Joanna Hansen
Here, you’ll find master builders, seasoned specialists, and craftspeople deeply committed to their trade. We’ve got showrooms and décor shops that will make you dizzy with delight and some of the leading architects and interior designers in the country.
With so many top-tier individuals, teams, and firms around us, choosing the winners for these categories is always a challenge—yet it’s a task we here at Boston Home relish. The following showcases our deeply considered, highly researched, and mulled-over selections for those that shined the brightest over the past year.
Seamlessly integrated with the surroundings, even the most sprawling, newly designed homes have a sense of permanence about them. Committed to designing spaces that are functional and enduring, it is paramount to the firm that a home suits the lifestyle of its inhabitants.
Supporting the notion that “We all add something,” David Hacin takes a collaborative approach to all projects his firm undertakes. Innovative, open-minded, and enthusiastic about exploring new design realms, the firm strives not just to execute a client’s vision but to understand and connect with it as well. With a broad body of work consisting of residences that exude a range of modern and traditional design sensibilities, this long-established firm understands the very essence of balance. Possessing a high regard for both traditional New England vernacular and contemporary design, the firm, which has a brand-new headquarters in the South End and an outpost in Osterville, is as adept at designing expansive estates from scratch as it is fine-tuning small renovations and restoring historic properties.
Known throughout the Northeast for creating lush, balanced, and natural landscapes, Matthew Cunningham and his team focus on plant-centric projects that swiftly feel established. Flexible and resourceful, she’s always well versed in trends and knows where to go to find the best vintage pieces, a combination that demonstrates her truest talent: the ability to bend her style to match her client’s vision.
Whether you prefer a more traditional vibe, favor bursts of color, feel most comfortable with sleek and streamlined, or desire a mix of all three, Gannon is equipped to infuse your interiors with delight. She’s known to incorporate modern furnishings, sleek elements, and bold accents into her designs while maintaining her goal: to create personal, beloved havens for her clients.
Drawing inspiration from her frequent travels around the globe, Paula Daher infuses the rooms she designs with distinction and dimension while always honoring the true architecture of a space.
She reveres New England’s time-honored housing stock and is equally adept at tailoring the scheme of a brand-new residence in one of the city’s high rises. Daher can be counted on to infuse interiors with a fresh and elevated vibe while maintaining a polished, classic appeal that never feels staid or predictable. Attuned to her client’s ideals and tastes, the sophisticated and unpretentious spaces that bear the Elms ID stamp are the result of her appreciation for craftsmanship, expertise, and intuition.
Think hues, textures, and motifs that nod subtly to the ocean paired with bolder pops of pattern, high-level art, and statement lighting. Using a blend of antique and modern furnishings, textiles, and materials, Elle’s finely honed design sensibility elevates the standard coastal vibe to one that radiates an air of sophistication and imagination while keeping comfort key, because life on the water should be relaxed. Always dedicated to the details, founder Nick Schiffer and his team simultaneously keep a close eye on the big picture of every project.
Clients highly regard NS Builders for their knowledge, commitment to customer satisfaction, collaborative nature, and communication skills, which all play an integral part in the company’s ongoing success.
Newton Builders was founded on a focused vision, which came to fruition in the summer of 1958 when the company’s namesake owner purchased 30 acres of land situated on a pond in Falmouth. The firm’s mission was to construct an area of top-quality custom houses, and more than six decades and four generations later, this family-owned operation has put its experience to work on specialized projects that make homeowners happy throughout the region.
Childhood friends Eric Adams and Angus Beasley both learned carpentry at a young age, and post-college, they joined forces to start their own business of building. With the founding of Adams + Beasley, the company focuses on full-service construction planning, custom millwork, building and remodeling, and estate care and extols its women-centric workforce. Whether remodeling a rustic barn or restoring a Victorian mansion, positivity flows through every project at Adams + Beasley, where clients praise their creativity and dedication.
Hailing from Jamaica Plain, Kevin Cradock grew up finding inspiration in his neighborhood’s historic architecture, and his admiration for carpentry and traditional craftsmanship are a large part of his company’s foundation. The firm, which recently marked its 25th year in business, collaborates with a host of local architects, designers, and homeowners to ensure each project is distinctive and long-lasting. From building and renovating residences to designing cabinetry, furniture, and millwork, Kevin Cradock Builders caters succinctly to each client’s lifestyle and taste.
Whether constructing from a clean slate or reinterpreting an existing property, Carpenter & MacNeille has its clients covered. The company, which Jaxtimer shares with his wife and their three sons, is truly a family-run business that focuses on custom building, landscape, maintenance and gardening, property management, custom-crafted millwork, and other concierge services. Specializing in whole house remodeling, historic renovation/remodeling, kitchens, and bathrooms, the firm also offers full-service home maintenance. With more than 30 years in the industry, it’s safe to say JJ Hardwood Floors knows a thing or two about the most important surface in a home. The team is committed to sourcing woods, stains, and additional materials that are of the highest quality, safety, and sustainability standards. From millwork to custom built-ins to an entire kitchen’s worth of cabinetry, no request is too big or too small for Kenyon Woodworking.
Dependable, experienced, and incredibly cooperative, the detail-oriented team provides design services, fabrication, and installation that turn concepts into reality. With more than four decades of experience when it comes to custom furniture and upholstery that’s beautiful and high-end, Partners in Design is a natural fit for the trade and their clients. Its staff excels in both restoring existing pieces and creating ones that are custom designed so that all specifications are consistently achieved.
Gracing the ceilings and walls (and sometimes floors, though her work is far too lovely to be walked on, in our opinion) of homes all over the city and beyond, Curtiss’s custom designs are painted and sculpted; she shifts colors and shades to show movement.
From geometric and floral patterns to graffiti motifs and themed murals—including one fanciful spin on Alice in Wonderland at a no-holds-barred household in Chestnut Hill—Curtiss’s range is unlimited. A mural-like raffia beauty from Élitis, for example, can revamp an entire room; or a bright and bold hand-painted stunner from Serena Dugan, one of the store’s newest brands, can create the perfect accent wall.
That’s to say nothing of their custom reupholstery services, which can give everything from grandma’s old settee to antique store dining chairs a new life. Multifunctional sofas from Molteni&C that combine plush seating with storage, angular side tables from Henge, and abstract curvilinear armchairs from Giorgetti are all ripe for the choosing—with a little help from Casa’s arsenal of discerning design professionals, of course. Moser has evolved since its founding five decades ago (what was once a one-man woodworking operation now proudly employs a team of more than 70 craftspeople), the skill and pride evident in every handmade piece hasn’t changed.
Each minimal-modern sofa, classic trestle dining table, and four-poster bed is hewed with care, bearing the signature of the craftsperson that made it, and accented with high-quality leathers or fabrics that are built to stand the test of time.
Whether you’re decorating for a little one on the way or searching for furniture that’ll endure the transition through adolescence, Room & Board’s modern pieces are up to the challenge. What’s more, the top-notch service at their Newbury Street showroom all but ensures that there will be no temper tantrums by the children you had to cart along with you.
Though widely regarded as the master of handcrafted glassware, and rightfully so (see shapely decanters, artistic champagne flutes, and soapstone-bottomed whiskey tumblers as just a few examples), we’d be remiss not to mention the array of pottery and tableware that also grace Simon Pearce’s Boston and Chestnut Hill showrooms. The Vermont-handmade Curvy stoneware bowls, minimalist dinner sets, and freehand-style coffee mugs beg to be admired (and brought home), too.
Luckily, Yale’s knowledgeable staff, A-team of installers, and selection of hundreds of in-stock products—from Sub-Zero fridges to Thermador ranges and all the accessories you could ever want (a built-in coffee maker, anyone? Owner Andrew Spindler (accompanied by his Boston terrier, Daphne) offers a pared-back selection—a departure from the usually overstuffed antiques emporiums—that lets the likes of gilded rope-and-tassel armchairs, French Empire–era mahogany pedestal tables, and miniature pocket globes shine.
Who better to create a home for your beloved artwork than the team who framed work for the MFA and the Gardner Museum? Housed in various spots throughout the city over the years, its current location—opened in spring 2022—in the Park Square Building on Arlington Street is the most convenient and luxurious.
The French-based brand designs, manufactures, and retails each piece of its broad line of furnishings to ensure that its fine quality is never compromised. Furniture, which ranges from low-slung sectionals to sleek, polished dining tables to the iconic handmade Bubble chair, is innovative, artistic, and unbelievably comfortable.
The premier distributor of luxury line Visual Comfort and a handful of other smaller brands, here the dazzling array includes pendants, chandeliers, floor lamps, and sconces in countless finishes and styles, from modern to rustic to reclaimed and everything in between.
If you’re unsure what type of illumination suits your space, fear not: The attentive, engaging staff will steer you in the right direction.
Housed in an old antique shop that’s been lovingly and stylishly revived on Main Street in Charlestown, this charming boutique stocks glassware, design books, rugs, candles, tabletop items, and so much more. Products are always chic and often artisanal, all carefully curated by the owner, Donna Garlough, a former style director for Joss & Main who designed the shop to evoke the interior of a house so customers get a sense of how items will look in their own abodes.
Nestled in a delightful cottage, the ever-changing assortment of wares at this Chestnut Hill shop includes pillows sheathed in designer fabric, pottery, candelabras, and other luxurious knickknacks, as well as original works by artists from all over the country. When the yoga studio that inhabited the other half of the building closed, owner Elizabeth Benedict took over the space and opened Petals and Press to offer grab-and-go coffee and an appealing selection of florals. Here, the work of one artist is showcased for an extended period—try to snag an invite to the next opening Benedict hosts; it’s a lovely experience.
The space showcases a range of upholstered furniture and statement lighting and is chock-full of accessories from tableware to textiles. Among the vast selection of décor, you’ll also encounter rustic finds and vintage pieces: When we were there, the assortment included antique doors and salvaged window shutters. If you need help making selections, owner Lynn Makiej is an interior designer with loads of insight.
With a fresh, modern vibe, you’ll find tableware, vessels in a slew of sizes and colors, and an assortment of high-end candles displayed on crisp white built-in shelves. When we stopped in, the shop had succulent plants and orchids in stock, along with an ample selection of intriguing design books. Divine Design Center’s custom bathrooms have us dreaming of luxury spa showers and supersized soaking tubs—the kind of space that makes us late for work (worth it).
Their designers are happy to help with projects of any size—from full renovations to simply updating the fixtures—all while balancing day-to-day function and efficiency with an aesthetic that speaks to you.
Bespoke of Winchester’s custom kitchens are kind of like the ones you see on celebrity cooking shows (who hasn’t lusted after Ina Garten’s sophisticated backdrop?). Designs are extremely well-appointed; many are replete with top-of-the-line Lacanche ranges flanked by sleek backsplashes and handcrafted details.
The team has expertise in architecture and interior design, so when you partner with them on your dream kitchen, you’re getting top-to-bottom attention from space planning and custom built-ins to countertops, lighting, and hardware. Kochman Reidt + Haigh Cabinetmakers have this formula down to a science, offering custom cabinet design that checks all those boxes and more, whether you’re looking for a rustic farmhouse kitchen or something sleek and ultra-modern. A native of Verona, Italy, Cumar owner, Angelo “Ivo” Cubi, knows a thing or two about beautiful marble and stone. Today, homeowners looking for meticulously sourced granite, marble, and quartzite (often by Cubi himself) find the highest-quality stone here, plus the know-how of their designers and installers. Bonus: The showroom, located at the Boston Design Center, always has an extensive inventory of in-stock tile, so you may not have to play the home renovation waiting game. Monique’s Bath Showroom is like a real-life Pinterest board: lined with beautiful options and packed with inspiration around every corner.
Whether you’re looking for a spa-style Zucchetti rain showerhead or the more traditional silhouettes of a bronze Barclay faucet with classic cross handles, you’ll leave the showroom with fresh ideas for your own home. While the storefront may seem unassuming, walk inside and be transported to a Boston of yore, with walls and drawers of beautifully displayed hardware that harkens back to 19th-century Victorian homes (think: reproductions of mercury glass doorknobs and turned brass knobs featuring Greek Revival motifs). Frank Webb Home offers all the best peripherals to create an oasis in your home: lighted mirrors and medicine cabinets, vanities in an endless range of sizes and materials for both powder rooms and primary baths, and even smaller (but no less important) accessories like heated towel bars and shower seats.
Hunt Slonem’s iconic bunny paintings are always on display, and other notable pieces usually include those by lauded contemporary artists Alex Katz and Keith Haring.
If you’re in the position to cultivate an art collection, it’s well worth bringing Kate Chertavian on board before you begin. With a robust knowledge of the gallery markets in both the U.S. and abroad, Chertavian’s goal is to build meaningful collections for her clients and educate them throughout the process.
Her colleague Lucy Rosenburgh, a former head of Sotheby’s London Print department, is equally adept and engaging. The business began as the solo venture of Maria Makkas, who crafted elegant window treatments on her sewing machine more than 40 years ago. Makkas has long been partnered in the business with her husband and son, and today the operation has a team of highly skilled seamstresses and installers who manage projects—which range in size and scope—from start to finish. And when your carpet takes a hit or the sofa gets spotted with red wine, the folks at MWI Fibershield are here to help.
draperies, window treatments, and fabric and leather upholstery without changing the item’s texture or appearance. Still at the top of its game after three decades in business, this national brand offers custom solutions ranging from bedroom closets to Murphy beds, wine storage, home office, and garage build-outs.
During the complimentary design consult, you’ll realize the options are endless: With a versatile palette of finishes, colors, and hardware, it’s hard not to imagine these experts retrofitting every available space in your home. Holding court as Brookline’s oldest working farm, the 105-acre agricultural haven offers annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, and vegetable starts—most grown onsite for quick soil-to-store. Whether it’s an aesthetic outdoor bar or a necessary walkway, this family-owned-and-operated store in Newton unlocks your hardscapes’ potential (peep their Unilock wall systems and pavers).
Expert cutters get edgy with onsite custom stone fabrication, and hard-to-find slab sizes are easy to spot. From lounging in a summertime hammock to warming up by a blazing firepit, this gigantic Lexington showroom transitions throughout the year for the best outdoor seasonal décor, whatever the weather. With this level of custom swimming holes, the umbrella in your poolside drink won’t be the only thing causing a stir around the neighborhood.
When you want a splashy setup, take the plunge and go all out with luxe fire bowls, rain curtains, fountains, and rim flow spas. Their maintenance services cover you for equipment upgrades, safety-cover installation, and seasonal upkeep, so your new investment runs swimmingly. When the imagination is limitless but the space small, savvy city dwellers call on the expert team helmed by Ed MacLean and Tom Kroon to reconnect them with nature through a gorgeous urban garden. The fresh blossoms packed in and thriving certainly turn heads with first-floor window boxes, courtyards, sky-high roof-decks, and decked out balconies. They help turn natural environments into a reflection of your personal style with beautifully executed gardens, recreation areas, water features and pools, and hardscapes that blend seamlessly. Both small garden terraces and large-scale sports courts get full attention as you go through the process from first sketch to final touch.
Their portfolio includes gorgeous water and fire features, pergolas, and landscape lighting down to the simplest perennial bloom for your oasis.
