Design New England - March/April 2008

sumptuous shower

A Lexington, Massachusetts, master bath has wide-open appeal

:: design focus ::

Written by GAIL RAVGIALA
Photograph by ERIC ROTH

In the mid-1980s, jeannette kearny and her husband, Craig Reingold, renovated the bathroom in the condo they owned in a 1928 Georgian-style house in San Francisco. “Luxury bathrooms were not in vogue yet,” says Kearny, “but we decided we’d really like to have some space.” They installed a large bathroom and fitted it with what, at the time, were considered state-of-the-art materials and fixtures. It was a design decision they never regretted. Once the new bathroom was completed, “we found it was the place in the house we most enjoyed,” says Kearny.

So when a recent job transfer landed the couple and their two daughters, ages 10 and 11, in Lexington, Massachusetts, where they built a

new house, there was no doubt the master bath would be a luxurious, large, and airy space. “We really wanted to create a retreat,” says Kearny.

The second-floor master suite occupies its own wing, purposely isolated from the rest of the house. A long hallway leads past the his-and-her walk-in closets to the bathroom. Entry is through a doorway that can be closed off by a frosted glass panel hung from a stainless steel track. Simple, sleek, and stylish, the sliding door offers privacy without blocking the light.

Dominating the 300-square-foot space is the huge open shower defined by a curved cream-colored half wall finished with small square tiles made from recycled glass. The walls of the shower are lined with 8-by-16-inch Spanish limestone tiles in a rich mocha color from Ann Sacks. The shower flooring is off-white 4-by-4-inch ceramic tile, also from Ann Sacks. “We used ceramic