A Mediterranean Revival Gets a Richly-Layered Update

November 4, 2026

A grand Chestnut Hill home loosens up for a young family accustomed to California living.

Text by Paula M. Bodah Photography by Read McKendree/ JBSA

Traditional living room with carved wood fireplace, exposed ceiling beams, modern sofas, and sculptural glass chandeliers.

A curving vintage Vladimir Kagan serpentine sofa sets the tone in the formal living room, where designer Meghan Shadrick mixed design eras and silhouettes rather than relying on a matching suite.

Family room with blue curved sectional sofa, wood-paneled fireplace, modern chandelier, and colorful geometric rug.

In the family room, a vintage 1960s speckled-teal sectional and cognac-and-pink Nordic Knots rug play against the newly lightened mahogany woodwork. The chandelier was salvaged from a Philadelphia hotel.

Moody blue study with curved gray sofa, sculptural brass chandelier, patterned curtains, and oval mosaic coffee table.

An upstairs bedroom became homeowner Jonathan Pike’s study, where walls and ceiling share a moody blue-gray limewash finish.

Traditional kitchen with sage green cabinetry, marble countertops, dark wood island, brass hardware, and tall multipane windows.

Existing cabinetry that once formed a peninsula was pushed flat against the wall, opening the kitchen for a freestanding Stoffer Home island topped with soapstone.

Dining nook with sage green walls, caramel leather banquette, cane chairs, copper pendant light, and built-in bookshelves.

Farrow & Ball’s French Gray unifies cabinetry, walls, and trim in the kitchen and breakfast nook.

Dark green butler's pantry with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry, marble countertops, brass hardware, and botanical ceiling wallpaper.

Extra-high-gloss deep-green paint envelops the petite pantry.

Light-filled sunroom with floor-to-ceiling windows, green upholstered sofa, floral chaise lounge, and abundant indoor plants.

Once a seasonal porch, the sunroom was insulated and heated to become a true four-season room. Its exuberant decor takes inspiration from Contessa, the glamorous rooftop restaurant at Boston’s Newbury hotel. A garden-like mix of pattern, color, and greenery gives the room a playful sense of escape without disconnecting it from the rest of the house.

Primary bedroom with blush pink walls, black fireplace, upholstered bed, patterned curtains, and traditional chandelier.

Farrow & Ball’s memorably named Dead Salmon drenches the primary bedroom, providing a nuanced pink backdrop for Kelly Wearstler silk drapes and Murano-glass sconces that echo the vintage chandeliers downstairs.

Serene guest bedroom with brass canopy bed, blush pink bedding, fireplace, and French doors framed by neutral curtains.

The guest room’s Soho Home canopy bed came from the couple’s Los Angeles house. A white Eames chair adds a crisp modern note.

Updating a Historic Home

The Chestnut Hill house was a definite departure for Julia Pei and Jonathan Pike. Their Los Angeles home had been bright, airy, and open. Their new circa-1920 Mediterranean Revival just outside of Boston was grand, darkly wooded, and emphatically divided into rooms. ¶ “Every room has a door,” Pei says. “Our first instinct was to blow everything open so we could be in the kitchen and see the kids. But we decided not to do that.”

Instead, the couple and interior designer Meghan Shadrick chose to embrace what made the house special: soaring ceilings, gracious proportions, and elaborate woodwork. With two small children and little appetite for a disruptive renovation, they set out to make it lighter, younger, and more like them.

“We embraced the vintage, antique quality,” Shadrick says. “A lot of it was cosmetic upgrades.”

Lighter Woodwork and a Family-Friendly Kitchen

One of the most consequential changes required no structural work at all: the formal dining room became the family room. Its original mahogany woodwork stayed, but its dark reddish finish did not. The crew from UP Painting painstakingly stripped and bleached the wood before sealing it. “It feels cozy, but not heavy,” Shadrick says.

In the kitchen, Shadrick worked largely with what was there, rearranging existing cabinetry to make room for a freestanding, soapstone-topped island and adding a banquette and table for dining. “I do the cooking, mostly, so I had a lot of opinions,” Pike says. More counter space and a light, airy feel were priorities. Marble countertops replaced dated granite, while a muted green-gray envelops cabinets and trim.

A Sophisiticated Material Mix Brings New Energy to a Historic Home

Throughout, Shadrick mixed vintage and contemporary furnishings. In the family room, a vintage 1960s sectional in speckled teal wool and a cognac-and-pink rug bring color and energy to the newly lightened mahogany, while a pair of 1940s Murano-glass chandeliers salvaged from a Philadelphia hotel add a touch of whimsy. Jewel tones—teal, rust, pink, and emerald—surface throughout.

The compact pantry adds drama, with deep-green high-gloss paint and tapestry-like wallpaper on the ceiling. “It’s a little pocket space,” Shadrick says. “I thought, let’s have fun with it.”

Even the imposing living room accommodates real life. Rather than fill the large space with a sectional, Shadrick created several seating areas, adding movable poufs and a pedestal table where the children can climb up and color.

And the repurposed dining room may be the clearest measure of the transformation. “The family room is one of my favorite rooms,” Pei says. “Especially in the winter, when we turn the fireplace on, and we’re all cuddled up with our kids watching TV. It went from the worst room in the house to the best.”

For a family that initially contemplated knocking down walls, that cozy room is also a reminder that the house didn’t need to become more like the one they left behind. It just needed to become theirs.

Project Team
Interior design: Meghan Shadrick Interiors
Builder: Aloise Builders