This classic brick exterior hides a stunningly modern condo in Back Bay
103 Beacon Street is a 3,100-square-foot townhouse that was redesigned by Ruhl Walker Architects in 2013.
The top three floors of 103 Beacon Street, overlooking the Boston Public Garden, had already been remodeled a few times, stripping it of all of its 19th century charm.
So when Boston-based Ruhl Walker Architects saw the inside of the three-story Back Bay townhouse, they saw a perfect opportunity to propel it into the 21st century with an open-concept redesign.
The once single-family house had been remodeled into apartments in the 1970s, according to Backbayhouses.org. And in the early 1980s, the top floor was remodeled again, according to Keith Case, project architect from Ruhl Walker. Then it had been untouched for 30 years.
“It was very 80s,’’ Case said. “It had a funky 80s chic kitchen, there was art storage and cramped bedrooms. We were trying to modernize it.’’
Though the décor had changed from the 19th century, the layout had not, which meant the apartment was very dark, especially around the center staircase.
There was already a skylight in the townhouse, but Case and his partners wanted to open up the apartment so that light shined throughout.
Story continues after gallery.
See inside 103 Beacon Street:
“We tried to keep it open as much as possible,’’ Case said. “We changed the partitions when we opened the floor and had to rework the structure there.’’
Case and the rest of his team also got permission from the Back Bay Architectural Commission, who approve exterior changes, to add a dormer and a balcony that looks out to the Fiedler Footbridge.
The project was completed in 2013 and the architects won multiple awards, including the Grand / Architectural Interiors award from the Custom Home Design Awards in 2014 and the Small Firms Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects in 2014.
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