A New Point of Focus — Changing Perspective From the Top Down

Adolfo Perez

Courtesy of Adolfo Perez

This project from Adolfo Perez, Chestnut Hill House, is a theatrical feat from start to finish. The home is situated on one of the highest points in the city of Brookline, on a heavily sloped site, offering views of the Boston skyline and presenting a challenge to its creative team. This property required a dramatic design strategy to accommodate the site’s unique topography. The house was uniquely designed as a series of five rectangular volumes, or boxes, that alternate 90 degrees to each other as they step down the site, creating a sense of movement throughout the home and making the height difference from one side to the other imperceptible. The interior of the house is finished in robust, natural materials; however, these materials are detailed in a minimal, modern way, giving the home a warm and inviting feel. The ceilings are carefully orchestrated and decorated with jaw-dropping light fixtures and feature architectural details that immediately draw the eye up upon entry, and enhance the comforting palette of the residence.

Blue Hour Design

Architect: Blue Hour Design’s Kyle Sheffielf (Authored while a Partner at LDa Architecture & Interiors), Builder: Stefco Builders, Interior Design: Blue Hour Design’s Dean Sawyer (Authored while an Associate at LDa Architecture & Interiors), Landscape Design: Hilarie Holdsworth Landscape Design, Photographer: Greg Premru Photography

This Blue Hour Design project—an expansive shingle-style residence located on Eastern Point—underwent a series of subsequent additions throughout its history. The current owners harbored a desire to embark on a comprehensive renovation project that would serve as a generational family home. Their objectives encompassed the restoration of deteriorated portions of the house, a reconfiguration of all existing spaces to align with their contemporary needs, and the introduction of new additions that would enhance the overall layout, circulation, and daylighting. Notably, they aimed to improve the house’s external architectural appeal by incorporating the original detailing to unite the new and existing additions seamlessly. Walking into this dining room, one’s perspective is immediately taken by the inlaid skylight in the ceiling with sloped wood paneling leading the eye to the room’s two suspended overhead lights. These leading lines are juxtaposed with the soft, muted warmth of the floor, inspiring one’s curiosity to look at the room from all angles.

Carpenter & MacNeille

Architect: Carpenter & MacNeille, Photography: Kyle Caldwell

This architectural project from Carpenter & MacNeille features reclaimed wooden beams and a striking iron chandelier highlighting the visual space below the cupola in the primary suite of a restored and expanded bespoke historic residence. The incredibly eye-catching coffered ceiling organizes the space, provides architectural impact, and offers a range of lighting options. Wooden beams add dimension and warmth to the farmhouse vernacular. The double-high ceiling in the great room, along with hand-hewn wooden beams, provides architectural impact, a soaring open space, and abundant natural light. When entering this stunning living space, the first thing to catch the eye is the high-contrast ceiling and pattern created by the high-set beams.

Doreve Nicholaeff Architecture

Architect: Doreve Nicholaeff Architecture, Photography: Dan Cutrona

Designed as a companion to the original house, this guest home respects the past and embraces the present. The structure, designed by Doreve Nicholaeff Architecture, offers flexible and thoughtful gathering spaces, including a great room with kitchen, dining, and living areas that encourage connection and comfort. A cedar roof and shiplap interiors create a palette that feels warm and timeless, yet clean and contemporary, seamlessly merging old and new. This grid-style ceiling creates a sense of depth and engagement as it separates the main floor from the space above, while providing glimpses upward. Harbor Retreat honors the architectural language of the main house while introducing a more modern sensibility. The architecture also reflects family growth, recognizing that the space was intended for a multi-generational family.

Duckham Architecture

Courtesy of Duckham Architecture

This collaborative project from Duckham Architects yielded a stunning, rustic modern Cape house with a focus on comfortable outdoor living space near the ocean. The interior is characterized by refined, contemporary details, such as a captivating skylight in the upstairs hallway, which draws the eye and creates a dynamic installation of light throughout the day. This abstract and thoughtful design inspires a sense of being at home in the bright space, flooded with natural light, and invites a view up toward the blue, contrasting sky through the glass.

Jan Gleysteen Architects, Inc.

Architect: Jan Gleysteen Architects, Inc., Builder: Kells Construction, Interior Design: R. Everts Interiors, Photography: Sarah Winchester Studios

These additions to a 1898 architect’s home, perched along Upper Mystic Lake in Winchester, Massachusetts, are something to behold. Designing the ceiling as the main feature in the new great room addition makes it the focal point of the space. Exposed wood joist details from the original structure were carefully studied and replicated as decorative elements, drawing the eye upward and creating a warm, rhythmic canopy overhead. Shifting perspective through texture and shadow rather than embellishing the walls, the design directs attention toward the ceiling, where shadow lines from the decorative joist animate the room throughout the day, shifting perspective and giving the space a dynamic perspective.

Kligerman Architecture and Design

Architect: Kligerman Architecture and Design, Builder: Men at Work Construction, Interior Design: Cullman Kravis, Landscape Design: Hollander Design, Photographer: Eric Piasecki

This origami-like guest house, inspired by a sail loft, adopts an upside-down floor plan. The bedrooms are located downstairs, while the kitchen and great room are situated in a bright loft upstairs. The guest house is a more modern and playful interpretation of the Shingle-style Maine house. The fascinating slope in the living room serves as a focal point, training the eye to find the stunning coastline view out the window and capturing the reflection of natural light along its curves.

Meyer & Meyer Architecture and Design

Architect: Meyer & Meyer Architecture and Design, General Contractor: GF Rhode, Interior Design: Mary McGee, Photographer: Shelly Harrison

Meyer & Meyer’s approach to this project was to collaborate with the client’s desire for a traditional New England exterior design that appeared to have been present on site for generations, while complementing it with a fresh take on the interior. The result is a project that harmoniously integrates into the established neighborhood while providing an interior that reflects the client’s unique style. However, this home stands out with its distinctive exterior arch that greets you upon arrival. This entryway into the house is noted by an arching, open-ended space that feels like an invitation for light and activity. “We base our design work on blending the three components, which are unique to every project. The first being the look of the physical property, the second, the spirit of the neighborhood, and third, the personality of the client, this always yields a unique and personal project,” says John Meyer, Principal Architect and Co-Founder of Meyer & Meyer, Inc.

OLSON LEWIS + Architects

Architect: OLSON LEWIS + Architects, Artisans and Trade Partners: Finish Carpentry, TJ Berky Builders, Cabinetry: Ipswich Cabinetry, General Contractor: Windover Construction, Landscape Architecture: Laura Gibson Landscape Design, Tile Installation: Paralle Tile & Marble, Photography: Eric Roth

Set along a quiet curve of Manchester-by-the-Sea’s harbor, this custom residence reflects a couple’s desire to downsize without compromise—to create a warm, elegant retreat that celebrates their roots, their lifestyle, and their love of English Arts and Crafts architecture. The home’s many roof planes help keep the structure low in the landscape, with the soft green trim and taupe-colored siding reinforcing the feeling of a building emerging from its natural surroundings. The roof planes are a prominent feature in the design, and consequently, the decision was made to use wood shingles throughout, with copper on one dormer featuring a shallow-pitched roof.

From the moment you step inside, the harbor takes center stage. A bridge-like entry hall—framed with windows front and back—acts as a transparent link between the main house and the primary suite. It guides visitors from the arrival point straight through to the water, visually anchoring the home in its setting.

SV Design

Architect: SV Design, Contractor: Archwright, Interior Designer: SV Design, Landscape Architecture: Hawk Design, Inc., Landscape: R.P. Marzilli, Photographer: Michael J. Lee

When entering Water’s Edge, a striking 32-foot glass and ceramic chandelier cascading from the second-floor ceiling down to the lower garden level captures your attention. This vertical gesture creates an instant sense of grandeur and sets a sculptural tone for the home. The sunken sunroom features exposed cathedral beams that not only emphasize the vertical volume of the space but also create a rhythm that guides the eye toward panoramic lake views. In the primary suite, a vaulted ceiling clad with salvaged antique wood brings warmth while drawing the gaze upward. This tactile surface transforms the bedroom into a layered, cocoon-like space that balances spaciousness with soul. Tray ceilings add extra height and dimension to the earth-toned, lower-level playroom and home gym, creating a sense of openness and architectural interest to these functional spaces.