Charlestown: Pleasant St Renovation

We're very excited about this project, which is right up our alley - literally! A full renovation of a historic home in Charlestown, whose only access is through an alley, we're up to all our favorite tricks for working in tight conditions, updating this house for a family of four. A new kitchen and all new bathrooms, storage solutions, new trim and other unique touches, and of course, hidden updates - all will make this house more livable and comfortable for a modern family.

Our clients had lived in this historic house for a few years, and made some updates, but with a toddler and baby #2 on the way, it was time to take a deeper dive into fixing things up!

As with many historic homes, this house had been rather neglected by a series of DIY repairs, including a whole unpermitted addition, added about 75 years ago! The house, which is relatively small [2500 SF] was also split into two units at one point, with a treacherous stair and lots of hacked up finishes and spaces. There were whole portions of the house we had to rebuild from the inside out because of various structural and quality issues.

Working in spaces like this requires extreme attention to detail and a lot of experience - as well as a team who's dedicated to craft and keeping a close eye on cost/schedule!

Some of our favorite spaces:

The kitchen, fully custom down to the mahogany cabinets and arched millwork, emphasizes elegant efficiency in a small space. Every square inch was carefully planned out, including lots of practical touches like spice storage, open shelves for cookbooks, good lighting, tray storage, "magic corners" in the blind corners, and even a mini broom closet.

The primary bath, which is in a space that's shaped like a parallelogram [gotta love old weird houses...!], presented all kinds of challenges. We managed the strange shape by squaring things up using the custom walnut cabinetry and the shower bench, and actually made the bathroom *smaller* than it had been, so we could incorporate a dressing area with custom cabinetry! The bathroom itself has many thoughtful touches, from the shaving shelf and offset valve in the shower [so you don't get wet when you turn on the shower] to the offset shower glass so you can store toiletries inside the shower to the meticulously aligned tile to the "storage tower" to the built-in medicine cabinet with plenty of hidden storage.

The half bath - maybe our most fun ever?! Hot pink trim, fun wallpaper, a forest green sink, white fixtures...this room is all about FUN!

We also revamped the guest bath, freshened up all bedrooms, did a built-in closet and bench in the entry, all new HVAC, insulation and finish upgrades throughout, and new doors, trim, and plaster throughout. It's truly a huge transformation that's making a real difference for this young family!

Stay tuned - this project is finished, but we haven't taken final photos yet!