A Lighter Shade of Pale

By Patrick Wilson

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl01_hodgins.jpg

For a penthouse in Boston, Back Bay, designer William Hodgins selected a Louis XVI commode and a George II giltwood mirror "to give definition to the entrance hall." The mirror "also reflects the handsome drawing," Renoir' 1910 Baigneuse Assise.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl02_hodgins.jpg

A team from the architectural firm CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares added windows to the living room to take advantage of the apartment's wraparound terrace. Chair at right from H. M. Luther Antiques. Houlès drapery fabric. Greeff sofa and tub chair fabric. Stark carpet.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl03_hodgins.jpg

Adding a colorful note to the all-white space, a 1956 oil by Picasso, Femme dans l'Atelier , hangs above the living room mantel. Giltbronze Russian Neoclassical wall lights from H. M. Luther Antiques.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl05_hodgins.jpg

In the study, as throughout, Hodgins used the deep bay window as an extension of the room, enhancing connections between interior and exterior spaces. "The clarity of the light and air and sky make this apartment extraordinary," he remarks. Marvin Alexander candlestick lamp.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl04_hodgins.jpg

Hodgins styled the table in the dining area, taking an existing design and modifying it. La Mère Cousant , a 1910 domestic scene by Louis Valtat, is above a built-in sideboard. The designer chose to stain the floors dark brown to balance the apartment's otherwise pale palette.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl06_hodgins.jpg

Edouard Vuillard's 1939 work Interior with the Robinson Family , and a 20th-century oil by Pierre Duteurtre, Les Images , are in the master bedroom. Bergamo bed-skirt and headboard fabric; Schumacher headboard gimp. Robert Allen bedcovering and sham fabric.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl07_hodgins.jpg

A Louis XV bureau plat stands in a bay in the master bedroom. Observes the designer, "The antiques are punctuation to hold down the pale colors in the apartment." Stark carpet.

dam-images-architects-2006-01-hodgins-arsl08_hodgins.jpg

Boston-area landscape architect Kerry Lewis used trees to frame views from the terrace.