JOAN GOODY • The late architect’s legacy is manifest in major public
buildings, but her life’s philosophy is summed up in her simple city loft
or 40 years, a loft on boston’s beacon hill was the home of joan goody, one
of the area’s leading architects of her generation. Goody was the senior partner in
an architectural firm, Goody Clancy, that grew to employ more than 100. As well
as designing new buildings, she restored historic ones, most notably Trinity Church
in Copley Square. Her home was an urban dwelling, just a few steps from busy
Charles Street. But it was also an oasis, filled with the sunshine and greenery of the
natural world.
In 1968, Joan and Marvin Goody were two young married architects. They
discovered a dilapidated two-story brick carriage house — built in 1875 and being
used as a plumbers’ shop — tucked away in a little alley. The Goodys bought it, and by adding a third floor,
they expanded it into a spacious loft. They moved in and, over time, filled it with artwork and mementos.
Marvin died in 1980. Four years later, Joan married Peter Davison. Davison wasn’t an architect; he
was a poet and book editor. Subtly, the house began to change. Marvin’s pool table was replaced by a piano
that had been in Davison’s family. A bookcase graduallly filled up with books Davison had edited. But most
F
the living area is a mix of modern and traditional elements. Skylights flood the space with light. Slatted
wood “peach basket” chairs are by famed architect Frank Gehry, as are the cardboard chair and ottoman
in the center foreground. Joan Goody (inset) with her husband, poet Peter Davison.
NOTABLE WORK
Among Joan Goody’s Boston
projects were the restoration of
Trinity Church and the
transformation of Harbor Point
in Dorchester from public
housing to a mixed-income
neighborhood. More recently,
under her leadership, Goody
Clancy was selected as lead
designer for the conversion of
the former St. Elizabeths
Hospital in Washington, D.C.
into headquarters for the
Department of Homeland
Security.
