Family Planning

How do you fit a mom, a dad, four kids, two Warhols and a dog—with plenty of room for relatives, friends and a burgeoning art collection—all under one roof? You plan accordingly.

The family that lives here—four active kids and two parents with an eye for art—were previously living in a too-small house when they decided to find something that offered more elbow room for their growing brood.

A 1950s center-entrance colonial in Wellesley, Massachusetts, had most of what they were looking for…but not everything. For one thing, the kitchen hadn’t been updated since the house was built (it was organized as if run by a staff instead of a family), and the two-car garage couldn’t actually fit two cars. The homeowners also wanted a new family room and a place to house visiting in-laws. And they wanted it all done with style.

After moving in and making do for a few years, the couple called on Boston-based architect John Battle to help them make this not-so-perfect house into the perfect home for their family. Battle had worked with the pair previously and was sensitive to their tastes as well as their needs. As they began discussing changes to the look, feel and flow of the house’s interior, a new exterior began to emerge in Battle’s sketches. “John said, ‘I’m reluctant to show you this, but I can picture something completely different,’ ” recalls the homeowner. “He pulled out this picture and we said, ‘That’s it, that’s our house!’ Everything flowed from there.”

The house’s colonial facade underwent a shingle-style facelift. Inside, extensive renovations included a new family room, kitchen, pantry, back stair and library. The old two-car garage was replaced with one of modern proportions and a master suite was added upstairs. An in-law apartment on the side of the house now allows for close proximity coupled with a certain level of autonomy for visiting grandparents.

The focus here is on modern, informal living; there are places where adults and kids are comfortable together, and quieter, more formal rooms in the house that are slightly more removed from high-traffic areas. “The homeowner has a strong disposition toward family being the center of gravity for everything, and the architecture followed that,” explains Battle.

The yard, woodsy and pretty but unusable, was transformed by landscape architect Greg Lombardi of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The parents wanted a yard they could use as a family, where the kids had room to run around without worry of knocking down formal gardens. They also wanted privacy from their neighbors and a pretty view from inside the house.
Lombardi gave the house a public front, a formal entrance with a loop drive and a perennial border that greets guests upon arrival. In the back of the house, lots of flexible space—with nothing the kids can’t run through—includes a large play lawn, an outdoor kitchen with a fire pit and terrace, and a pergola with a swing. Screen plantings of evergreens and deciduous trees around the perimeter offer the family privacy, essentially making the outside area as much of a home as the house itself.

Newton, Massachusetts–based interior designer Jen Palumbo brought a more transitional aesthetic to the interiors of the architecturally traditional house. Durability was a driving factor in many of the design decisions, along with comfort, softness and warmth.

Design wise, the house is more textural than colorful; fabrics throughout include leather, ultra-suede, woven tweed, silk, cashmere, velvet, cotton knit and fur, which complement the simple, warm palette of earthy tones. The family heads west during summer vacations, and their love for that area adds a slightly rugged, western influence to their Wellesley house.
In the family room, a full-size, hand-carved saddle that the kids (and adults) have all taken a turn on rests in a corner by the sofa. A small seating area with two comfortable chairs and a leather table topped with a chess set—a favorite game of the boys—sits in front of a fireplace that opens from the family room into the kitchen.

On the kitchen side, a limestone hearth faces a kitchen island bordered by amber leather barstools, where the mom often sits for hours at night helping her kids with their homework. A gold-colored matchstick-tile backsplash and a series of three rust-colored pendant lamps contrast nicely with the white cabinetry. Nestled in a nook of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the backyard sits a small round table where the family shares most of their meals.

When relatives or friends visit, there’s plenty of space at the dining room table, which can seat up to sixteen. The table was actually one of the few pieces the homeowners brought from their old houseWindow treatments are an espresso silk with Greek key trim along the bottom that mimics the trim on the chairs. A hide runner stitched with leather and horn candlesticks bedeck the tabletop. The overall warm, inviting effect invites lingering at the table long after dinner.

The biggest departure from the home’s earthy decor occurs in the living room, where the ambience is just a bit more formal. “We worked with a sage green and a soft blue and brought in some taupey browns to keep it lighter,” explains Palumbo. Window treatments are sheer, backed and cuffed with silk; a hanging capiz shell lighting fixture helps keeps the feel of the room updated and modern. The fireplace is original to the house.

Upstairs, the mood in the master bedroom is calm and relaxing. Across from the sleeping nook, two barrel chairs in front of the fireplace play a critical role in the nighttime ritual of reading a story before bedtime. Little feet sink into the silk shag rug and cashmere and velvet throw pillows invite snuggling.

The homeowners selected the birch painting that hangs above fireplace, part of a growing art collection that includes two Warhol paintings and one by Jim Dine. However, their favorite piece is a contemporary portrait of their kids that hangs at the end of a long gallery hall.

“A lot of our spaces are kid friendly, but in a way that looks good as well,” says the wife. “My husband and I would always laugh about ‘function over fashion,’ but I feel like I got both.”

Interior Design: Jennifer Palumbo
Architecture: John Battle
Landscape Design: Greg Lombardi
Builder: Kistler and Knapp Builders