The Paavo Tynell "Chandelier with Snowflakes", from 1950, is the beginning of this story.

Purchased before the renovation had begun and before we had even met, the exquisite piece celebrated our client’s late husband’s unerring eye. The chandelier informed many of the decisions that would follow, and was eventually given pride of place in the now reconfigured Wharf Room.

The house had a few lives before the couple bought it in 2005. Originally built as an art school by E. Ambrose Webster, it later became the Flagship restaurant, an iconic Provincetown landmark where a young Anthony Bourdain was a dishwasher. The restaurant’s hallmark, a Dory repurposed as the restaurant’s bar, now runs along a wall in the living room.

Working with Scott William Grady, Architect, the building was turned into a residence in 2012. Scott was also the architect for this second renovation that moved the main living space closer to the water.

In this latest iteration, much of the house’s decoration takes its inspiration from the industrial designer and artist Irving Harper who designed the mid-century clocks and paper sculptures that dot the walls of the first floor, sharing space with art by Outer Cape artists.
Working closely with the client, who is well-schooled in mid-century design, we were in constant communication, sharing images of things that spoke to the vocabulary that the Tynell chandelier and Irving Harper had spawned.

This was a relationship built on a mutual appreciation for what we each brought to the project. We had admiration for our client’s collection and his knowledge of artisans of the 1940’s to the 1970’s, and he had esteem for the fabrics, carpets, window and wall coverings, and the understanding of space and the “zeitgeist” of the project that we could bring to the design effort.

Sharing a meal seated around Saarinen’s Tulip Table, in Peter Hvidit armchairs, beneath the Erik Hoglund chandelier, designed for Boda Glassworks in the 50’s, one is reminded of the power of collaboration and respect.