Back Bay Contemporary

Boston, MA

Luxury interior design townhouse Back Bay Boston New England

Victoria Albert freestanding tub, Statuario marble floor and surround, Charlers view, Erica Fossati Design, Back Bay Boston

This three-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment occupies the third floor of a landmark Beaux-Arts townhouse on Beacon Street, with views over the Charles River. The clients, an Italian couple with a precise and uncompromising aesthetic sensibility, had lived with the existing interiors for twenty years. The bathrooms, unchanged since the apartment was last renovated, no longer reflected who they were or how they wanted to live.

The scope of the renovation centered on a full gut of all four bathrooms, while the rest of the apartment received a considered cosmetic update through paint and furniture. The existing bathroom layouts were rationalized and simplified. The clients' brief was clear: clean lines, a minimalist sensibility, and a master bathroom that read as a private luxury hotel suite.

The clients had a strong instinct toward Italian design. The vanities throughout are from Scavolini, selected for their monolithic presence and the depth of their color palette. Against that architectural solidity, the Victoria and Albert sinks and freestanding tub introduce an organic counterpoint, their sculptural, softly rounded forms providing relief within an otherwise rigorous composition. The master bathroom is finished entirely in Statuario marble, floor to ceiling, with a frameless glass shower enclosure, an integrated bench, and a linear drain positioned beneath the bench to eliminate any interruption to the stone surface underfoot. The two guest bathrooms each received their own identity through color: a deep forest green in one, a dusty rose in the other, both playing against the dark Scavolini cabinetry and matte black fixtures.

The remainder of the apartment was refreshed through new furniture selections and a repainted palette, allowing the existing Beaux-Arts architecture to remain the primary formal presence in the living spaces.

Construction was carried out by Thoughtforms, one of New England's most respected residential contractors. Beside producing all the concept design and construction documents, I provided design support throughout the construction phase, issuing sketch addendums and making material decisions on site as the work progressed. Material selections were made collaboratively with the clients, visiting showrooms together to verify every finish and fixture in person before committing.