Alan Tanksley Gives a Back Bay Townhome New Life

Situated within a nineteenth-century building in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, the triplex apartment operates more like a townhouse thanks to its own ground-level entrance.

Artwork by Doug and Mike Starn, a 1970s French light fixture, and a bench from Stamford Modern make a statement in the sleek entry.

Adorned with a Claude Vernard painting, the walnut panels in this sitting area off the entry “float” on top of existing moldings, adding a touch of contemporary to the space. Hickox Williams Architects ups the ante with its sleek stairwell spindles.

Builder Adams + Beasley Associates fabricated this custom walnut dining island while designer Alan Tanksley updated the existing kitchen cabinets; the light fixtures are from The Urban Electric Co.

Artwork by Clara Blalock hangs in the breakfast area, which is outfitted with a custom table and banquette with chairs by Richard Wrightman Design.

In the game room, a must-have space for the homeowners, classico travertine sheaths the fireplace surround.

Gentleman’s Gray shows up again in the second-floor office, which features a geometric rug from Beauvais Carpets.lor also appears in the main suite’s dressing area, which the architects completely reworked.

Benjamin Moore Gentleman’s Gray in a high-gloss finish adds drama to the third-floor main bath.

The color also appears in the main suite’s dressing area, which the architects completely reworked.

In the tranquil main bedroom, the walls are upholstered in a Holland & Sherry fabric, and a light fixture from Dennis Miller Associates hangs above the bed. That’s a Robert Rauschenberg painting next to the doorway that leads into the dressing area. A custom screen by Christophe Côme, sourced from New York’s Cristina Grajales Gallery, separates the bedroom from a sitting area.

The interior designer and architects collaborated on this marble-and-bronze fireplace surround in the main bedroom sitting area; it has an asymmetrical design that adds gravitas to the existing small square fireplace, which couldn’t be replaced.

A guest room features Wayne Pate’s Poppies Noir wallpaper from Studio Four NYC.

Holland & Sherry’s Desert Storm fabric envelops another guest room, where artworks by David Lloyd Brown and a light fixture by French industrial designer Serge Mouille hang.

Repeat clients are a decorator’s dream, so naturally Manhattan-based interior designer Alan Tanksley was thrilled when one of his most beloved couples wanted to team up for a fourth time. Having worked on their vacation homes in Wyoming and Rhode Island and their primary residence in Weston, Massachusetts, Tanksley was well equipped to tackle the pair’s latest real estate coup: a pied-à-terre in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. With their four children grown, the empty nesters were spending more time in the city and wanted a place to entertain friends and family. They settled on a recently renovated 3,420-square-foot triplex in a nineteenth-century building, but quickly realized that it would need more than just some new furnishings to tick all the boxes. “We bought the home thinking that we could move right in, but it just wasn’t going to work for us as is,” explains the client.

It became clear that an architect would need to be consulted, as the growing scope of work included adding a third-floor guest bath, reworking both the office and main dressing room, transforming a second office into a media and game room complete with a bar area, tweaking the kitchen and dining room to allow for more informal gatherings, and modernizing the interior architecture. “It simply didn’t suit them,” says Tanksley of the traditional white envelope. “This is a joyous, tight-knit family who needs a warm, comfortable space where everyone can put their feet up. They love playing games and having friends over, so the game room was top priority.”

According to Hickox Williams Architects co-founder and principal Brigid Williams—who worked in tandem with project manager Rachael Kraft—the thinking behind the floor plan is that guests could be easily whisked from the entry to the second-floor game room. “By eliminating the more conventional dining and living spaces,” she says, “we were able to create rooms that are more personal and better reflect the couple’s lifestyle.”

To that end, the homeowners’ new empty-nester status gave Tanksley the freedom to put a sleek-and-sexy spin on the interiors. “It’s a modern interpretation of the old private clubs you would find in London,” explains the designer. “It’s not outwardly retro, but there are both mid-twentieth-century-modern and art deco references.”

One of the most dramatic design decisions born out of the collaboration between designer and architects was installing simple walnut wall panels that “float” over the existing moldings. “Instead of ripping everything out, we introduced contemporary elements, so both the traditional and modern details can be enjoyed,” says Williams.

But Tanksley and Williams agree that their favorite element is the main bedroom’s new marble-and-bronze fireplace surround, whose unique asymmetric design was crafted to make sense of the existing small square fireplace. “Instead of replacing it, we stretched the stone to center it on the wall,” explains Williams, who can’t say enough about the firm’s first collaboration with Tanksley. “Because Alan has a history with these clients, he really understood their way of living. It’s a nice blend of high style and comfort.”

And the homeowners concur. In fact, they are so pleased with the outcome that they have decided to put their Weston residence on the market and move into the city full time. “After raising four kids,” says the client, “this place is the perfect adult respite.”

Project Team
Architecture: Brigid Williams, Patrick Calhoun Hickox, Rachael Kraft, Hickox Williams Architects
Interior design: Alan Tanksley
Builder: Eric Adams, Adams + Beasley Associates