Construction began in early 2006, and for two years the family, which now included
then 2-year-old Michael, lived in the back of the old house while crews worked to connect
an addition to its front right corner. The process subsumed the old three-season porch
over the garage and put the existing kitchen at the center of the new house. The new
breakfast and living/dining rooms and a remodeled family room pinwheel around it in
a configuration that allows the open spaces to communicate with one another while still
staking out their distinct territories.
The Alperses brought in interior designer Juliette Reid, to put the finishing touches on
their new home. Fine art would be a big part of her design. “The architecture is so strong,”
says Reid, “that one of my main tasks was finding pieces big and bold enough to match it.”
For example, she hung the 55-inch-by-39-inch painting “Dierdre,” an abstract of a woman’s
head by the artist Jamali (from Gallerie d’Orsay in Boston), on a main wall “to connect with
the scale and colors all around it.” And because the piece is pigment on cork, “the textures
a vibrant landscape by Dutch artist Luc
Leestemaker (above left) meets the strong lines
of the architecture in the master bedroom where
shoji-style sliding doors (above right) reveal
storage. Clerestory windows fill the master bath
(right) with natural light. A oversize shower stall
in gray marble next to a Japanese-style soaking tub
offer bathing options.
