We worked on this project with Payne Bouchier, a top-of-the-line contractor in Boston. Our clients were moving into town from the suburbs. Their kids were in college and they were ready to take advantage of all that living downtown—including being within walking distance to work and restaurants—had to offer.

They had already built an elegant, modern, vacation house in Europe, so they were attuned to the joys and complications of construction. In fact during construction, whenever they were at their vacation house, we would have site meetings that they attended via Skype, we in a cold construction site, they with the Mediterranean sparkling in the background!

The townhouse had last been renovated in the 1980s. It had great bones and enticing amenities, but it looked dated. What began as an aesthetic upgrade ended as a gut renovation. The result included a gourmet kitchen, plenty of space to entertain, a home office, a place to watch movies, an elevator, a two car garage, and three outdoor spaces—a ground floor garden, a second floor deck and a fourth floor balcony.