Designer transforms the Kennedys’ former garage in Brookline into an airy abode
Rosalind Gertner lays her head where the Kennedy family once parked their cars. Read more on realestate.boston.com.
Rosalind Gertner lays her head where the Kennedy family once parked their cars. In the former carriage house in Brookline, the owner of design firm RG-Homes transformed a tiny — and rather dimly lit— apartment into a bright, breezy abode.
“It was dark, dark, dark,’’ said Gertner, who downsized from a roughly 3,000-square-foot single-family home in Hudson to the outbuilding in 2017. Gertner’s sister, retired federal judge Nancy Gertner, bought the property on Abbotsford Road 32 years ago, and after years of renting out the carriage house, granted Rosalind complete creative freedom over the structure. Along with a contractor from Woods Remodeling, Rosalind spent six months updating its 750 square feet into a modern living space.
First, the deep brown bead board walls were painted a soft tan. Retro light fixtures were nixed in favor of more traditional lamps, and green wall-to-wall carpeting was swapped for hardwood. Then Gertner rearranged the floor plan, enlarging the single bedroom and raising the ceilings in the bathroom. Yet for all its updates, including new plumbing and electrical systems, the place maintains a sense of antique charm.
“It’s extraordinary to be here,’’ Rosalind said. “To be in somebody’s — the Kennedys’ — garage, essentially.’’
It was a century earlier, in 1920, when Joseph and Rose Kennedy moved from their home at 83 Beals St. — now a National Historic Site — to the grand 1905 Victorian on Abbotsford Road. They did so with three children in tow, including 3-year-old Jack. Eunice, Robert, and Patricia Kennedy were born in the house, and the children often could be found playing on the porch and greeting milkmen, mailmen, ice deliverers, and neighbors. But in 1927, when JFK was 10 years old, Joseph decided to move the family to New York City. They settled into an even larger house in the Bronx, leaving their two former homes in Brookline behind.
A series of owners left their marks on the property in the years after the Kennedy family departed. One turned the main residence into a boarding house for a time, while another added a glass atrium onto the carriage house. The Gertners replaced the atrium with a small addition in 2009. The main home’s stained-glass window, as well as the carriage house’s old-world feel, however, have remained.
The original entry wall to the carriage house is its most striking original detail. The opening, which is just wide enough to fit a car, is flanked by intricately carved columns. It opens from the house’s addition to the living room, where Rosalind made the best use of its modest footprint with a loveseat and an armchair.
“I have no sense of it being small,’’ Rosalind said. That’s thanks to the carriage house’s soaring ceilings, which add a sense of spaciousness to the open-concept living and dining areas. She maximized the height by adorning the walls with art.
“Thank heavens these ceiling heights are so high, because I’ve traveled the world and I have items on the wall from virtually everywhere I went,’’ Rosalind said.
Greeting cards from Finland, watercolors from France, and beadwork from South Africa are some of the treasures decorating the cottage.
“I’ve lived in much bigger houses, and in a sense, you lose this experience of this art. It’s all over the place,’’ she said. “Some of the things that I have hanging now — I enjoy them so much more. I see them better.’’
Rosalind also brought some of her existing furniture into the carriage house. Many pieces — from the lone loveseat to the floor lamp in the living room — were from Boston Design Center.
Beyond the addition and main living area, the building squeezes in a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. The formerly tiny bedroom, which at one time could accommodate only a twin bed, now boasts a queen. Rosalind adjusted the home’s floor plan to enlarge the bedroom, building out one wall and inserting two closets (including one “that I use just for shoes,’’ Rosalind said) with luggage storage space above them. She moved the laundry area, which stuck out of the kitchen, into the bedroom by installing a stackable washer and dryer.
The nearby kitchen received all new cabinets, appliances, and granite countertops. Ceiling-height cabinets add extra storage space, while a narrow refrigerator and a smaller-than-average sink complete the package.
In the bathroom, a sleek walk-in shower is fronted by a panel of glass. And in such a small space, little details matter. Rosalind chose several textured tiles in the bathroom shower to inject personality into the room.
All of her design decisions, she said, came down to creating spaces that brought her pleasure. “There wasn’t really a concept of creating a statement that was consistent wherever you went through the place,’’ Rosalind said. Rather, the result is an eclectic mix of art, furniture, and fine details — all coexisting inside a former garage.
“Many houses have garages,’’ Rosalind said. “But they don’t have histories like this one does.’’
Madeline Bilis, an editor at Travel + Leisure, can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @madelinebilis. Subscribe to the Globe’s free real estate newsletter — our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design — at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @globehomes.
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