.
The kitchen countertops are Jet Mist, a honed gray granite that looks like soapstone but is more durable, while the upper cabinets are walnut, and the lowers are white lacquer.
The fireplace wall is defined by walnut banding; the bench and mirror have moved with Boronkay several times.
Boronkay in front of his uniquely modern walnut pivot door; it’s attached to its steel frame at the top and bottom, with no hinges.
“I’ve always loved black houses, and I just knew it was the right move,” says architectural designer and homeowner David Boronkay, who chose Benjamin Moore Deep Caviar for the home’s exterior.
The side door off the driveway opens into a neat-as-a-pin mudroom. Matte black accents begin here with the Tom Dixon pendant. The flooring is faux bluestone, the same used in the family room and patio. Indigo cabinets and drawers store coats and shoes.
Paula and Clayton Daher opened Mélange Home Shop in Kennebunk, Maine, last September.
Swivel chairs, racks displaying blankets from Morocco, and an antique table from France cozy up a corner.
Clayton, an architectural designer, worked with Reidson Corp and Adams + Beasley Associates to completely renovate the building, adding a dramatic dormer and painting the exterior Benjamin Moore Midnight Oil. Gregory Lombardi Design devised the shop’s front and back gardens.
The shop offers table lamps from Visual Comfort & Co. and rugs from the early 1900s that have been shaved and bleached by artisans in Turkey.
Built-in shelves corral trays and candy dishes from Nicolette Mayer as well as ceramics and artwork.