Tour Dane Austin’s Colorful Boston Home
June 26, 2023
Designer Dane Austin invites friends to pull up an ombrĂŠ settee, put up their feet, and stay a while.
Text by Erika Ayn Finch    Photography by Jared Kuzia
When designer Dane Austin and his partner walked into their soon-to-be third home together, they immediately pictured its three floors and six bedrooms overflowing with extended family and friendsâand color. âI believe a house is happiest when itâs filled with people,â explains Austin. âOne of my greatest delights and joys in life is sharing my home.â
Built in 1905, the gambrel Shingle-style home, perched at the top of a tree-studded hill in a Boston neighborhood, had not been renovated since the 1980s, which suited Austin perfectly. He wanted a project, a historic home he could restore to its full glory and infuse with a rainbow of colors, many that have personal meaning to the designer. The homeâs blue-green exterior, for example, was color-matched to a stone Austin picked up on a Cape Cod beach.
The designer put thought into which elements of the original home would remainâthe malachite-green tile around the living room fireplace, for instanceâand what he would change, like the kitchen, which was completely gutted. Inspired by The Elms mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, Austin incorporated floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall tile, which effectively bounces light around what was once the darkest room in the house. The statement-making cubist floor recalls surfaces heâd seen in Europe. âIt feels well-worn,â he says, âand it has a rhythm and movement thatâs intriguing.â
Austinâs collection of antiques and artwork figures prominently throughout the home. But the space doesnât read as a museum. In fact, thereâs not a coaster in sight, and guests are welcome to put their feet on the coffee table. âWear and tear is perfectly okay,â says Austin.
Of the homeâs six bedrooms, Austin uses three, each with its own color theme, as space for guests. In the rose room, a keyhole in the custom headboard allows the bed to rest against a window without obstructing the sunshine, while a Venetian-glass light fixture from the 1920s sparks conversation. The twin beds in the gold room nod to Dane Austin Designâs logo. And he found a space for his grandmotherâs Dorothy Draper sofa in the third-floor green room.
For Austin, itâs a home that has allowed him to flex his creativity and welcome family for the holidays. âMy goal with this houseâand in generalâis to celebrate life as often as possible, with as many people as possible,â he explains. In living color, when possible.
Project Team
Architecture: SLR Architecture
Interior design: Dane Austin Design
Builder: Pelczar Partners Construction
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