New England Living Winter 2020

INTRO TO MINDFULNESS // BACKCOUNTRY SKIING // HIGH-ALTITUDE FASHION

NEW ENGL AND

LIVING CULINARY

HEROES YOGA-INSPIRED HOME DESIGN MLK MEMORIAL BREAKS GROUND AWARD-WINNING KITCHENS 2020 ISSUE 2 NEWENGLANDLIVING.TV

****_cover_NEL20_FW.indd 48

10/21/20 9:54 AM

****_cover_NEL20_FW.indd 45

10/20/20 3:47 PM

Access this one-of-a-kind experience at clarkeliving.com

New England’s Official Showroom and Test Kitchen

SCAN ME

Boston & Milford, MA • South Norwalk, CT • 800-845-8247 • clarkeliving.com 1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 1

10/21/20 11:03 AM

2

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | S U M M E R 2 0 2 0

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 2

10/19/20 10:37 AM

S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 3

3

10/19/20 10:38 AM

Destination projects begin with a call 833-BY-DEANE Nantucket Martha’s Vineyard Cape Cod Hamptons Naples Palm Beach Ocean Reef Jackson Hole Kiawah Island Stratton Stowe Newport Watch Hill

DI-AD-NELiving-Fall 2020-Imperial Blue-spread-08182020-FINAL.indd 1 1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 4

10/19/20 10:38 AM

In collaboration w/Spaces of Distinction by Denise Balassi

Custom cabinetry for every room Kitchens | Vanities | Wardrobes | Bars | Outdoor Kitchens Visit our design showrooms in Stamford and New Canaan or online at deaneinc.com

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 5

8/18/20 11:11 AM

10/19/20 10:38 AM

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 6

10/19/20 4:22 PM

Let them eat cak e .

Sump tuous . Ou tr ageous . Delicious .

R o s e q ua r t z .

Cumar is New England’s preeminent source and fabricator of the finest marble, granite, limestone, and exotic stones. | 617.389.7818 | cumar.com

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 7

10/19/20 10:39 AM

2015-2020 2018-2020

Kitchen & Bath Gallery WARWICK, RI

361 Jefferson Boulevard (401) 739-8000 NORTH ATTLEBORO, MA

Triboro/Shaw’s Plaza 11 Robert F. Toner Blvd.

(508) 695-1770

SOUTH UXBRIDGE, MA

583 Quaker Highway (508) 278-7761 FALMOUTH, MA

343 Dillingham Ave. (508) 457-9720 WEST YARMOUTH, MA

40 Aaron’s Way (508) 790-2259

EDGARTOWN, MA

25 Eastline Road (508) 696-9930

Kohler Signature Store

by Supply New England BURLINGTON, MA

The place to design your ideal space.

The designers at Kitchen & Bath Gallery and the Kohler Signature Stores are here to help make your new or renovated kitchen or bath a reality. Start planning now and let us assist you with all the design details, as well as provide you with the widest material choices possible. Choose from the full range of quality Kohler products and over 65 other top brands in fixtures, cabinetry and tile surfaces.

19 Third Ave. (781) 365-0168 NATICK, MA

20 Chrysler Road (508) 720-3820 BOSTON, MA

7 Tide Street (617) 202-0068

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 8

Kitchen&Living Bath G allery better by design.

kitchenbathgallery.com

A SUPPLY NEW ENGLAND COMPANY

10/19/20 4:37 PM

IN THE ISSUE

12 EDITOR’S LETTER 14 CONTRIBUTORS DESIGN 20 Style Files

What’s trending in home design 26 Home Is Where The Hearth Is Why your fireplace should be the hottest design element in your living room 30 Elements Of The Stylist One of New England’s top designers dishes some of her trade secrets CULTURE 32 TV Guide New England Living host Rachel Holt gives a recap of Season Four 36 King’s English Tech entrepreneur Paul English breaks ground on a MLK memorial in Boston Common 44 Wall Power Street artists bring beauty to the buildings of Lynn

INTRO TO MINDFULNESS // BACKCOUNTRY SKIING // HIGH-ALTITUDE FASHION

NEW ENGL AND

Photo by Sarah Winchester

LIVING CULINARY

HEROES YOGA-INSPIRED HOME DESIGN MLK MEMORIAL BREAKS GROUND

28

ON THE COVER Chef Douglass Williams of MIDA in Boston’s South End appears on the cover. Williams is one of four inspiring chefs profiled in this winter issue. Photo by Chris Churchill.

2020 ISSUE 2 NEWENGLANDLIVING.TV

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 9

9

10/20/20 7:42 PM

IN THE ISSUE

SPACES 50 The Few The Proud How Ryan Fletcher builds his projects with military precision 56 Nature Calls Finding true love in a bathroom

78 60

60 Raising the Barn Behold a modern-day farmhouse in Connecticut FUN 70 Frontline Cookers Four inspiring chefs persevere through the pandemic 76 Backcountry Revival Skiers and snowboarders pioneer new trails in the White Mountains 82 Steeped in Tradition Alps & Meters perfects mountainside fashion HOME 94 Making the Cut Meet the 2020 winners of Clarke’s kitchen design contest 102 Home Stretch Integrating the pillars of yoga into home design

108 Change Tides The companies behind 7 Tide meet the demands of the pandemic 114 Anything But Routine Reinvent your morning with the help of these high-tech appliances HEART & MIND 120 More Perfect Union Tali and Jessica Puterman represent the next generation of social justice advocates 124 Mind Yourself Why now is the time to start a meditation practice 130 All You Can Eat Is there a cure for childhood food allergies?

REAL ESTATE 138 Committed to City Living Contrary to popular belief, the Boston real estate market is only getting stronger 140 What Moves Them The leading ladies of Coldwell Banker Realty share their secrets to success 144 FINAL THOUGHT Take a walk in the woods

10

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 10

10/21/20 9:59 AM

1-11_TOC_NEL20_FW.indd 11

10/20/20 4:41 PM

editor’s note

home for the holidays

T

imes have been tough. There are no two ways about it. These past six months have thrust one seemingly insurmountable challenge at us after another. Just when we thought our disaster quota was maxed out, we turned and slipped into a deeper ditch. Yet living through a global pandemic has taught us just how resilient we are as a people. We’ve become masters of adaptability. In many ways, this issue is a tribute to that resiliency, starting with our cover story.

Chef Douglass Williams of MIDA in Boston’s South End is one of four New England-based chefs we profile in this issue who have persevered through the pandemic while seeking ways to help others and lead our community forward. Showing incredible strength at a time when their industry was the hardest hit, these frontline cookers represent the very best of us. Reflecting on their sacrifice, let us find more ways to support the restaurant industry and the many people it serves.

With health and wellness on the forefront of everyone’s minds, we also explored ways to live better this winter. The founder of Boston Center for Contemplative Practice, Noel Coakley, gave us some pointers on beginning a meditation practice, which he says provides spaciousness and stability of mind to help weather any headwind. For those who might want more than a meditation pillow to pursue mindfulness, we also tried out some new high-tech household appliances that will help maximize the Zen of your mourning routine.

Along with the coronavirus pandemic, this year has been defined by a national reckoning on race in the United States. We spoke with two individuals who are fighting for racial equity and social justice in their own powerful ways. This fall, tech-entrepreneur Paul English broke ground on a memorial in Boston Common dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King as part of a multi-prong campaign pursuing socioeconomic and racial justice in Boston and beyond. Meanwhile, twenty-nineyear-old Tali Puterman has been on the frontlines as a social justice advocate at Temple Israel in Boston.

Both are sterling examples of leaders who are propelling our region to a more just and equitable future.

For the winter enthusiasts, we head up to New Hampshire where a cadre of pioneering skiers has been carving out backcountry skiing trails in the White Mountains. With no chairlifts, skiers and snowboarders hike up the trails that they schuss down. If après skiing is more your speed, we also tried on a selection of high-altitude fashion courtesy of the New England-based outwear company, Alps & Meters.

Winter conjures the holidays, which will undoubtedly look a little different this year. While we might not be able to be shoulder to shoulder with our family and friends to enjoy our holiday feasts, we can be grateful for the simple yet profound gift of being home.

This pandemic has put our homes into a whole new context, serving as office, classroom, living quarters and shelter. We highlighted a number of homes and spaces, from a barn in Connecticut to a bathroom in Rhode Island, that might serve as the inspiration for your next home project.

From our families here at New England Living, we wish you a safe and healthy winter season. During these most precarious times, let us remember that our strength lies in our commitment to one another.

Together, we will persevere.

NE W E NG L A ND

LIVING VOLUME 4 • NUMBER 2

PUBLISHER

Tom Clarke PRESIDENT

Sean Clarke EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Robert Cocuzzo CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Sharon Bartholomew ............................................

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

Lori Hawes

............................................

CFO

Chris Parker CONTROLLER

Kelsey Hodde

............................................

MARKETING

Mike Nelson Sam Pericolo

............................................

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Lisa Cavanaugh Rob Duca Haley Grant Kelly McCoy Juliet Pennington CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Andrea Carson Chris Churchill Dan Cutrona Rian Davidson Mike Diskin Michael J. Lee Russ Mezikofsky Max Nagel Bob O’Connor Hannah Osofosky Michelle Renee Ken Richardson Chris Shane Kristin Teig Sarah Winchester

............................................

Best always,

Published by

Robert Cocuzzo Editor-in-Chief

Robert Cocuzzo with his wife Jenny and daughter Vienna on Nantucket where he also serves as the longtime editor of N Magazine. Photo by Sara Grayson.

Tide Street Group www.tidestreetgroup.com

FOLLOW @newenglandlivingtv

12

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 12

Single copy price $5.95/$6.95 Canada.

All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher disclaims all responsibility for omissions, errors, and unsolicited materials. Printed in the USA.

10/20/20 1:31 PM

Walter_

“W&S tax planning is the best we’ve ever had but the real difference is their strategic business planning” –Sean Clarke President, Clarke Corporation

COME VISIT THE FINEST SUB-ZERO, WOLF, COVE SHOWROOM IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY

Expertise you can count on. Service you can depend on. wscpa.com • (617) 447-2700 One International Place, Suite 1010 • Boston, MA 02110 101 Station Drive, Suite 250 • FA Westwood, MA 02090 L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 13 Walter_Shuffain_8.875x10.875.indd 1

13

10/19/20 4/19/19 2:22 5:45 AM PM

CONTRIBUTORS

Lisa Cavanaugh

Haley Grant

Originally from New England, Lisa Cavanaugh grew up in Massachusetts and Connecticut and spent most of her summers on Cape Cod. After graduating from Boston College and working in offBroadway productions in New York City, she moved to Los Angeles where she became a Hollywood story editor, producer and writer. While in California, Lisa helped to launch an educational nonprofit, where she created a unique movie-making program for teens. After moving back to the East Coast in 2010, Lisa met and married her husband, a commercial fisherman, and they now reside in the Yarmouth house that was originally her grandparents’ home.

Lisa regularly writes about the rich variety of lifestyles, occupations and homes here in New England.

After graduating from Providence College and spending a year in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Haley Grant began her career as a content writer and market researcher at Superside, a digital design agency based in Madrid, Spain. Haley currently writes for Mavens of London, a marketing consultancy, and has written for publications such as Forbes, the Saratoga TODAY newspaper and magazine, Glamping Hub, The Content Mix and Travel Away. When not writing or teaching English, Haley spends her time traveling throughout Spain and planning her next visit home to New York.

14 14

Rob Duca Rob Duca has been an editor and writer for more than 40 years. His stories have appeared in Sports Illustrated, the Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun, Yankee magazine and Cape Cod Life, among many other publications.

He was a sports columnist for the Cape Cod Times for 25 years, where he covered the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup finals, the Ryder Cup and the Winter Olympics.

During that time, he was honored with more than 35 national and regional writing awards. More recently, Rob was editor of New England Golf & Leisure magazine, where he produced profiles on the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Rory McIlroy. Rob lives in Cummaquid, Massachusetts.

Ken Richardson Hannah Osofsky Born and raised in Northampton, Massachusetts, and currently based in Boston, Hannah Osofsky first picked up a camera in middle school. Four years ago she turned pro with her passion, first by working with Porter House Media and now with Elvin Studios. Describing her work as unapologetically colorful with an emphasis on fun, Hannah tries to draw out her subject’s inner personality organically. Part of this empathetic approach came into her work after she lost her mother to an eighteen-month battle with cancer. Immersing herself in photography became a way for Hannah to focus on the positive, which she hopes is reflected in her work.

Ken Richardson is based in Boston, but loves to work all over New England.

Born in a suburb outside the city, Ken studied photography in Boston and today shoots for editorial, corporate and advertising clients. For this issue, Ken photographed Noel Coakley of the Boston Center for Contemplative Practice as well as Amy Thieringer of Allergy A.R.T. When he’s not shooting for clients, Ken can most often be found riding a bicycle, thinking about Vermont, or pointing a camera at anything with wheels on it.

He lives and in the Union Square neighborhood of Somerville, MA with his wife and daughter.

N RI2 NEEW WEEN NG GLLAAN ND DLLIIVVIIN NG. G.TTVV || W FAI N L LT/EW N0T2E 0 R 2020

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 14 14

10/20/20 10/19/20 1:45 2:23PM AM

SETTING THE STANDARDS IN HARDWOOD DECKING AND SIDING Superior quality and environmental accountability is what we are all about. With Iron Woods branded products superior strength, hardness, durability, and fire resistance have stood the test of time performing in commercial projects and backyards across America.

info@ironwoods.com | 888.932.9663 | www.ironwoods.com

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 15

10/19/20 2:23 AM

Feel just For

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 16

10/21/20 10:24 AM

Feel the ocean breeze. Dock outside your door. Awaken to spectacular sunrises. The St. Regis Residences, Boston offers an exquisite living experience with just 114 waterfront condominiums featuring private outdoor balconies, neighborhood parks, legendary St. Regis butler service and bespoke amenities.

For inquiries or to schedule a virtual or in-person tour, visit srresidencesboston.com or call 617 357 8000.

The St. Regis Residences, Boston are not owned, developed or sold by Marriott International, Inc. or its affiliates (“Marriott�). 150 Seaport LLC uses the St. Regis marks under a license from Marriott, which has not confirmed the accuracy of any of the statements or representations made about the project. All artist renderings are for illustrative purposes only and are subject to change without notification.

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 17

10/21/20 10:25 AM

18

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 18

10/19/20 2:23 AM

design TRENDS | RESOURCES | PRO ADVICE

STYLE FILES Page 20 HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTH IS Page 26 ELEMENTS OF THE STYLIST Page 28

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

12-17_NEL_ed-letter_Contributors_FW20.indd 19

19

10/20/20 1:42 PM

STYLE FILES

Photography by Ridgelight Studio

reclaim TO FAME

20

THE MIDDLETOWN RIDGE HOUSE IS A MARRIAGE OF RECLAIMED materials, modern technology and regional craftsmanship. The timber frame, which was documented, disassembled and in dry storage, was the starting point and served as the seminal kit of parts that launched the whole project. We figured out how to work with the dimensional limitations and developed a system to seamlessly add height to the primary mass. While adhering to this historic framework, the home’s layout reflects the twentyfirst-century lifestyle of the owners. Clearly defined spaces open on to one another to create a plan that is simultaneously uninterrupted and articulated.

A high-performance building envelope allows for energy efficiency, while not compromising the house’s connection with the outdoors.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

StyleFiles_NEL20_FW.indd 20

10/20/20 9:26 AM

When discussing his style, architect Ramsay Gourd often describes himself as a contextualist, in that he draws from the context of the location, time and culture of a project. The Middletown Ridge house puts that style on full display.

The house is a composition of contrasts. Antique timbers and carefully selected fieldstones are juxtaposed against crisp painted woodwork. Custom fabricated steel by Sam Mosheim bridges the gap between the rustic and the modern. Finally, Marvin Windows’ wide range of products, from monumental windows and customizable French doors to spandrel glass options, provides a palette of options to solve complex issues cleanly and gracefully. The incredible collaborative efforts of Ian Jensen of Vermont Country Builders, Beth Schoenherr of Sheridan Interiors, Mark Wright of Rugg Valley Landscaping and a myriad of local craftspeople working in stone, steel and timber culminated in a wonderful home befitting its setting.

THE DESIGNER Ramsay Gourd studied architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and in Rome, Italy. Upon his graduation in 1988, Gourd moved to Boston where he worked for the noteworthy firms of Moshe Safdie and Graham Gund Architects. In 1995, he established Ramsay Gourd Architects in the bucolic setting of Manchester, Vermont. Gourd holds licenses in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, and has consulted on projects throughout the country. In 2014, Gourd launched his eponymous brand, Ramsay Gourd Home, featuring a collection of fabrics, furniture and wall coverings. This venture provided an opportunity for him to more fully customize his projects, designing textiles and furnishings specific to his clients and their projects.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

StyleFiles_NEL20_FW.indd 21

21

10/20/20 9:26 AM

STYLE FILES

Photography by Bob O'Connor

top CHEF'S

22

BUILT IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY, this four-story Beacon Hill townhouse has been adapted to fit the lifestyle of a groundbreaking restaurateur, a style maven and their two teenage children. Undergoing a full gut renovation and the addition of a patio, roof deck and penthouse concealed from street view, the overall design creates a casual sophistication complementary to the clients' vibrant lifestyle and reflective of a well-traveled past. A neutral palette was selected as a subdued backdrop to an existing collection of colorful and eclectic art. As such, modern forms set the stage for worldly artifacts, family heirlooms and career mementos.

Designed for a celebrated restaurateur, the open chef's kitchen reflects the owner's many years in the restaurant industry while also being highly functional with appliances from Wolf and Sub-Zero.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

StyleFiles_NEL20_FW.indd 22

10/20/20 2:43 PM

For these fun-loving clients, a casual and inviting kitchen for entertaining guests and spending quality family time was a must. The open chef’s kitchen inspired by the owner’s many years of experience in the Boston restaurant industry is meant to be used and enjoyed often. Stainless steel countertops and performance-driven appliances by Wolf and SubZero lend a functional note while unique design details, such as the oak panel ceiling, add warmth and charm. At the heart of the space, a concrete-topped island with stools by Bensen via Lekker Home invites guests to gather around. Daylight streams into the kitchen through the large original windows that overlook historic Beacon Hill. A stone slab wall anchors the coffee bar area with a neighboring sun-soaked window seat, an ideal spot to start each day.

THE DESIGNER Hacin + Associates is a multidisciplinary architectural and design firm dedicated to design excellence and client service. The firm collaborates with clients to create compelling designs that resonate with meaning, clarity of intent and a strong sense of place. The team approaches each design problem by examining and often reinterpreting the physical and social context of a particular site and program to find pragmatic yet unexpected solutions. “It was exciting to work on a project for a social, creative couple that wanted to bring an urban, lofty vibe to Beacon Hill,” said David J. Hacin, the founder of Hacin + Associates. “They love to entertain in the kitchen, so we put it front and center on the street to take advantage of the light and make a great gathering space.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

StyleFiles_NEL20_FW.indd 23

23

10/20/20 9:23 AM

STYLE FILES

finishing TOUCHLESS

Kohler Konnect hands-free faucets bring cutting-edge technology into the kitchen.

finishing TOUCHES THE KITCHEN GETS THE MOST USE IN YOUR HOME. Making that experience convenient and effortless is behind the introduction of touchless faucets in the kitchen. Kohler Konnect fundamentally improves the kitchen experience from routine to extraordinary by adding voice control. Pouring specific amounts with your voice is an awesome feature and eliminates the need to wait by the faucet while you fill a large pot. You can fill 8 ounces for the baby’s bottle while holding your baby and not have to measure the amount yourself.

Voice activation improves how you interact with your kitchen sink and faucet by freeing up your hands to perform other tasks. Kohler Konnect also monitors water usage and filtration in the kitchen, and with the app, you can receive notifications to order new filters. This greatly improves the kitchen by ensuring drinking water is safe.

Kohler’s touchless faucets have an infrared beam at the neck of the spout, which allows you to turn the faucet on and off with the wave of a hand. You can also control the faucet manually. This is helpful if you’re cutting meat or baking bread. You can wash your hands without making a mess of your faucet or spreading bacteria to the handles. Kohler Konnect is an upgrade that allows you to use voice commands to turn the faucet on and off. You can ask the faucet to pour specific amounts and preset fill measurements. Kohler Konnect integrates with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home.

24

THE DESIGNER Prior to joining Supply New England nearly a year ago, Patrick Guiteau was a custom closet designer who had also worked for Kohler in its Ann Sacks showroom. Guiteau enjoys smart innovative design, which consumers have become more interested in integrating into their kitchens and bathroom. Along those lines, Guiteau has been a major proponent of Kohler Konnect touchless faucets. “I like to find out who the cook is in the home and how often they’re preparing meals,” he says. “Getting people to try the faucet for themselves, and seeing the responsiveness of the sensor, goes a long way.”

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

StyleFiles_NEL20_FW.indd 24

10/21/20 10:10 AM

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

StyleFiles_NEL20_FW.indd 25

25

10/19/20 11:52 AM

HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTH IS HOW FIREPLACES HAVE BECOME ONE OF THE HOTTEST NEW ASPECTS OF HOME DESIGN

26

BY ROBERT COCUZZO

F

Ben Gebo Photography

ew things warm the body and soul quite like a crackling fireplace.

There’s just something timeless and enchanting about those flickering flames that engages our deepest sense of humanity. While fireplaces are nothing new to home design, in the last five years one of New England’s premier stoneworkers has fine-tuned the fine art of creating these sacred spaces.

“Fireplaces have become the focal point of designing a whole room,” says Carlotta Cubi Mandra, the executive vice president of Cumar Inc., New England’s preeminent source and fabricator of the finest marble, granite, quartzite and exotic stones. “You used to simply have a traditional mantel with a surround, but now it’s floor-to-ceiling stone that creates a dramatic aesthetic in the space.” Mandra represents the eighth generation in a family of Italian stoneworkers that trace their roots to the fabled marble quarries of Verona. Today, Cumar sources marble, granite and other exotic stones from Italy, Turkey and other remote locations overseas to create stunning fireplaces that become masterpieces unto themselves.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

26-27_HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTH IS _NEL20_SS.indd 26

10/20/20 12:22 AM

As New England’s top source and fabricator of the finest marble, granite, quarzite and exotic stones, Cumar has turned its eight generations of stonework expertise towards revolutionizing fireplace design.

“It’s a craft, a true art form,” Mandra insists. “You need to have the right mix of engineering, craftsmanship, technology and experience to get it right and make it flawless.” Through the use of standard thickness slabs, Cumar builds multidimensional fireplace surrounds as well as highly detailed and elaborate fireplaces that look like they were carved from a solid piece of stone.

By utilizing slabs for these custom designs, Cumar can offer a wider range of material options while also reducing lead times.

“With some of the most creative and experienced stone experts making up our team, a client can bring us their vision, and we will work closely with them to develop the design,” Mandra describes. “Our people are all very creative in what they do.” So, whether updating an existing space or starting from scratch, Cumar’s breathtaking fireplaces anchor and elevate the aesthetic of a room. Like a fire itself, the stone possesses timeless beauty and a sense of place that pulses through its veins and warms a home. NEL W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

26-27_HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTH IS _NEL20_SS.indd 27

27

10/20/20 12:22 AM

ELEMENTS OF THE stylist Bestselling author and

award-winning

Interview by Robert Cocuzzo

Photography by Michael J. Lee & Sarah Winchester

designer Erin Gates shares her expertise on making a house a home 28

E

rin Gates never could have imagined what was to come of Elements of Style when she launched the design blog in 2007. More than a decade later, Gates is a New York Times bestselling author, an awardwinning designer and the owner of an eponymous design firm with products and projects spanning coast to coast. Today, the Newton resident and mother of two is quickly ascending into the ranks of the Bunny Williamses and Martha Stewarts of the world. Most recently, Gates gave birth to a new baby boy and was able to answer some design questions while enjoying her maternity leave.

Erin Gates has emerged as one of New England's most soughtafter designers

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

28-31_NEL_Erin Gates_FW20.indd 28

10/20/20 12:01 AM

How would you describe the quintessential Erin Gates design?

I’d like to think there is no telltale signature of my designs in that they look very individual to each homeowner. However, I always like to combine traditional, classic design with modern touches and always incorporate some antiques or vintage items with patina. I like a space to feel warm and personal, not like a hotel.

When you’re designing a space for someone, what are the three most important questions you ask them to gather the look and feel they are seeking?

The most important thing is for them to provide inspiration imagery with notes so we know what about each image they like—the more, the better in my opinion. Second, I like to ask them what they don’t like, which is important so we don’t waste time picking fabrics in colors or patterns they dislike but perhaps did not voice an opinion on otherwise.

Third, I ask them how they want the space to function and feel—function being key. The space needs to work for their lifestyle and family as well as look beautiful.

For someone working with a limited budget, what are three simple ways to dramatically update a living room?

Paint—it’s the most dramatic way to change a room for less.

Either to brighten it up, make a statement with something moody or do something a little different like paint the trim a contrasting color. Second, a large, properly sized rug— doesn’t have to be expensive, a simple jute that fills the room can make a big impact! Finally, window treatments—IKEA has some good, basic panels. Hang them high to the ceiling to make the ceiling seem higher and hem them with hem tape or have a local dry cleaner hem them. They’ll look tailored to your space, which looks expensive.

What is an interesting trend you’re seeing emerge in today’s design world?

I love the whole granny-chic thing happening. I never thought I would, but I am embracing the flouncier trims, florals and darker woods.

What is one trend you’d like to bring back and one that you’d never want to see again?

I’d like to bring back houses with rooms. I am pretty sick of all the super open-concept new builds I see. I like a house to have defined rooms and some separation. I would not like to see balloon shades come back in style. And I still hate terrazzo, no matter how many magazines tell me it’s cool.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

28-31_NEL_Erin Gates_FW20.indd 29

29

10/20/20 12:02 AM

When building a home from scratch, is there a particular space that you think often goes overlooked in the plans?

The formal living and dining rooms sometimes get overlooked because people don’t use them as much anymore, but yet they still just build them. So I think instead of just putting those rooms there because you “should” is silly—what would you really use that space for? An office? A craft room? If building new, truly make it a home that fits your needs.

How do you think the outside environment should be reflected inside?

I love blending the inside and outside—the more windows and doors the better. Here in New England, it’s a bit tougher due to our climate to really have true indoor/outdoor living, but I really love blending an indoor living space and a covered outdoor space.

We’ve done it in two homes recently—creating an outdoor living room within a screened porch for one and just a covered patio for the other. I really adore it.

Is there one grand project that you still have on your hit list?

A boutique hotel or inn. Dream project.

What are three things you could not live without?

Probably wine, my family and the internet.

What’s your strategy when designing a kid’s room?

Design so that the room can transition as they age. For example, pick a rug and wallpaper or wall color that is ageless. The accents can change easily as their tastes change. My son’s room has a great Hinson wallpaper and antique Persian rug, and everything is tones of red and blue. Today, it’s coordinated with his love of Captain America. When he’s 10, who knows! But red and blue are such classic colors, it’s bound to still work.

Is there an unsung design element or accessory that can help achieve a unique aesthetic in a bathroom?

Great window treatments really help add softness and pattern to what is typically a “colder” room due to all the hard finishes.

Patterned sheers can be a fun way to provide privacy but add interest.

Turning to kitchens, what new innovations have you been integrating into your projects?

I’d say people are wary of incorporating too much new technology into a kitchen as technology ages and breaks, so we stick with classics. Faucets with handles and such. People are actually going retro instead—French ranges with no glass doors, paneled appliances and farmhouse sinks. And everyone has seemed to come around to brass plumbing fixtures and hardware…finally!

30

What’s one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?

I seem rather confident I think, given my successes, but I am truly an introvert with mediocre self-esteem.

What are your tips for work-life balance?

Ha! I write this from my bedroom while the new baby sleeps (I hope) and I am trying to eat a little lunch and check my email!

Outsource what you can is my only advice. I have lots of help and delegate a lot to my employees. It’s the only way to allow yourself to also be present for your family. NEL

Erin published her first book in 2014, the New York Times bestselling Elements of Style: Designing A Home & A Life with Simon & Schuster and her second book, Elements of Family Style: Elegant Spaces for Everyday Life in April 2019.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

28-31_NEL_Erin Gates_FW20.indd 30

10/20/20 12:02 AM

WINTER

culture NOTABLE NEW ENGLANDERS

TV GUIDE Page 32 KING'S ENGLISH Page 36 WALL POWER Page 44

Mural created by Australianborn artist Sam "Smug" Bates who traveled from his base in Glasgow, Scotland to participate in the Beyond Walls mural festival in Lynn.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

28-31_NEL_Erin Gates_FW20.indd 31

31

10/20/20 12:02 AM

32

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

32-35_NEL_TV_Guide_FW20.indd 32

10/20/20 12:09 AM

TV GUIDE

HOST RACHEL HOLT REVIEWS THE LATEST SEASON OF NEW ENGLAND LIVING Interview by Robert Cocuzzo Portrait by Russ Mezikofsky

T

he latest season of New England Living had host Rachel Holt pinballing around the region. From slurping oysters in Maine, to cruising a railroad through New Hampshire, to cooking with some of Ne England's top chefs, Holt gave viewers an intimate look at all the delightful nooks and crannies of New England. Now preparing to launch her second season with the show, Holt guides us through some of her best moments from Season Four.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

32-35_NEL_TV_Guide_FW20.indd 33

33

10/20/20 12:10 AM

TV GUIDE: RACHEL HOLT

Holt with acclaimed Chef Andy Husbands

Who had one of the biggest personalities of the people you interviewed this season?

It’s hard to pick just one but the person that comes to mind is Andy Husbands of The Smoke Shop BBQ. You can tell he’s so passionate about what he does, and his charisma and energy make him a fun guy to be around.

Of all the meals you tried, can you pinpoint the tastiest bite?

We got to spend the day in Maine with Abigail Carroll, the founder of Nonesuch Oysters. She took us out on her boat, we toured her oyster farm, and then we had a picnic right on the spot—complete with mignonette sauce and lemons. I don’t know if I will ever have a fresher or tastier oyster again!

What’s one cooking tip you learned that you’re applying to your own kitchen?

I love Italian food so I was all ears when Chef Douglass Williams of MIDA was making bucatini all’amatriciana. One of his tips was to save some of the water from cooking pasta and use it for the sauce, which instantly helps elevate the dish.

34

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

32-35_NEL_TV_Guide_FW20.indd 34

10/20/20 12:10 AM

You infiltrated a pretty exclusive

What were you most inspired by this

sommelier club. What tasting tips can

season?

I was inspired by our access to new adventures and beautiful scenery. From glamping in Maine to eating at the top of a lighthouse in Newburyport, so many fun experiences are just a short drive away. I feel very lucky to be able to take advantage of that.

you share with us?

BEFORE I MOVED TO BOSTON, I REMEMBER REFERRING TO IT AS “BEANTOWN.” IN THE TEN YEARS I’VE LIVED HERE, I HAVEN’T HEARD ONE PERSON CALL IT THAT. NOT ONE.

First of all, I have so much respect for sommeliers. The amount of training and studying involved to get to that level...my goodness. It may sound simple, but my biggest takeaway was to look at and smell the wine before I taste it. Usually, I go right in for a sip—rookie move!

How has the pandemic impacted the way you and your team shoot each

Did you learn any interesting at-home design tips that you’ve worked into your own home?

We filmed a segment on Kohler Konnect products that made me want to redo everything in my house, starting with the bathroom. For instance, they have a smart lighted mirror with a built-in voice assistant so you just ask the mirror to change the lighting, play music, describe the weather. Now, my regular mirror seems so...dumb.

We know you’re an adrenaline junkie.

Did you find any outdoor adventures this season that got your heart pumping?

segment?

It has changed things quite a bit. There are a number of protocols in place and we’re taking every precaution we can.

Luckily, most of the filming was done beforehand, but safety is the top priority as we move forward.

Describe a quintessential fall day for Rachel Holt.

Watching football and eating Buffalo wings. That’s a pretty solid fall day in my book.

What are you looking forward to next season?

We went on a unique adventure with Scenic RailRiders in New Hampshire, where you can ride a rail-bike through the woods. There’s something about being essentially alone in nature that was thrilling to me. Living in the city, you don’t get that every day.

You’re originally a Jersey girl. What’s something that you learned about New England that blew your mind?

I’m excited to continue to share the places that make New England so charming and special. Ultimately, our goal is to inspire you to love the place you call home and there’s so much to see and do right in our backyard. It always makes me smile when someone tells me they found out about a place or an activity they want to try from the show. NEL

The passion for Dunkin’ and iced coffee is something I didn’t fully understand or appreciate until I moved here. I like my coffee hot, so I guess I still have a ways to go. Also, before I moved to Boston, I remember referring to it as “Beantown.” In the ten years I’ve lived here, I haven’t heard one person call it that. Not one.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

32-35_NEL_TV_Guide_FW20.indd 35

35

10/20/20 12:10 AM

King's

ENGLISH KAYAK founder and philanthropist Paul English has a dream Written by ROBERT COCUZZO Photography KEN RICHARDSON

36

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 36

10/20/20 12:12 AM

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 37

37

10/19/20 11:33 AM

A rendering of "The Embrace" statue, which was designed by artist Hank Willis Thomas

aul English has a dinosaur in his backyard.

It’s a triceratops looking out on Spy Pond in Arlington, Massachusetts, where English has lived since 2007. The five-by-fifteen-foot statue is a tribute to his childhood growing up in West Roxbury where he was the youngest of seven children.

“My mom kept baby books for each of us,” English recalled, standing before the statue on a muggy afternoon this past summer. “My oldest brother’s book is one hundred pages— but mine was just four.” One of the few details that English’s mother recorded about her youngest son was that he loved dinosaurs. So it is that today kayakers and canoers routinely paddle over to the edge of his property to get a closer look at this Jurassic tribute to his youth. But that’s hardly the only statue in English’s life.

A tech pioneer known for founding Kayak.com, which was acquired for nearly $2 billion in 2012, as well as a number of other successful ventures such as Lola, English directs his time, talent and treasure toward addressing some of the most daunting social justice battles in Boston and beyond. Most

38

recently, the fifty-seven-year-old father of two broke ground on an ambitious memorial in Boston Common honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King.

Located in eyeshot of the State House, English’s 1965 Freedom Rally Memorial Plaza will circle a twenty-two-foothigh bronze statue created by artist Hank Willis Thomas. Titled The Embrace, the statue will feature two sets of interlocking arms to commemorate the Kings’ first meeting while they were studying in Boston in the 1950s. Slated for completion sometime in early 2022, the 1965 Freedom Rally Memorial Plaza designed by the architectural firm MASS Design Group will prompt Bostonians to consider the state of racial equality in America. “We want to challenge visitors of the memorial to ask, ‘If the Kings were still alive today and still living in Boston, what would they think of our city, what would they be working on?’” explained English. “Boston Common right now is mostly made up of memorials to dead white men; however, Boston is a diverse city. We want this memorial to reflect that diversity.”

The $6 million statue and the surrounding plaza are part of a multipronged initiative English launched to address racism

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 38

10/20/20 12:13 AM

"We want this memorial to reflect the diversity of the city." and wealth inequity in Boston. This summer he and his team released a documentary about the Kings on WGBH, which will be syndicated nationally. They also created a partnership with Boston’s Twelfth Baptist Church, where King preached, to host a speaker series. The centerpiece of English’s campaign will be the King Center for Economic Justice in Roxbury. “The center is focused on the wealth disparity between the races in Boston,” he explained. “We’ll examine what nonprofits are doing, what the government is doing, what local companies are doing and what schools are doing to address race equity in the city.” From this annual report, the King Center for Economic Justice can start developing strategic, proactive solutions.

Amid the national reckoning on race in the wake of the George Floyd killing, English’s project has proven especially poignant. Over the summer, tens of thousands of people held demonstrations on the very grounds where the memorial is being built. Though deeply disturbed by the Floyd’s murder,

English sees the outpouring of activism as a reason for optimism. “It’s white people and Black people in the streets,” he said. “A reckoning is taking place where we’re looking at race inequality not just in policing but across everything else.”

As might be expected, building a monument in the oldest public park in America is no small feat. English spent three years raising the $6 million for the sculpture as well as painstakingly navigating all the commissions that control the historic Boston Common. Yet this is not the first time English has launched a herculean humanitarian effort. After earning an extraordinary amount of money from the sale of his online travel company Kayak, English committed himself to a life of philanthropy. His early giving led him to Haiti where he met Dr. Paul Farmer of Partners in Health and became one of the organization’s largest donors. While in Haiti, English recognized that while Farmer and his team were instrumental in treating deadly diseases, the country’s struggling education system was failing the next generation of Haitians.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 39

39

10/20/20 12:13 AM

40

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 40

Photos courtesy of Summits Education

In 2015, English co-founded Summits Education, a nonprofit that operates forty primary schools in remote areas of Haiti. “We have one school on a mountain top where the fastest way to get there is a three-and-a-half-hour hike,” English described. Focusing on the mountains of Haiti’s Central Department, where most people live on $2 a day and the literacy levels are the lowest in the the Western Hemisphere, Summits Education is revolutionizing schools by empowering teachers, fostering collaboration between communities and meeting all of the basic needs of students.

To date, Summits has provided high-quality education to more than ten thousand students in rural Haiti.

Closer to home, English also took aim at the confounding humanitarian crisis of homelessness in Boston. More than two decades ago, he was driving through the city with his four-year-old son when they passed a homeless man curled up under a bridge. English’s son insisted that they pull over and make sure the man was okay. “I would have just driven by on my own because growing up in Boston, homelessness was sadly just a part of the scene in the different neighborhoods,” English reflected. “But the fact that my son got so upset made me realize that I should get upset about this too.” The experience prompted English to become involved with organizations like Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, where street doctors like Jim O’Connell showed him the true depths of suffering occurring in the dark and forgotten corners of the city.

10/20/20 12:14 AM

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 41

41

10/20/20 12:13 AM

Photos by Chris Shane

English launched the Winter Walk four years ago to raise awareness around homelessness in Boston.

42

To raise awareness around this suffering and the dire needs found around every street corner, English launched the Winter Walk four years ago. Held every February in Copley Square, the Winter Walk brings thousands of people, both homeless and housed, together to walk two miles though the city during the coldest month of the year. Trudging through snow and slush, the Winter Walk snakes around Boston Common in a moving meditation that prompts participants to reflect on what it means to be homeless in Boston during the depths of winter.

Clearly, without even delving into his many conquests as a self-starting tech entrepreneur,

Paul English is living a life that far exceeds the expectations set by the four pages his mother wrote about him as a child. In fact, in 2016, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder told English’s story in the book A Truck Full of Money. The revealing biography details English’s rise from his humble beginnings as a student at Boston Latin to reaching the pinnacles of the dot-com boom before turning his time and attention toward philanthropy.

Yet today, as he looks out over Spy Pond from his backyard, along with his dinosaur standing guard, Paul English is not finished leaving his mark on the world. NEL

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 42

10/20/20 12:13 AM

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

36-43_NEL_KingsEnglish_FW20.indd 43

43

10/18/20 10:51 PM

Beyond Walls lifts public spaces in Lynn

44-49_NEL_Wall Power_FW20.indd 44

10/19/20 4:08 PM

Photos courtesy of Beyond Walls

44-49_NEL_Wall Power_FW20.indd 45

10/19/20 4:08 PM

"Black Madonna" mural by Cedric “Vise 1” Douglas and Julia “Julz” Roth in 2017.

S

tanding in front of a mural titled Black Madonna on a recent hot, humid afternoon in downtown Lynn, a girl looked up at her grandmother, whose right hand she grasped in her small hands (adorned with several unicorn stickers) and asked, in Spanish, if she will grow up to be as hermosa (beautiful) as the woman depicted in the large painting. Her abuela’s response, loosely translated, was that not only would she be as beautiful as the woman adorning the brick canvas, she already was more beautiful. The smile on the six-year-old’s face, as she stretched her neck back as far as she could to take in the entire fifty-by-twenty-foot mural, confirmed that the message of love and support had been received.

The Black Madonna, painted in 2017 by Massachusetts artists Cedric “Vise 1” Douglas and Julia “Julz” Roth, is one of more than sixty works of art that, thanks to an organization called Beyond Walls, brighten the downtown area of this culturally diverse city. Founded in 2016 by Walpole native Al Wilson, Beyond Walls was aligned at the time with another not-for-profit (through the Lynn Housing Authority), but in 2018, it became a stand-alone organization.

46

Wilson, 43, who lives in Marblehead, had spent time in Lynn when he worked for (the now defunct) Boston Phoenix, which owned a radio station, WFNX, that broadcast from the city. “I really always loved Lynn and the people I met. I had my time from the radio station, as well as playing soccer there with Greeks, Dominicans, Brazilians, Cambodians, Ukrainians, Russians…so many people with different backgrounds and ethnicities,” Wilson said. Years later, working for a tech startup, he found himself opening offices on the East Coast, and while in Philadelphia, he became enthralled with the Mural Arts Philadelphia initiative that for years had been transforming public spaces with large-scale paintings and engaging communities in the process. “I was always thinking about Lynn, since it was sort of close to my heart, and I thought: This could really work there,” he said.

Fast forward several years, and Wilson was back in the city just north of Boston, being invited to meet with community leaders to discuss ways to improve the city and its infrastructure. From those discussions, Beyond Walls was born as a twenty-eight-person volunteer initiative that focused on increased lighting throughout the downtown area

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

44-49_NEL_Wall Power_FW20.indd 46

10/20/20 12:15 AM

Evaristo Angurria and his mural on 516 Washington Street in Lynn.

Mural by Ruben Ubiera located on Beden Hardware Store on 95 Munroe Street in Lynn.

and artwork installation. It has grown from a group of volunteers to three full-time employees and three part-timers, assisted by a contingent of high school-age interns from Lynn.

“Al’s been amazing. He’s one of these great guys who just doesn’t accept no for an answer,” said U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, whose district includes Lynn. “This wouldn’t have been the success it’s been without him.”

Sitting in the spacious Beyond Walls office, located in a former machine shop in downtown Lynn, on a recent afternoon, Wilson—who, at six feet, five inches tall with thick, Kennedyesque hair, a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, and soft, yet commanding blue eyes, looks as though he could have just walked off of a Hollywood movie set—has the countenance of a proud papa as he talks about how far Beyond Walls has come.

“You know, the power of street art is that there is no barrier for entry and anyone can take it in,” he said. “It really is the art of the streets, and we bring in international, national, regional and local artists who [make] art that reflects the background, the cultural identity of the residents here.”

Each summer in the three years prior to 2020, Beyond Walls—with support from sponsors and grants—held a popular

Beyond Walls founder Al Wison's office is located in a former machine shop in downtown Lynn.

street art festival, during which the organization housed, fed and provided supplies and training/certification (for using mechanical lifts to scale buildings) for artists who painted murals and created other forms of art on city surfaces.

The brightly bedecked buildings, seemingly everywhere in the city, are sights to behold. Walk down Central Street and you will encounter a towering lifelike image of a young man with sneakers slung over his shoulders that was painted by popular Australian-born, Glasgow, Scotland-based artist “Smug” (aka Sam Bates). Turn onto Washington Street, and you will be met by a painting, courtesy of Dominican artist Angurria, of a beautiful woman with brightly colored, oversize curlers in her hair.

“As artists, we loved being there for the festivals and being in the heart of the community. When we were painting, we had a speaker and we were playing a lot of salsa, merengue, reggae… all types of music. People were dancing and coming up to us and asking us about our artistic process,” said Douglas, one of the Black Madonna painters, who lives in Quincy. “Some people would pack picnic lunches and just sit and watch us work. You could see the community come together through the act of us creating this mural.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

44-49_NEL_Wall Power_FW20.indd 47

47

10/20/20 9:29 AM

Mural created by Puerto Rican fine artist David Zayas on 65 Munroe Street in Lynn.

Wilson said the artists have been known to complain about getting fat while working on art projects during the festival. “I mean, they are fed morning, noon and night by the community,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just one big party at every wall … a celebration.”

Lynn Mayor Thomas McGee called the street art festival “a really great experience from beginning to end” and said the annual event has brought an energy to the city. “We’ve always been a really diverse community, which has been our strength, and bringing in artists whose work represents that diversity is really special,” he added.

When this summer’s street art festival was canceled due to COVID-19, Beyond Walls partnered with the North Shore-based Harbor Voices (a nonprofit that creates public art rooted in community storytelling and facilitates social practice approaches to public art curation) to create Truth Be Told, a program that gives young people from several schools and organizations in Lynn, including the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club, the opportunity to share personal experiences during the pandemic through

48

photography, drawing and writing, or the spoken word.

Professional artists will then take those images, words and audio presentations and turn them into what Wilson called massive collages and audio recordings in public spaces in Lynn.

“There’s been such isolation, and it’s been rough for many of these kids,” he said. “We want to show them that their stories matter and that they are heard.” Wilson said that while Beyond Walls has already expanded into other gateway cities, including Lawrence, Lowell and New Bedford, and plans further expansion, a large part of the organization’s focus right now is on youth-related projects, including devising an arts-related curriculum.

Douglas said that focusing on young people—especially inner-city youth—when it comes to artistic endeavors is crucial. When told about the recent interaction between the girl and her grandmother in front of Black Madonna, he paused before letting out a soft “wow.” “The fact that it’s still, three years later, bringing people joy and connecting people is amazing to me,” he said. “It warms my heart.” NEL

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

44-49_NEL_Wall Power_FW20.indd 48

10/20/20 12:16 AM

FA L L / W I N T E R

spaces DETAILS | DECÓR | INNOVATION

THE FEW THE PROUD Page 50 NATURE CALLS Page 56 RAISING THE BARN Page 60

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

44-49_NEL_Wall Power_FW20.indd 49

49

10/20/20 12:16 AM

50

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

50-55_NEL_FewProud_FW20.indd 50

10/20/20 12:19 AM

IMAGES COURTESY OF RYAN FLETCHER

How Ryan Fletcher builds stunning homes with military precision

THE FEW THE PROUD

Written by Robert Cocuzzo

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

50-55_NEL_FewProud_FW20.indd 51

51

10/20/20 12:20 AM

M

arines are known for their strength, valor, leadership, discipline and courage under fire. While these superlatives might flash across the screen of a recruiting commercial, a trait that gets less attention is a Marine’s superhuman ability to manage complex logistics and execute plans where lives literally weigh in the balance. As a former squad leader, Marine Corps Sergeant Ryan Fletcher has applied this military precision to creating one of the most elite building firms in New England. “Being in the military teaches you many things,” says Fletcher, who still sports the same high-andtight haircut from his days at Camp Lejeune. “When someone tells you to do something, you do it to the best of your ability— and you do not stop till it’s exactly that.”

Though his tenure in the military shaped his approach to business, Fletcher’s building prowess came from the ground up. He started banging nails at the age of twelve while working for a packaging company that built custom wooden crates to ship expensive valuables. From fifteen to sixteen, he went from laying concrete as a mason to hammering shingles as a roofer.

52

By seventeen he was installing septic systems, followed by a summer employed by Skanska, one of the leading development firms in the country. In college, Fletcher worked as a mechanic while earning a bachelor’s degree in construction management.

Add his military experience to the mix and Fletcher seems like the kind of guy who could build a three-bedroom home with scraps and a handful of nails.

Fletcher’s projects are nothing short of awe-inspiring. Whether in Fairfield County, the Hamptons or Westchester County, his firm’s custom homes are grand in size and scale. From an elegant farmhouse, to a classical colonial with dramatic vaulted ceilings, to a restored Victorian that just exudes New England charm, Fletcher’s portfolio runs the gamut. “Each project is so different— there is no core element that they all share,” he explains. “But our core element is always for the users’ experience. Every user has their own program that we need to follow and be disciplined to achieve. This can be from layout, to maintenance, to energy efficiency.” Fletcher and his team strive to meet these objectives while optimizing means, methods and budgets.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

50-55_NEL_FewProud_FW20.indd 52

10/20/20 12:20 AM

“Our clientele is typically middle-aged and very successful,” he says. “We tend to attract a youthful group of people that like to have fun with the project and know that we can work with them on all the design decisions. They know that we are a value builder and we will always strive for perfection in any and all projects, no matter the scope of the budget.”

One project that exemplifies Fletcher’s pursuit of perfection is a development located forty-five miles from New York City in Darien, Connecticut, called the Collection at Walker’s Hill. Set on seven acres, four modern farmhouses offer a retreat just minutes away from all of the amenities of downtown Darien. Fletcher teamed up with Christopher Pagliaro of Pagliaro Architects to create farmhouses that fuse “modern refinement with classical lines.” Maibec white cedar shingles meet sweeping floor-toceiling windows that define the façade and allow for natural light to pour inside, highlighting the custom-milled white oak flooring.

The four farmhouses in the development all have a slightly different layout, but the entrance for each is defined by a dramatic two-story foyer with a walking bridge overhead.

Entering the home, you can either walk straight ahead through French doors Ryan Fletcher collaborated with that open to a covered patio and pool Christopher Pagliaro or take a right into the main living area of Pagliaro Architects in creating the where the dining room is flanked with Collection at Walker's a floating “wine wall.” Past the dining Hill in Darien, Connecticut. room is the gourmet kitchen with a custom-designed island boasting waterfall marble slab countertops. The kitchen is equipped with top-of-the-line Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances from Clarke, which Fletcher has enlisted for many of his projects.

“Clarke allows us to send our clients to a full user experience to understand what the new world has to offer in terms of kitchen appliances,” Fletcher says. “Not only the products, but space planning, what they need and don’t need, as well as pricing.

Many of our clients come from small New York City apartments and have never even seen many of the critical appliances that today’s market has to offer, so explaining and teaching this to them is critical to having better design and their dream kitchen.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

50-55_NEL_FewProud_FW20.indd 53

53

10/20/20 12:20 AM

Opposite: The master bedroom has dramatic vaulted ceilings and a private balcony overlooking the back gardens.

54

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

50-55_NEL_FewProud_FW20.indd 54

10/20/20 12:20 AM

On the second floor, walking bridges with glass railings connect to two bedrooms on either wing of the farmhouse. A private entrance leads to the master suite with its cathedral ceilings and trusses, an expansive walk-in closet with skylights and a private balcony overlooking the exquisite landscape designed by Wesley Stout Associates. Along with three other en suite bathrooms, the master bathroom has a hulking floor-to-ceiling slab shower as well as a freestanding bathtub. The second floor is also equipped with a playroom, laundry room and deck overlooking the pool.

The third floor reveals a bonus loft space that can be utilized as additional bedrooms, offices or sitting areas, each with access to private balconies. Back on the ground floor, there’s a multi-car garage below, which offers more bonus space with a large finished basement that runs the footprint of the home with ten-foot ceilings perfect for a golf simulator, home gym, wine cellar or rec room. In keeping with all of his projects, the Collection at Walker’s Hill is executed with an exhaustive attention to detail and a level of craftsmanship that only a former Marine can achieve.

“Perception is reality, and that’s the minute details that can easily be skipped over in construction,” Fletcher says. “As a Marine—whose job it is to get in the trenches—we still show up to every training session, no matter the climate or the environment, with a clean-shaved face, fresh haircut and a fresh-ironed set of camies. Our bags are packed tight and neat, and our rifles don’t have a spec of dust, dirt or carbon on them.” He continues, “As a Marine, you do everything to the best of your ability, and if you do it wrong—rip it down and do it again.” NEL

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

50-55_NEL_FewProud_FW20.indd 55

55

10/20/20 9:30 AM

David and Janet Tasca turned to interior designer Michelle Lee to transform their master bathroom in Rhode Island into a Floridian oasis.

NATURE Ca ll s How a master bath in Rhode Island went south for the winter

Written by Haley Grant / Photography by Dan Cutrona

W

hen David and Janice Tasca decided to remodel their master bathroom, they knew they wanted to bring a piece of their Florida getaway to their home in Wakefield, Rhode Island. For interior designer and project manager Michelle Lee Parenteau, this meant combining New England living with the coastal vibe that attracts her clients to Fort Lauderdale six months out of the year.

Michelle’s creativity is inspired by the colors she finds in the outdoors. “I take my inspiration from nature, which always provides vibrant colors, whether I’m staring at a sunset, taking a walk through a garden of flowers or sitting on the beach looking at the ocean,” she says. This idea is behind the mantra for her award-winning company, Michelle Lee Designs: Bring color into your life. “Nature is not afraid to be bold with color, so I feel I shouldn’t be either,” she says.

Upon first meeting with the Tascas to observe their master bathroom, Michelle had an extensive conversation with the couple to understand their preferred design style. “I’m not a designer that seeks to impose my own vision while disregarding the desires of my own client,” explains Michelle. “I do research and provide them with photographs and options that work within their budget.” Only when the designer is certain of what her clients want does she move forward with the designs.

56

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

56-59_Nature Calls _NEL20_SS.indd 56

10/20/20 4:27 PM

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

56-59_Nature Calls _NEL20_SS.indd 57

57

10/20/20 4:27 PM

Before Michelle found the original master bathroom in the Tascas’ condominium to be lacking color and functionality. She and her team approached the design layouts with the intent of transforming the dark and dated space into a coastal contemporary oasis. “Imagine you’re sitting on the beach looking at the water, the sand, the sky and the shells,” describes Michelle. “That was my color palette inspiration for the Tascas’ master bathroom.” It turns out that infusing coastal colors and accents to transform the room’s ambiance was not the most demanding aspect of the remodeling process. The biggest challenge for Michelle was relocating the toilet to create more space for a sit-down makeup area that Janet had always wanted.

To bring her clients’ dream to life, Michelle and her team laid out two possible design options. The first layout called for moving the toilet from its original closet space and transforming that area into Janet’s makeup vanity. If the team could not move the toilet due to plumbing complications, the second option was to leave it in the closet and design the makeup vanity as a drop-down from the bathroom counter space.

“Thankfully, and without any issues,” says the designer, “the plumber was able to relocate the toilet so we could go with the first option.”

58

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

56-59_Nature Calls _NEL20_SS.indd 58

10/20/20 4:28 PM

Michelle Lee Designs is committed to creating spaces that reflect the unique lifestyle of its clients. As such, Michelle’s design process entails substantial research to find the products that she believes will meet the desires of each client. “I do my best to ascertain my client’s taste and then come up with the best possible design to execute what my client imagines,” she says. To bring the Tascas’ vision to life, Michelle consulted with Dana Breggia from Supply New England’s Kitchen & Bath Gallery.

Michelle and her team met with Breggia, who started by conducting a field measure before proceeding with the design layout. “This was when the space really started coming together,” says Michelle. She and her team selected Cambria countertops, KraftMaid cabinetry, a Mr. Steam teak shower seat and the toilet, cabinets and Artifacts from Kohler. One of the most striking features in the remodeled room is the Lunada Bay glass tile in the shower, a material known for creating a shimmering effect, like sunshine reflecting on the water.

It was important to Michelle that each material she selected embodied the coastal vibe her clients desired. “The accent tile for the back of the shower reminds me of a shell that you would open up, with iridescent colors of greens and blues,” she notes. For the opposing two shower walls, Michelle opted for colors resembling sand, seafoam and pebbles. The Cambria countertop is a stunning sparkling blue, green and white medley, and in between the two medicine cabinets is a delicate white floral accent tile that stretches to the ceiling. The designer selected a custom vanity with a washedout driftwood tone, a lovely contrast to the Interesting Aqua wall color from Sherwin-Williams. Compared to the original bathroom’s peach-colored walls, dark brown granite countertop and tan floor and shower tiles, this color palette beautifully personifies the sought-after Floridian feel.

“Ultimately, the use of these materials made the bathroom brighter, more functional and aesthetically pleasing,” says Michelle, describing the bathroom as a combination of functionality and flair. “The Tascas have said over and over that this is their favorite room in their home.” With the massive walk-in shower, the gorgeous glass shower tile and the custom makeup vanity, Michelle and her team have brought the Florida seaside to the shores of the Northeast. It seems that David and Janice no longer need to journey far to bask in the coastal ambiance that draws them to Florida.

“The Tasca’s love Fort Lauderdale,” Michelle says, “and with the right color palette and use of materials, we brought Florida to Wakefield, Rhode Island.” NEL Designers Michelle Lee with her clients David and Janice Tasca

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

56-59_Nature Calls _NEL20_SS.indd 59

59

10/20/20 4:28 PM

R AISING

Builder Jerry Effren realizes his vision for a modernized farmhouse

THE BARN Written by Rob Duca Photos courtesy of Marvin

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 60

10/19/20 12:16 AM

LISA VALERIE PHOTOGRAPHY

J

The Ef frens

erry and Sandy Effren always dreamt of building a farmhouse that fused contemporary design with a timeless aesthetic. They wanted the inside to be fresh and clean and the outside to look like it could have been there forever. As the principal with Greyrock Homes, Jerry finally brought this vision into reality with their own home—a farmhouse perched on a hillside overlooking Norwalk, Connecticut’s Shorehaven Golf Club.

Working with Jim Jamieson of Jamieson Architects and Len Volpe III of Ring’s End, Effren built a stylish 3,700-square-foot farmhouse that boasts dazzling views of Long Island Sound from virtually every room. Set more than twenty feet above the road, the farmhouse features Marvin windows and doors that allow natural light to fill the interior.

“Natural light is extremely important, so we situated some awning windows up high in baths and closets so you have privacy but still get light,” Effren said. “Having an authorized Marvin dealer put it all together was important, because it’s quite a process. There are so many options with Marvin in terms of lining up transoms, the grids with the windows and doors, getting the screens and the hardware. It would have been really hard to put it together myself.”

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 61

10/19/20 3:45 PM

The farmhouse has three bedrooms, three baths and a bunkroom, with the master suite located on the ground floor. The south-facing master also includes custom Marvin windows and door integrated panels that illuminate the stunning design inside. “I really wanted the wall in the master to stand out while remaining subtle, soft and true to our aesthetic of bold neutrals layered with texture,” explained Leia T. Ward, the founder and principal staging designer of LTW Design whom Effren enlisted. “So we used one of our favorite new products, this faux suede wallpaper to add just the right amount of texture and dimension to the room.”

Ward carried this approach throughout the rest of the home.

“The bones of this house are right in line with our brand where less is more and the use of bold pieces with clean lines everywhere,” she explained. “We stuck with black and white, then layered in tons and tons of texture such as leather woven chairs, linen sofas, hide chairs and the finishing touch was the incredible black-and-white artwork throughout the house.”

62

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 62

10/21/20 10:19 AM

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 63

63

10/20/20 12:42 AM

With the goal of capitalizing on the views, Effren faced challenges working with a property that slopes up from the road, which created grading issues. “We had to cut into the hill, build a retaining wall out back and situate the house so we had the views and the grading right,” he explained.

“Therefore, we decided to turn the entry to the west side so we could install the largest windows and doors. It was a bit of a design challenge to position the house so that you got a sense of entry while maximizing the views from the main living areas.” Effren added that the versatility of Marvin allowed him to design multiple components that worked together in an energy-efficient, integrated design: “Having the flexibility of using awnings and casement windows with any type of opening was a great feature.”

64

The centerpiece of the home is the forty-four-foot long barn, which serves as the main living area. A chef’s kitchen and a butler’s pantry open to a vaulted space Effren dubbed the “Great Room,” which has three patio doors that measure nine feet wide and eight feet tall. Primed with paint imported from Ireland, the Great Room evokes memories of a whitewashed country barn. The black frames of the windows and doors complement this agricultural aesthetic.“This is really the heart of the house,” Effren described. “You can see the eighty-inch TV at one end of the room, as well as from the kitchen at the other end. This is where we cook, eat and relax.” From the barn, one can gaze toward Long Island Sound across a terrace that includes a built-in spa, outdoor kitchen, fireplace and personal putting green.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 64

10/20/20 12:43 AM

Overlooking Shorehaven Golf Club as well as Long Island Sound in the distance, Jerry Effren's dream barn was featured by This Old House. Effren toured host Chris Emrides through every stage of the project for a segment called "Idea House."

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 65

65

10/20/20 12:43 AM

66

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 66

10/20/20 12:43 AM

The second floor bunk room's charming design is enhanced by the Marvin Designer Black windows and doors.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 67

67

10/20/20 12:43 AM

The goal of creating a home with the look of a vintage agricultural building was achieved with the use of western red cedar siding on the barn, while the use of thick stone veneer over the concrete foundation produced a crisp, clean line where it meets the barn’s cedar siding. A seam metal roof and board-and-batten siding on the bedroom wing continues the rustic character theme. Even the outdoor shower reflects the natural feel, with a stone veneer mounted on masonry board, and planks of the same engineered wood siding used on the house to create the enclosure.

One of Effren’s favorite features is the porch, which can be opened to the elements with electronically controlled screens that roll up onto the ceiling. The porch has a large television, a stereo, a forty-eight-inch Wolf grill and a small refrigerator and sink. Alongside the porch is a plunge pool with a hot tub that is around five feet deep and sits about eighteen inches above

68

ANDREA CARSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Effren enlisted Leia T. Ward, the founder and principal staging designer of LTW Design

the ground. Effren loves the organic feel of the pool, which was built with the same stone that was used on the house, so that it seamlessly blends into the surroundings. A saltwater sanitation system reduces maintenance and requires fewer chemicals, and an automatic lockable safety cover eliminates the need for a fence. Sun tunnels provide plenty of light along a hallway that runs from the entry foyer to a door leading to the pool.

As a fitting tribute to Effren’s efforts, This Old House featured his project as one of its “Idea Houses.” Beginning in May, Effren guided host Chris Ermides through the many steps of his modern-meets-traditional vision. Watching the project take shape over the course of two episodes, This Old House’s many faithfulf viewers could appreciate that the foundation of this innovative farmhouse was built on a bold idea that Jerry Effren wasn’t afraid to raise. NEL

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 68

10/20/20 12:43 AM

WINTER

fun WHAT TO DO | WHAT TO EAT | WHAT TO WEAR

FRONTLINE COOKERS Page 70 BACKCOUNTRY REVIVAL Page 76 STEEPED IN TRADITION Page 82

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

60-69_NEL_Raising the Barn_FW20.indd 69

69

10/20/20 9:31 AM

cookers FRONTLINE

Amidst the most challenging times, chefs and restaurants answered the call of duty Written by Robert Cocuzzo

E

ven in the best of circumstances, operating a restaurant is a daunting endeavor, complete with razor-thin margins and little room for error.

When the coronavirus broke out, few businesses were hit harder than restaurants. Yet despite facing an unprecedented threat to their industry, a number of chefs sought out ways to help others in their community. Chefs like Douglass Williams, Joanne Chang, Tiffani Faison and Matt King opened their pantries and started cooking meals for frontline workers as well as the most vulnerable members of their community. They ran fundraisers to support their employees and raised their voices in defense of their industry. In the midst of this global crisis, many members of New England's culinary community represented the very best of us.

70-75_NEL_Chefs_FW20.indd 70

10/19/20 12:33 AM

Photo by Chris Churchill

Douglass Williams MIDA

Entering 2020, Chef Douglass Williams was

hospitals and community centers. Bringing his team back into the kitchen, Williams was now whipping up a thousand meals a day riding a rocket ship. Fresh off of being a semifinalist in the James for doctors, nurses and other hospital staff.

Beard Awards, Williams was named a best new chef by Food & “Hospitality is like a net,” Williams says. “When you deliver Wine magazine. His South End restaurant MIDA was bumping hospitality from your heart, it catches everything in its path. It every night as the chef had achieved rock-star status in the eyes doesn’t matter if it’s a paying guest, a person who is homeless, of his devoted diners. “We had the most momentum a restaurant a police officer or a hospital worker—my goal in life is to just could have going into COVID,” Williams reflects.

As with the rest of the culinary community in Boston and beyond, help. That’s why I’m in the hospitality business—that’s who we are at MIDA.” Williams and his partner Seth Gerber decided to pause their Williams has also been looked to for leadership. In the wake restaurant to see how the coronavirus would unfold. Yet as days of George Floyd’s killing and the nationwide demonstrations turned to weeks and then neared a month, the MIDA partners refused to wait around any longer. To support their most vulnerable demanding racial justice that have ensued, many turned to employees, Williams and Gerber launched a pasta drive. Relying on the celebrated chef for insight on how the restaurant industry the most basic ingredients amid food shortages, MIDA sold pasta by can be made more equitable. “There’s not enough people of color cooking in leadership roles or cooking in other culinary the pound and gave the proceeds to their out-of-work employees. traditions—our restaurant fights that through warmth and The MIDA Pasta Drive eventually gave way to cooking for generosity,” Williams says. “I fight for change with the super frontline workers through a partnership with Off Their Plate, an powers I have, which are my hands, my abilities, my warmth and organization launched by Natalie Guo and Boston chefs Tracy my generosity—that is my form of protest.”

Chang and Ken Oringer that empowered restaurants to cook for

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

70-75_NEL_Chefs_FW20.indd 71

71

10/20/20 9:33 AM

Tiffani Faison BIG HEART HOSPITALITY

PHOTO BY MIKE DISKIN

In little more than a decade, Chef Tiffani Faison turned her Top Chef fame into four beloved Boston restaurants. Sweet Cheeks Q, Tiger Mama, Fool’s Errand and, most recently, Orfano exemplify the range of Faison’s culinary expertise, serving up everything from Texas-style barbecue and Southeast Asian cuisine to Italian-American favorites and what she dubs “adult snacks.” When the coronavirus hit, Faison watched her restaurants, along with the rest in the state, temporarily close like dominos.

“I don’t think the reality of how hard this has hit the hospitality industry has been realized yet,” says Faison, who teamed up with other chefs to cook for frontline workers while also pivoting her restaurants for takeout. “I think there are a lot of restaurants that are just going to go quietly into the night.”

Faison says that restaurants are not only a critical thread binding our cultural identity; they’re also a cornerstone of our economy. “The hospitality industry is not only one of the largest employers in the country—we are one of if not the largest employers of people of color and people who are in socioeconomic compromised situations,” she describes. “We are an industry that employs a lot of people who are in need, a population who has food insecurity or housing insecurity.” Add job insecurity to that equation and Faison fears that countless people will face dire hardships.

“These are the people that the dining public doesn’t get to see day to day—but they are the heartbeat of our industry,” she insists. “When people think about restaurant survival, they think of chefs like me, but I’m just a leaf. There are deeper roots to this tree.” With this in mind, Faison has emerged as an outspoken leader calling on the federal government to provide assistance to the hospitality industry. “We desperately need Congress to pass an independent restaurant bailout package,” says Faison who points to the federal relief that airlines received despite not employing a fraction of the amount of people as restaurants. Faison is working tirelessly to not only preserve the future of this industry, but to also protect all those it employs.

72

70-75_NEL_Chefs_FW20.indd 72

10/19/20 12:33 AM

Matt King SMITH & WOLLENSKY trying time of Chef Matt King’s life. Standing before his Smith & Wollensky team, people who had become more like family than staff members, the chef announced restaurant-wide furloughs forced upon them by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It really turned the whole industry upside down,” King reflects. “There was no time to prepare. One day you’re working on budgets and developing menus, the next the entire restaurant is shut down.”

With their doors shuttered, King immediately started developing ways that his legendary steakhouse could support its furloughed employees. In addition to offering a stipend, he opened up the restaurant’s food lockers. “We started looking at our inventory and decided to set up a free farmer’s market for our employees,” he says. “That was step one: Feed our people.”

Next, King and his team looked for ways that they could feed hospital workers. Long before more established food donation services were set up for hospitals, King and his culinary team were cooking up big stews and chili for frontline workers. When the hospitals became inundated with meals, King followed Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s direction and began focusing on local homeless shelters. Emboldened by donations from vendors and guests, King sought to feed as many people as possible.

After Smith and Wollensky reopened in the late spring, King began navigating the complex logistics of running a restaurant in the new normal. “I don’t think people realize how quickly the supply chain in the United States broke,” he explains. “Just getting things like gloves, which now cost a fortune, was difficult.” Whether foodstuffs or personal protective gear, supplies ebbed and flowed with great unpredictability.

Meanwhile, King and his team launched an extensive takeout program followed by new outdoor dining configurations. “There’s been a big learning curve,” King says. “But the most important thing was the strength of our team and our ability to think outside the box to adapt.”

Photo by Max Nagel

The third week of March was the most

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

70-75_NEL_Chefs_FW20.indd 73

73

10/19/20 12:34 AM

Photo by Kristin Teig

Joanne Chang FLOUR

With eight bustling bakeries, a popular restaurant, critically acclaimed cookbooks and a newly opened production kitchen, Joanne Chang had built a veritable empire when the coronavirus hit. “Overnight we saw our business decimated,” says Chang, who temporarily closed down all of her popular Flour locations within the first month in an effort to help flatten the curve. “It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done…the most difficult time I’ve ever experienced.”

As she started reimagining how Flour could operate during a global pandemic, Chang also knew there were hungry people out there working around the clock that she could feed. Reentering her production kitchen by herself, Chang began baking for frontline workers through Off Their Plate.

Core members of her baking team were gradually added to the mix. Chang also partnered with Andy Husbands of Smoke Shop BBQ in pop-ups designed to benefit their employees.

“The silver lining was seeing how resourceful our team was,” Chang reflects, “how we were able to pivot.” Flour gradually expanded beyond its partnership with Off Their

74

Plate to create its own food service for frontline workers.

Reaching out to Flour’s devoted clientele, Chang and her team were flooded with donations dedicated to feeding those in need. In addition to feeding hospital workers, Flour extended its meals to homeless shelters like the Pine Street Inn and Women’s Lunch Place. “It’s been really inspiring to see how people stepped up and how generous they were,” Chang says.

While meeting the needs of the community, Chang also cooked up creative new offerings for Flour fans. She launched the Flour Love Series, a free baking class held weekly on her Instagram, where participants turn preshipped ingredients into some of Chang’s signature creations like strawberry chiffon cake, cornmeal sandwich cookies and her trademark dumplings.

All of this creativity and action has helped heal some of the pain inflicted over the recent months. “When we were in the thick of the coronavirus, it felt awful,” Chang says. “But my hope is that we can stay successful and come out of this feeling stronger. I hope that everyone who is part of the reopening feels stronger.” NEL

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

70-75_NEL_Chefs_FW20.indd 74

10/20/20 12:40 AM

70-75_NEL_Chefs_FW20.indd 75

10/19/20 12:34 AM

revival BACKCOUNTRY

Andrew Drummond navigating a steep section on Mount Washington, a historic backcountry skiing zone that requires expert abilities

76-81_NEL_Backcoountry2_FW20.indd 76

10/20/20 9:34 AM

Written by ROBERT COCUZZO

SKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS GET BACK TO THEIR ROOTS IN MOUNT WASHINGTON VALLEY

During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Core (CCC) to put people back to work.

Wielding shovels, sledge hammers and axes, hundreds of thousands of young men built bridges, paved highways and logged forests as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal work relief program. In New England, a band of CCC lumberjacks were sent into the White Mountains to clear-cut ski trails, which intrepid skiers went on to schuss down for decades. When chairlifts and ski resorts became popular, these backcountry ski trails were relegated to the history books where they were almost completely forgotten—almost.

Since September 2016, Tyler Ray and a devoted band of skiers and snowboarders have reclaimed a number of these forgotten ski trails and expanded the backcountry skiing access in the White Mountains. For the uninitiated, backcountry skiing takes place outside the resorts, away from chairlifts and ski patrol, where skiers and snowboarders “earn their turns” by hiking up the mountains they intend to ski. Backcountry enthusiasts have long flocked to New Hampshire’s Mount Washington to ski its steep eastern face known as Tuckerman Ravine, but Ray wanted more options to get into the backcountry.

76-81_NEL_Backcoountry2_FW20.indd 77

Founder of Ski The Whites, Andrew Drummond has emerged as a backcountry skiing icon in Mount Washington Valley.

(Photography above and left by Chris Shane courtesy of Ski The Whites.)

10/20/20 2:45 PM

Sidecountry skiing at Burnt Mountain and Brackett Basin (pictured here) is accessible via snowcat.

THROUGH BLOOD, SWEAT AND

78

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

76-81_NEL_Backcoountry2_FW20.indd 78

10/20/20 9:59 AM

M

D

MOSQUITO BITES The founder of the Granite Backcountry Alliance, Tyler Ray has helped embolden a thriving backcountry skiing community in Mount Washington Valley. (Photography courtesy of Granite Backcountry Alliance.)

“I needed shorter ski tours to squeeze in during morning or my lunch hour,” said Ray, a lawyer who moved to North Conway from Boston in 2014 after too many long afternoons scrolling through skiing photos at his desk in the city. Inspired by a group in Vermont who devised a way to legally cut their own ski trails into public land, Ray formed the Granite Backcountry Alliance to reclaim and restore some of the long-forgotten ski trails and make them accessible to today’s skiers and snowboarders. Relying on his law degree to navigate some of the tricky legal implications, Ray coordinated his group’s efforts with federal land managers, state entities, private land owners and land trusts to create new community-supported backcountry access in New Hampshire and Maine.

“The movement caught swiftly and has completely changed the course of the backcountry community in a more positive direction,” Ray said.

During the fall, Ray enlists groups of volunteers whom he affectionately calls “Quarry Dogs” to haul chainsaws, hedge clippers and rakes up into the mountains to help clear and maintain the trails much like the CCC lumberjacks did all those years ago. Through blood, sweat and mosquito bites, the Granite Backcountry Alliance has carved out five backcountry skiing zones while also cultivating a thriving backcountry community.

“The culture fostered by GBA is a dynamic balance between chasing adventure, playing smart and being a good neighbor,” Ray described.

Another leader of this budding backcountry community is Andrew Drummond. A backcountry skier and endurance athlete, Drummond is the founder of Ski The Whites, a gear shop and apparel company based in Jackson, New Hampshire. “Ski The Whites was started because I wanted to share my love of backcountry skiing with others and help them overcome all the barriers involved,” said Drummond, who has become an expert in all things backcountry to help others safely recreate in the mountains.

“When I reflect on the first few years in this business, the values have always centered around introducing people to backcountry skiing, all while making time for myself to keep skiing and exploring our mountains.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

76-81_NEL_Backcoountry2_FW20.indd 79

79

10/20/20 9:59 AM

athletes run, bike, paddle, hike and ski up, down and around Mount Washington. “I couldn’t believe our first year we managed sixty-five participants and everyone impressed me with how far they pushed themselves.” Last February, a fifty-eightyear-old named Rick Chalmers won the competition after thirty-three hours and thirty-seven minutes. This winter’s competition is slated to be held again in February.

Tyler Ray and a partner exploring a backcountry zone by headlamp (photo courtesy of the Granite Backcountry Alliance.)

IT TAKES EQUAL With a new storefront in the village of Jackson as well as a presence at nearby Black Mountain, Drummond has not only helped outfit local backcountry skiers, but also has joined Ray in fostering a backcountry community complete with a weekly uphill skiing competition called Friday Night Lights. Beginning at 7:00 p.m., skiers hike Black Mountain by headlamp using skins on the bottoms of their skis to ascend 1,500 vertical feet, which they then ski down. Friday Night Lights culminates at the end of the season with a gut-wrenching sufferfest known as the Last Skier Standing.

Drawing athletes and mountaineers from all over the country, the Last Skier Standing is an endurance competition in which skiers hike up and ski down Black Mountain once an hour, every hour until there’s only one person left standing.

“It takes equal parts fitness and mental strength,” described Drummond, who originally got interested in endurance races after competing in the Tuckerman Inferno, a historic pentathlon where

For those who might not be interested in braving the backcountry or skiing thirty-three straight hours in the frigid cold, Mount Washington Valley is home to more than a dozen ski hills that hark back to the early days. “The White Mountains have several mountain ranges, with the Presidential range being the most heralded and rightfully so,” Drummond said. “But if you broaden your scope, you’ll find skiing in just about every nook.”

Most recently, Vail Resorts purchased Wildcat Mountain—a throwback ski area that looks directly across at Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine. Although locals are still waiting to see what updates the new ownership might bring to the resort, they can rest assured that the surrounding mountains aren’t going to be changing anytime soon. “Mount Washington Valley is fortunate to have skiing in its DNA,” Ray said. “Given its historical connection to skiing’s birthplace in the States, the rise of backcountry skiing has only improved the overall vibe of the area.” NEL

80

76-81_NEL_Backcoountry2_FW20.indd 80

10/19/20 12:44 AM

P

PARTS FITNESS AND MENTAL STRENGTH

Photo coutesy of Ski The Whites

L

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

76-81_NEL_Backcoountry2_FW20.indd 81

81

10/19/20 12:44 AM

Placeholder Text $000 Placeholder Text $000 Placeholder Text $000

(Left) Silk Satin Trench Coat $1,499 Frill Pants $725 Cuore Bikini Top $95 (Above) Bombacha Pant $299 Desire High Neck Top $225 Fitzgerald Long Vest $1,495

SteepedInTradition.indd 82

Photography by Brian Sager Make-up by Christina Gallardo of Makeup by Christina G. Hair by Lilly Tammaro, Stylist of G2O Spa + Salon Spray Tanning by Pure Glow Shoes and accessories by LeTote Location by Mandarin Oriental All clothing by Daniela Corte

10/19/20 12:56 AM

STEEPED IN

T I D I O A N R T

Photography by Rian Davidson All clothing by Alps and Meters

SteepedInTradition.indd 83

10/19/20 12:56 AM

Ski Race Knit Monarch - $350 Twenties Trouser - $795

84

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 84

10/20/20 10:07 AM

Alpine Anorak - $695 Alpine Winter Trouser - $725 Alpine Rucksack - $495

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 85

85

10/20/20 10:07 AM

86

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 86

10/20/20 10:07 AM

On her Ski Race Knit - $350 Twenties Trouser - $795 On him Patrol Knit - $300 Alpine Winter Trouser - $725

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 87

87

10/20/20 10:07 AM

Left: Women's Alpine Anorak - $695, Twenties Trouser - $795 Center: Monarch Jacket - $895, Twenties Trouser - $795 Right: Classic Cable Knit - $395, Twenties Trouser - $795

88

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 88

10/20/20 10:08 AM

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 89

89

10/20/20 10:08 AM

Patrol Bomber - $2,495 Alpine Winter Trouser - $725

90

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 90

10/20/20 10:08 AM

Lindsey Thornberg Los Ojos Cloak - $1,395 Ski Race Knit Monarch - $350

Alps & Meters

began with the discovery of a vintage ski sweater on a snow-filled trip to the village of Åre, Sweden. Since inception, the New England-born company has built a brand that reflects their deep appreciation for authentic alpine sport - the timeless, nostalgic, and rich experiences that many have enjoyed in mountain villages around the world and to create timeless alpine apparel with uncompromising performance. Woven into the fabric of Alps & Meters’ soul is a commitment to old-world quality and an intention to revisit classic and sturdy methods of making, so as to create alpine sportswear meant for a lifetime of use in the mountains. NEL

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 91

91

10/20/20 10:08 AM

Careful washing

For us it is not an impossible equation to both care for your clothes and efficiently make them clean. The solution is our cleverly designed Active Drum™. It is perfectly balanced to maximize both cleaning and laundry care, even for wool and other sensitive garments.

CLARKELIVING.COM/ASKO/

92

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

SteepedInTradition.indd 92

10/19/20 12:59 AM

WINTER

home ARCHITECTURE | INTERIOR DESIGN

MAKING THE CUT Page 94 HOME STRETCH Page 102 TIDES OF CHANGE Page 108 ANYTHING BUT ROUTINE Page 114

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

82-93_SteepedInTradition.indd 93

93

10/20/20 11:05 AM

MAKING THE

BY KELLY MCCOY

CUT

KITCHEN DESIGNED BY MICHELE KELLY OF VENEGAS AND COMPANY

xxx-xxx_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 94

10/19/20 1:11 AM

Every two years, Clarke—New England’s Official Sub-Zero, Wolf & Cove Showroom and Test Kitchen—invites architects and designers to submit their most recent kitchen designs to be judged by a distinguished panel of industry experts. Here are the 2020 winners and second-place finishers for the most extraordinary traditional, contemporary and transitional kitchens.

xxx-xxx_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 95

10/19/20 1:11 AM

FIRST-PLACE

TRADITIONAL Michele Kelly of Venegas and Company took a kitchen that looked out of place in an 1891 Victorian home and transformed it into a bright, welcoming space. This award-winning kitchen now fits visually with the antique home and functions in a whole new way, with high-performance appliances and a new layout that makes entertaining a delight.

Michele Kelly Venegas and Company, Boston, MA venegasandcompany.com 617-439-8800

96

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

94-101_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 96

10/20/20 12:26 AM

SECOND-PLACE

TRADITIONAL This kitchen serves as the central hub of a gracious home on Nantucket, so architect Robert Paladino of Mellowes & Paladino tied it visually to the adjacent sitting room, breakfast nook, mudroom and living room by utilizing transom windows to frame views into the surrounding spaces and allowing natural light to spill through the space. Since appliances were a priority for this homeowner, Paladino integrated them beautifully with the surrounding architectural details.

Robert Paladino Mellowes & Paladino Architects, Hopkinton, MA mellowespaladino.com 508-625-1371

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

94-101_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 97

97

10/20/20 12:26 AM

FIRST-PLACE

CONTEMPORARY You wouldn’t expect to find contemporary design seamlessly inhabiting original 1800s architecture, but Karen Swanson of New England Design Works was able to marry the two with panache. She reimagined a large dining room and poorly designed kitchen as a “center stage” culinary space with a casual lounging area for television viewing on one end and a dining space on the other. She adeptly placed a Wolf cooktop between a 24-inch Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer columns to create a power appliance wall. Natural materials and attention to every detail completed the wonderful family gathering space.

Karen Swanson New England Design Works, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA ne-dw.com 978-500-1096

98

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

94-101_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 98

10/20/20 12:26 AM

SECOND-PLACE

CONTEMPORARY Paula Accioly of Jewett Farms + Co. turned a dark, cramped space into one that is open and contemporary. In this home located on the ocean in New Hampshire, the homeowners wanted their kitchen to feel larger without having to increase square footage. They were willing to lose cabinetry but not storage, so Accioly engineered the kitchen around work areas: cleaning, cooking and prep. Open shelves were designed from reclaimed oak to give a warm, organic look that feels coastal in this sleek, contemporary setting.

Paula Accioly Jewett Farms + Co., Boston, MA and York, ME jewettfarms.com 978-961-1538

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

94-101_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 99

99

10/20/20 12:27 AM

FIRST-PLACE

TRANSITIONAL For her second kitchen award winner this year, Michele Kelly was tasked with creating the ultimate cooking and entertaining space. As someone who regularly cooks at home, the homeowner needed the flexibility of multiple cooking appliances and ample refrigerator and freezer storage. Kelly created multiple zones for cooking, baking and clean up so everyone could be involved in daily routines. A harmonious blend of materials wraps this highly utilitarian space in a serene and cozy feel.

Michele Kelly Venegas and Company, Boston, MA venegasandcompany.com 617-439-8800

100

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

94-101_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 100

10/20/20 12:27 AM

SECOND-PLACE

TRANSITIONAL Venegas and Company swept this category with owner Donna Venegas winning second place for her own home. When Venegas and her husband purchased a 2,000-square-foot townhome in Boston to downsize, she faced the most critical client of all: herself. She needed to accommodate her home office, a living room, dining area, a bar with wine storage and a kitchen with easy access to the back patio for grilling. After removing walls and grappling with condo rules that restricted venting to the outside, Venegas created a stunning, seamless space that has been tested and approved for her own cooking, entertaining and working. NEL Donna Venegas Venegas and Company, Boston, MA www.venegasandcompany.com 617-439-8800

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

94-101_MakingTheCut_NEL20_FW.indd 101

101

10/20/20 12:27 AM

MIC HELLE R ENEE B A LC H, M IC HELLE R ENEE PHOTOG R A PH Y

Written by Rob Duca Photos courtesy of Marvin

102

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

102-107_NEL_HomeStretch_FW20.indd 102

10/19/20 2:33 PM

Natural light floods DePalma's tranquil family room thanks to expansive Marvin windows that look out to her barn and gardens.

HOW A REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER INTEGRATED THE PILLARS OF YOGA INTO HER HOME DESIGN

R

eal estate developer Tina DePalma began incorporating the pillars of yoga into her new home when she mapped out the design. For DePalma, who is also a certified yoga and mindfulness instructor, the process flowed organically. “Since I was young, these have driven my design,” she explained. “As I went through the process I began to correlate all of my building and design with my love of yoga.” As a result, the five pillars of yoga— gaze, breath, foundation, heat and flow—served as the five pillars of home design that she employed when creating her 4,300-square-foot home in Suffield, CT. With each of these yoga principles in mind, DePalma designed a home flooded with natural light, thanks to an open-floor plan, light gray walls, coffered ceilings, white trim and sixty-five Marvin windows. “Large open windows can put us in a state of meditation, which is calming to the soul,”

she explained. This abundance of light lent itself to the yoga principle of gaze, known in Sanskrit as “drishti.” Windows dominate every room, even the powder room, allowing DePalma to continue to enjoy exterior surroundings from inside the home.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the family room, where sunlight illuminates the space and accentuates the intricate stonework of the fireplace. The entire front of the house has large windows floor to ceiling with transom windows above. “The family room was designed with twelve oversized windows,” she said. “I can look outside and see the barn, my gardens, and natural light flows in. Everywhere I look is to an open space with open light.” A floor-to-ceiling window plays a featured role in her office. “I placed my desk against the window,” she said. “Many people find it aesthetically incorrect, but It really works. Looking at nature is more pleasing than a wall.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

102-107_NEL_HomeStretch_FW20.indd 103

103

10/20/20 12:24 AM

The uniquely designed master bathroom has a tub with water flowing from the ceiling, with a large window behind the tub. Most of the windows are strategically placed ten inches from the floor for light and for the family dog, Louie, be able to easily look out. Electronically controlled blinds that fold discreetly into the molding when not in use can be drawn when there’s a need for privacy or a respite from the light. With the exception of the master bedroom, DePalma does not employ drapes.

Equally important to the home’s design was the yoga pillar of flow. The open concept of flow, called “vinyasa” in yoga, represents stringing postures together so that you move from one to another seamlessly. “We need physical movement to clear our mind and stay healthy,” she explained. “Movement and uncluttered openness of the home also creates this.” DePalma, who loves to entertain but also works from home, felt it was essential to create an open floor plan with flow that also had distinct spaces. “It needed to be able to accommodate large groups while still feeling as though guests were not separated into multiple rooms,” she said. The kitchen, dining room, family room and screened porch indeed flow seamlessly together. “I’ve had large gatherings using all of the rooms,” she described, “and yet everyone feels as though they are together in one room.”

104

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

102-107_NEL_HomeStretch_FW20.indd 104

10/20/20 12:24 AM

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

102-107_NEL_HomeStretch_FW20.indd 105

105

10/20/20 12:24 AM

An avid cook, DePalma placed special attention on the kitchen, which features a large island and a nearby farm table in the dining area. As she prepares a meal, she can socialize with guests in the adjoining rooms or simply gaze out the window and marvel at nature. “I planned my kitchen to be able to look toward my guests when preparing food, while also enjoying the open layout and the natural lighting,” she said.

Another yoga pillar is called “ujjayi,” or breath. “In life and yoga, it is the most important element,” DePalma explained. “What are we without breath? An open concept without clutter gives us room to breathe.” Easy access to opening windows and doors for fresh air is an important feature. DePalma has outdoor sitting areas on her front porch, behind the home, and a screened porch that brings effortless access to fresh air.

106

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

102-107_NEL_HomeStretch_FW20.indd 106

10/20/20 10:09 AM

The yoga pillar of heat, or tapas in Sanskrit, was created by the warmth of light grey muted wall colors that contrast with dark natural wood flooring. “I kept the colors soft and warm, without harshness,” she said. In addition to the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace in the family room, there is a fireplace on the screened porch that can be seen throughout the interior of the ranch house creating a natural form of heat. “Heat and warmth can be so calming to the soul,” she said. “Items that you love in your home and can’t live without. The things that bring you peace and joy bring warmth to the heart.” Another way to achieve tapas in the home is through the actual heat in the home and radiant heated floors especially in bathrooms and of course the sunlight from the windows.

Finally, DePalma knew that the home must include the yoga pillar of foundation, which focuses on creating a strong base for each pose to enhance stability. In her home, it meant embracing her roots and family. Thus, DePalma has a photo hallway reflecting her Italian heritage. “Everything stems from our roots, just like a home is built from the foundation up,” she said. Indeed, for DePalma, home design and yoga have become intertwined. “I’ve seen what yoga does for the mind and what it has done for me—it keeps us grounded,” she said. “I am always looking to grow in mindfulness, yoga, faith and finding what truly makes people happy. I’ve learned the mind is such a powerful thing.” And if she ever forgets that, all she’ll have to do is look around for the reminders incorporated into her home. NEL W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

102-107_NEL_HomeStretch_FW20.indd 107

107

10/20/20 12:25 AM

Tides of

CHANGE HOW 7 TIDE HAS HELPED AMERICAN FAMILIES INNOVATE THEIR HOMES DURING THE PANDEMIC

BY ROB DU CA

mid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans’ homes have morphed into classrooms and workspaces while also serving as a shelter to weather these unprecedented times. As a result of this increased at-home time, many Americans are looking to upgrade their kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors to meet the demands of their new reality. And they are turning to American companies who are dedicated to supporting American workers to buy these products.

Shining examples of these companies can be found at 7 Tide in Boston’s Seaport District. The revolutionary showroom houses three family-owned home design companies that are defined by American-made ingenuity, determination and commitment to quality.

A

108

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

88-95_NEL_TidesofChange.indd 108

10/20/20 12:29 AM

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

88-95_NEL_TidesofChange.indd 109

109

10/20/20 12:29 AM

The 7 Tide showroom is equipped with a large interactive display for designers to walk clients through their renderings.

THE CLARKE FAMILY, which owns New England’s Official Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom and Test Kitchen and serves as the exclusive retail distributor in the region, purchased the building in the Seaport District in 2014. They soon partnered with Marvin Windows and Doors and the Kohler Company to create an innovative showroom with full-scale kitchens, live appliances, a theater for cooking demos and a sixteen-by-nine-foot interactive media wall where architects and designers can project their plans in full-scale with clients.

Sub-Zero, Marvin and the Kohler Company were founded with an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to serving customers and the community. Today, each company is devoted to producing the highest-quality products that are energy-efficient, environmentally minded and built to last. In the midst of a pandemic, all three companies have continued to thrive while remaining dedicated to their customers and employees.

“We have seen a massive uptick in business,” said Sal Cianciolo, a sales and marketing manager at Kohler. “People who are stuck at home are tired of looking at kitchens and baths that they had been thinking about renovating.”

Cianciolo indicated that, perhaps not surprisingly, there has

110

Kohler's new line of touch-less products help maintain the utmost cleanliness in the kitchen and beyond.

been significant interest in Kohler’s touchless products, such as faucets, along with cleansing toilet seats and other self-sanitizing products. “Anything that’s about health and wellness,” he said. “People are focused on improving their surroundings.” Kohler, a global brand that employs 33,000 people worldwide, is dedicated to manufacturing environmentally responsible products, “whether we’re building a plant or looking at a showerhead,” Cianciolo said. “The Kohler Company has a stated goal of being net-zero by 2035. We are proud that we are on track to meet that goal. We want to make sure we have minimal impact on the environment.”

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

88-95_NEL_TidesofChange.indd 110

10/20/20 12:29 AM

AS HOMEOWNERS HAVE EMBARKED ON MORE renovation projects, Marvin Windows and Doors has seen its business rebound after a slow spring. “There is a pent-up demand,” said Christine Marvin, vice president of design. “We’ve seen a pickup in replacement windows, and a shift to home offices that harness light and to meditation rooms where people can find solitude. These separate rooms are allowing people to recharge and get away from the hustle and bustle of online work.”

Sub-Zero leads the way in making energyefficient products. Today, the average Sub-Zero refridgerator consumes less energy than a 60watt light bulb.

Sub-Zero also has a history of bold innovation.

Beginning in the 1950s, the company pioneered dual refrigeration with separate sealed compartments for the refrigerator and freezer. By the 1970s, Sub-Zero had mastered temperature control and later launched the first wine storage system. Continuing to grow into the nineties and early 2000s, Sub-Zero acquired Wolf, a cooking range legendary in commercial kitchens. Fast forward to today and Sub-Zero and Wolf have continued to flourish during the pandemic, retaining American workers and serving customers in a timely, efficient fashion. With all of its products manufactured in the United States, Sub-Zero avoids issues with supply chain distribution, which has created delays for other companies.

“The product doesn’t have to take a boat ride or go through customs; it’s made in Madison, Wisconsin, and goes directly from the factory to your home,” said Sean Clarke, president of Clarke Distribution, the exclusive distributor of Sub-Zero and Wolf in New England. “Sub-Zero is making more product than ever because so many folks are working remotely from home, their kitchens have become more important than ever.” At a time when people are thinking about energy efficiency, Sub-Zero refrigerators use less electricity than a 60-watt light bulb. Food preservation systems keep food fresh longer, while meat can be frozen up to three months without fear of freezer burn. As Clarke attested, “It’s a remarkable product when you have to shelter in place and load up your freezer.”

Marvin’s Living Room Experience, where visitors can see photos of windows and doors in full scale, adjust their size and shape in real time.

Marvin Windows and Doors, which builds every order to a customer’s exact specifications, was the first company to deliver windows with its own fleet of trucks. The company is a pioneer in the design and manufacturing of round-top windows and the developer of Ultrex, a proprietary pultruded fiberglass that’s as strong as steel. Today, the 108-year-old family-owned company still manufactures products entirely in the United States, which allows it to promise delivery in a six- to eight-week window. “We think not just about the environmental piece, but also the corporate social responsibility piece,” Marvin said. “We want to do right by our employees, the community and our customers.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

88-95_NEL_TidesofChange.indd 111

111

10/20/20 10:12 AM

In September, the company launched Skycove, a light-filled structural design element that brings the outdoors inside. “It’s almost like you’re immersed in nature with the sky all around you, allowing for more of a connection to the outside,” Marvin said.

“That’s a trend that’s been going on for the past ten years, but we’re seeing it accelerate now.” The company also recently introduced the Awaken Skylight, which incorporates supplemental lighting that matches the temperature and warmth of natural light and provides healthier indoor air. “It extends the day because you can enjoy what feels like natural light longer,” Marvin said.

All of these innovations can be found at 7 Tide in the Seaport. While social distancing requirements remain in place, Clarke, Marvin and Kohler offer virtual methods to meet with clients and walk them through their products. Showrooms have been equipped with dedicated iPads and product demonstrations and webinars are now also being broadcasted online. In-person appointments are also available for booking. At a time when every industry is grappling with our new reality, these three legendary companies exemplify the true spirit of American exceptionalism by remaining committed to their customers, as well as their employees, no matter how the tides change. NEL

To learn more visit seventide.com

VIRTUAL

SHOWROOM TOUR

Or scan this code with your smart device.

112

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

88-95_NEL_TidesofChange.indd 112

10/20/20 8:51 AM

88-95_NEL_TidesofChange.indd 113

10/20/20 10:15 AM

An ything but

ROUTINE Written by Haley Grant

114

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

114-120_NEL_AnythingButRoutine_SS20.indd 114

10/19/20 1:19 PM

How innovating your appliances can reinvent your self-care routine

IT’S EASY FOR OUR ROUTINES TO BECOME A LITTLE BIT TOO ROUTINE. While most of us depend on some structure in the day to keep our sanity, that doesn’t mean we need to settle for going through the motions with humdrum habits.

Thankfully, there’s a line of innovative new appliances that can help put a little more pep in your step while reducing stress and maximizing your morning efficiency.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

114-120_NEL_AnythingButRoutine_SS20.indd 115

115

10/20/20 12:58 AM

AKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE Brewing that morning cup of coffee or tea is a key to starting the day. Whether sipping fresh ground, French press, cold brew or tea, the best drinks share one thing in common: quality water. Start your day off right by removing any contaminants and impurities from your H2O with an Aquifer filtration system by KOHLER. And while you’re at it, give yourself a hand with a touch-less KOHLER Konnect® faucet.

Simply leave your coffee pot or tea kettle in the sink the night before and use the easy voice commands to tell your faucet to fill her up!

Top: KOHLER Konnect faucet helps make your morning coffee the best part of waking up.

SPA DAY…EVERY DAY Soaking in a bathtub can do miracles for your mental and physical wellbeing. Not only is it incredibly soothing for the soul, but taking a bath has proven benefits for muscles, joints, and bones. Allow yourself to melt away all your worries and daily stressors as you slide into the bathtub and feel the bliss wash over you.

Surround your bathtub with a few scented candles and even some plants to completely transport your mind, body and soul.

116

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

114-120_NEL_AnythingButRoutine_SS20.indd 116

10/20/20 3:16 PM

SOAK IT ALL IN ake your bath time to the next level of luxury by diving into a hydrotherapy bath with KOHLER Chromatherapy. This sophisticated lighting system uses a flow of soothing colors to set the mood.

Whether it be to wake up in the morning or unwind in the evening, there are few things more rejuvenating than a hydrotherapy bath. And if listening to music is more your jam, consider KOHLER VibrAcoustic®.

With sound waves pulsing above and below the water, your entire body will be immersed in the rhythm of the music. Connect to your favorite music, sounds of meditation, or even an audiobook, all while sipping a warm cup of tea or a glass of wine at the end of the day.

LET OFF SOME STEAM Breaking a sweat is an important part of any daily routine. There are many different ways to get your heart rate up, some of which can actually be incredibly relaxing. Get sweaty and unwind at the same time by turning up the steam during your regular shower time.

A steam shower boasts incredible benefits that go well beyond mental relaxation. It cleanses and detoxifies the skin, relaxes muscles, and can help alleviate respiratory congestion. For even more health benefits, consider topping off your steam session with a refreshing cold-water rinse. Once you feel completely refreshed and rejuvenated, wrap yourself in a luxurious Turkish cotton bath towel by KOHLER and step into your favorite pair of fuzzy slippers.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

114-120_NEL_AnythingButRoutine_SS20.indd 117

117

10/20/20 3:16 PM

Top: Add some calming minutes of self-care with a streamlined vanity.

MAKE OVER YOUR MAKEUP STATION It’s far too easy to hop out of the shower and hurry off to the rest of your day when there’s a list of tasks waiting on the other side of the bathroom door. But allotting yourself a bit of buffer time in between can do wonders for maintaining your calm state. Let your makeup time be an added moment of self-care in your daily routine. The best way to do this? Transform your vanity area into a personal space that you’re proud of and actually want to spend time in. Start by decluttering your cabinet space and cleaning off your counters. While this may seem like an insignificant change to some, clean counters and organized drawers go a long way when it comes to destressing.

Keep your most in-demand items within easy reach with KOHLER Bente™ countertop accessories, which double as efficient storage and aestheticallypleasing décor for any vanity space.

Lighting is everything when it comes to setting the mood. Consider upgrading your mirror game with the KOHLER Verdera® Voice Lighted Mirror with Amazon Alexa for a handsfree bathroom routine. Adjust the LED lights to settings like “makeup mode” or “good morning routine” to create a more personalized routine for every time of the day.

118

FEWER TASKS, MORE MOMENTS Your daily routine is only as organized, efficient, and enjoyable as you make it. With these KOHLER storage accessories, you can create a routine that is built on intention and thrives on meaningful experiences.

Rather than merely going through the motions of each day, you can begin relishing in the moments of a day that is as bold and unique as you. NEL

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

114-120_NEL_AnythingButRoutine_SS20.indd 118

10/20/20 3:13 PM

WINTER

heart&mind SERVICE | WELLNESS | HEALTH

A MORE PERFECT UNION Page 120 MIND YOURSELF Page 124 ALL YOU CAN EAT Page 130

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

114-120_NEL_AnythingButRoutine_SS20.indd 119

119

10/20/20 12:59 AM

A MORE PERFECT UNION Tali and Jessica Puterman walk the walk in their pursuit of social justice Written by Robert Cocuzzo Photography by Hannah Osofosky

F

rom the day she was born, Tali Puterman seemed destined to become an advocate for social justice. She was one of the first babies born in Cape Town, South Africa, to not be given a racial label by the government, and her photo appeared in newspapers across the country to mark this watershed moment in South African history. Previously, all South African babies were given racial designations, which dictated their caste in society. With the crumbling of the apartheid regime so too came the removal of this cornerstone of the country’s racist past—and Puterman became the face of its future. Nearly thirty years later, Puterman is fulfilling her destiny as the next generation of social justice leaders. However, she’s not doing that in South Africa—but right here in New England.

Puterman serves as the assistant director of Social Justice Engagement at Temple Israel’s Tikkun Central in Boston.

The temple’s initiatives span the spectrum, from criminal justice reform and environmental activism to voting rights

120

advocacy, health care equality and racial equity. Just twentynine years old, Puterman leads hard-fought campaigns in addressing some of the most complex and insidious social justice challenges facing our country, many of which have only ratcheted up in recent months. While the position seems perfectly suited for her auspicious birth, Puterman admits that her understanding of social justice took time. Indeed, her story illustrates that when it comes to learning about issues of discrimination and equality, it can be a lifelong education.

As literally the poster child of post-apartheid South Africa, Puterman grew up naïvely thinking that her homeland had been forever freed from the grips of its racist past. She believed that equality had finally been achieved for South Africans of all races and now everyone could simply move forward together.

“I thought that the shadow of apartheid was no longer hanging over our heads,” she reflects. “My lens did not understand what white supremacy can do and how long it can last.”

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

120-123_NEL_PerfectUnion_SS20.indd 120

10/21/20 10:15 AM

Living in her tightly knit Jewish Orthodox community in Cape Town, Puterman couldn’t see beyond this perspective of racial equality. She viewed oppression in the context of her own family history. Her paternal grandfather fled to South Africa after surviving the Holocaust. “The way that I understood overcoming oppression was that my grandfather had come from the horrors of the Holocaust, deprived of an education, and then came to South Africa and started a successful business,” she describes. “If he could do it, I thought, then why couldn’t anyone else? But I failed to see that my grandfather had come to a racist country and benefited from the system that was in place to help him.”

Puterman’s understanding of systemic racism only began to widen after she moved to the United States.

After graduating from Brandeis University, she began teaching at an elementary school in Jamaica Plain where the majority of the students and many members of the faculty were people of color. “For the first time in my life, I was different,” she reflects. “As a white Orthodox Jew, I was the minority.” Within this new setting, Puterman began to learn about how racism still existed below the surface of everyday life. “At first I would push back,” she says. “I couldn’t understand why we were still talking about race…I was confused.” Through more conversations and more reading, Puterman began to see the ways in which racial discrimination still plagued society. She became aware of the daily microaggressions faced by her fellow teachers and students. “I started translating those things into my own identity,” she says, “and I started seeing my orthodox community with different eyes.” She also began advocating for others.

Tali Puterman has emerged as a leading social justice advocate in New England

Puterman eventually decided to pursue a master’s degree in education at Tufts University. To support herself, she took a job teaching Hebrew school at Temple Israel, a reform Jewish temple in Boston. She went from teaching second grade to fifth, while also becoming more involved with social justice initiatives at the temple.

For the first time in her life, Puterman was able to fight injustice on the front lines, armed with an education that was years in the making. When she graduated from Tufts, the temple didn’t want Puterman to leave, so they created a formal position for her to lead Tikkun Central, the temple’s social justice arm.

Puterman’s professional growth was matched with personal self-discovery. After finding a kinship within Boston’s gay community, she began to see herself with new eyes and came to embrace her identity as a lesbian. This would have been unthinkable growing up in Cape Town. For nearly fifty years during apartheid, homosexuality was completely outlawed and gay people could be sentenced to seven years in jail. Despite these laws being abolished with the fall of apartheid and the rise of Nelson Mandela in the mid-nineties, South Africa’s Orthodox Jewish community was still uneasy about same-sex marriage. Yet in Boston, Puterman found support and love. Three years ago, during Martin Luther King weekend, while hosting a Tikkun Central event at Temple Israel, she met her future partner Jessica Rondon, and her perspective only continued to broaden.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

120-123_NEL_PerfectUnion_SS20.indd 121

121

10/21/20 10:15 AM

Jessica Rondon first got involved with activism in her youth

J

essica Rondon grew up in Florida amid challenging circumstances. Her mother was sixteen turning seventeen when she gave birth. “We grew up with a lot of help from our community,” Rondon says. “We were on food stamps for a bit. Our Christmas presents usually came from the Salvation Army.” Rondon’s father was Black, tracing his roots back to slavery in the United States, while her mother’s family was a mix of Italian Catholics and Russian Jews, the latter of whom escaped persecution.

“We lost both religions along the way,” Rondon says, “but growing up in Florida I became more and more interested in Judaism.”

Rondon also found activism in her early years. “My mom’s mom died from AIDS in 1992 when stigma was high and answers were unknown,” she describes.

“She worked at a hospital and it’s believed that she contracted it during her work there.” In middle school, Rondon performed in a play about HIV/AIDS that toured schools across Florida to teach young people and raise awareness. “It felt important to be a part of educating the next generation on a disease that had alienated my grandmother,” Rondon reflects. “She died at home because the hospitals treated her poorly.”

In high school, Rondon joined Source Teen Theater, an acting troupe that collaborated with

122

Planned Parenthood to use theater to educate high school students about sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy. She was eventually cast in a national performance consisting of only five actors, each of whom delivered moving monologues before Congress about global issues. After graduating from Loyola University Chicago, Rondon moved to Massachusetts to pursue a master’s degree at Boston University. Ironically, it was while attending a Catholic college that Rondon fully embraced her Jewish heritage and converted. Living in Boston, Jessica wanted to use her MBA for societal change, and became the Board Treasurer for the non-profit Center for Teen Empowerment—and that’s how she came to meet Puterman.

During that Martin Luther King weekend two years ago, Rondon was invited to Temple Israel by a friend named Lauren. Rondon’s mother was recovering from recent brain surgery to treat an aneurism, and Lauren said she had a friend at Temple Israel who was going through a very similar experience with her mother. As it so happened, Puterman’s mother had been diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer and was also facing a risky surgery. At the end of the evening, Lauren introduced the two and they’ve been together ever since.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

120-123_NEL_PerfectUnion_SS20.indd 122

10/20/20 10:45 AM

Last February, just days before the coronavirus took hold of the planet, Puterman and Rondon were married in South Africa. Much like with her birth, Puterman’s wedding was a watershed moment for her community. “Although the Orthodox community has progressed, lesbian weddings are still not common in Cape Town,” she explains. “It was quite groundbreaking for a lot of people.” A number of guests at the wedding were struggling with their own sexual identities and were inspired by their marriage to come out.

Returning to their lives together in Boston, Puterman and Rondon continue to champion social justice. After the killing of George Floyd, the couple was regularly on the front lines demanding change. Amid this national reckoning on race, Puterman and Rondon see reason for hope. “I am incredibly optimistic,” Rondon says. “People are finally starting to be part of this movement. I don’t think you can un-ring that bell. Once it’s part of your knowledge, you can’t turn it off.” Puterman agrees: “I’ve been trying do this work, highlighting the undercurrents of racism for a while, trying to bring that to the community. Now I’ve been given this loud speaker where everybody is listening.” Everybody is watching, too. And they don’t need to look further than Tali Puterman and Jessica Rondon to see the future leaders of social justice. NEL

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

120-123_NEL_PerfectUnion_SS20.indd 123

123

10/20/20 10:45 AM

124-129_NEL_MindYourself_FW20.indd 124

10/19/20 1:50 AM

MIND

YOURSELF Managing stress, finding peace and unlocking the power of mindfulness in the midst of a global pandemic Interview by ROBERT COCUZZO Photography KEN RICHARDSON

The coronavirus pandemic has shaken our grip on existence. Our daily lives are sewn with a baseline of stress and anxiety that simply didn’t exist a year ago. Managing these mental burdens isn’t easy, but if you ask Noel Coakley, mindfulness and meditation might just be our best tools for getting a grip on our new reality. “Practicing mindfulness helps you

124-129_NEL_MindYourself_FW20.indd 125

develop strength, stability and clarity of mind,” explains Coakley, the founder of Boston Center for Contemplative Practice in Newton.

“Meditation helps you achieve silence, stillness and spaciousness.”

Drawing from his twenty-five years of experience, Coakley gave us some insight on how to develop our own meditation and mindfulness practices.

10/20/20 10:52 AM

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO DAUNTED BY THE VERY IDEA OF TRYING TO MEDITATE?

SHOULD WE BE SITTING CROSS-LEGGED IN SOME KIND OF YOGA POSE?

One of the biggest misconceptions that discourage people from getting started with mediation is the idea that it’s going to take too much time or that meditation just isn’t for me because my mind is too busy. The truth is that meditation doesn’t take a lot of time. A few minutes of meditation on a regular basis can actually make a significant impact on your life. The benefits of meditation snowball much more quickly than many people think. Everyone experiences the busyness of the mind and the busyness of life. That’s why initial practices in meditation are designed to help calm the mind by cultivating strength, stability and clarity. As a result, we can experience more stillness, silence and spacious in our mind. There’s a saying that if you think you’re too busy for ten minutes of meditation, then you need thirty.

There really isn’t universal instruction to starting meditation.

Though there are some common principles, everyone has their own experiences. Like learning anything, doing so in the context of a relationship in which there’s a match between the teaching and the learning style is the most helpful. For instance, let’s say I have experienced a lot of trauma and have a lot of mind-body distress; well, sitting down and focusing on my breath and body might not feel like a safe thing for me at the moment. Generally speaking, we start by focusing on something to calm the mind and then keep drawing our focus back to that. For some people that can be achieved by sitting and breathing. For others, that might require moving or exercise. For others, that can be doing a rote task that doesn’t require a lot of cognition.

There really isn’t a right or wrong way—just a way that works for you. Probably the best place to start is to connect with a teacher who can help you find your way.

SO HOW DO WE GET THAT SNOWBALL OF MEDITATION ROLLING? As with starting any habit, meditation starts with motivation. If there isn’t already a motivation to meditate, you can connect your practice to something that’s already meaningful in your life, ideally something beyond yourself. That could be your marriage, parenthood, an artistic skill—anything that is meaningful and automatically motivating for you. By connecting the potential positive outcome that a meditation practice will have on that meaningful relationship, meditation will eventually become self-motivating by way of direct experience.

WHAT IS A PRACTICAL WAY OF GETTING STARTED? Set ten minutes aside. Get your body in a position that’s comfortable enough so that it’s not going to be distracting.

Then take those ten minutes to direct attention toward something here in this moment—breath, body, a flower in front of you—then observe exactly what’s happening in your mind, your body, your heart. Open the hood and look at what’s going on. It’s as simple as that. There’s not much to do. Don’t get into trying to change much. Observe what happens when you keep redirecting the mind to that one thing. Just watch the show and watch how badly you want to do something. There’s a misconception that meditation has to be highly intellectual. There are really complicated ways to talk about it, but at the end of the day, it’s something as simple as can be. That’s not to say it’s easy—but simple.

126

CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION AND HOW THAT APPLIES TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES WE’RE IN TODAY? The mind and body are one and the same. The mind is a manifestation of the body. The body is a manifestation of the mind. If we are thinking in fear, our body will reflect that. If we are thinking in anger, our body will reflect that. If our body is calm, our mind is calm. How that’s applicable to today is that we can have focus, attention and awareness without having fear. Fear is what kicks the body into unhealthy patterns. Our mind responds to what we interpret as a threat with a fightor-flight response that is better suited for running from a lion than dealing with most of the things we encounter in our modern, everyday life. When the mind goes into a thought of fear, a lot of the energy in the body goes toward the heart and most major motor functions to run. That means the energy is being taken away from our immune function, digestion, sex/reproduction, all healing and restoration, natural sleep cycle functioning. Being in that fight-or-flight mind state over time will result in stress-related disease of the body. And the opposite is true. The deliberate practice of positive mental states is key to resilience. Positive emotions increase coping strategies and resilience. The ability to hold and maintain positive mental states—supportive qualities versus some sort of fantasy-based optimism—when the times get tough is key to resilience.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

124-129_NEL_MindYourself_FW20.indd 126

10/20/20 10:59 AM

DO YOU HAVE ANY STRATEGIES FOR PARENTS TO ENCOURAGE MINDFULNESS IN THEIR CHILDREN? The number one thing is to not interfere with what is naturally true about children. We need to check our own interference with a child’s natural state of mind. Rather than teaching them anything, it’s about not interfering. A child sees everything as brand new. They don’t have a solid story of who they are and who they’re not. They don’t have fixed ideas about the world. It’s much more open. So there’s something to be learned from them even more so. If we are mindful in our relationships with children—holding, attentive, attuned, nonjudgmental—then children will internalize this.

MANY PARENTS KEEP VERY ACTIVE SCHEDULES FOR THEIR CHILDREN. IS THIS TO THEIR DETRIMENT? While a schedule and some expectations create regularity for a child, overdoing it takes away from opportunities for creative, open space in their minds. It reinforces the idea that it’s not okay to just do nothing, or to just play, or to just go have fun, or to just relax. It reinforces that we have to be doing something that has a point or an outcome. It takes away from opportunities for independence, self-confidence and concentration. We’re training our children for busyness very young.

THERE’S BEEN A SURGE IN POPULARITY AROUND MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS IN RECENT YEARS. ARE MEDITATION APPS ON OUR PHONES AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR CULTIVATING MINDFULNESS?

“A lot of people are looking for quick-fix ideas, but meditation is not a quick fix. It’s way of life.”

When anything gets popular it comes with a blessing and a curse. Overall, it’s great that more people are finding out about how meditation and mindfulness is accessible to everybody. On the other hand, when things get taken out of context, they weaken in their value. There’s something to be said for practices that come from a tradition or a lineage—as opposed to coming from an app. My teacher’s teacher was a Mongolian horse trader and, referring to finding a teacher, said, “Always make sure you check the teeth.” An app might be great for habit development or a brief introduction to something, but you would never learn chemistry from an app. An app doesn’t give you the back and forth of a teacher.

Similar to chemistry, you could get a couple of lessons deep in meditation with an app and you could actually be causing some harm by way of developing bad habits early. A lot of people are looking for quick-fix ideas, but meditation is not a quick fix. It’s way of life.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

124-129_NEL_MindYourself_FW20.indd 127

127

10/20/20 10:59 AM

“You are exactly what you’re looking for.” As a standard-issue human, you have everything you need already, inherently.

ON THE TOPIC OF APPS, DO YOU THINK WE’RE PAYING A PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL FOR THE AMOUNT OF TECHNOLOGY IN OUR LIVES, THROUGH SUCH THINGS AS SOCIAL MEDIA? Social media comes down to how attached we are to it.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, social media is a tool in the same way that a chain saw is a tool. It’s really effective

128

if I use it right. It’s going to cut down a tree real nice. But if you use it wrong, it can be a massacre. Like anything, social media is not inherently evil, but our patterns with it are pretty unhealthy. You can get hooked on it. If we’re going to it to seek validation, fulfillment, dopamine hit, a sense of self or our values—we’re in trouble.

WHAT ABOUT MANAGING OUR NEWS CONSUMPTION? HOW DO WE STAY UP TO DATE WITH INFORMATION WITHOUT GOING INTO A TAILSPIN OF DESPAIR? The idea of a media diet can be useful. Consume information and news deliberately and set boundaries to keep from the constant checking of multiple sources. If you have settings on your phone that give you updates every time there’s a news story, that might trigger a fear response. Be careful about when, where and how you consume information. The last thing you want to do before going to bed is check the news, which will trigger the fear response and will make your body think that maybe it’s not a safe time to go to sleep.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

124-129_NEL_MindYourself_FW20.indd 128

10/20/20 10:59 AM

IS THERE A MANTRA OR SOME SPECIFIC PIECE OF WISDOM YOU’VE LEARNED IN YOUR PRACTICE THAT YOU THINK IS PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO OUR TIMES? “You are exactly what you’re looking for.” As a standard-issue human, you have everything you need already, inherently. We learn things over the course of a lifetime that take us away from recognizing that and develop limiting beliefs. But like the sun, it’s always there. Sometimes we can’t see the sun because it’s either cloudy or nighttime, but it never goes away. From this perspective, all these practices, all these efforts and things you can engage for wellness are not an attempt to be someone you are not already. Engaging in these practices is to help you see what’s already true. NEL

The Boston Center for Contemplative Practice (BCCP) is a collaborative of wellness practitioners and a practice space. The BCCP has psychotherapists, acupuncturists, Reiki practitioners, massage therapists and physical therapists. There’s a large group space where people practice meditation, yoga and group therapy. “The big picture idea is that we hold space for everything from healing to spiritual and psychological development, recognizing that there isn’t just one track but many on-roads,” BCCP founder Noel Coakley explains. “We say, ‘Many paths, one home.’” To connect with Noel Coakley or another practitioner at the BCCP, visit thebccp.com.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

124-129_NEL_MindYourself_FW20.indd 129

129

10/20/20 11:00 AM

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Is there a cure to childhood food allergies?

Written by Robert Cocuzzo Photography by Ken Richardson

13-135_NEL_AllYouCanEat_FW20.indd 130

10/19/20 9:55 AM

13-135_NEL_AllYouCanEat_FW20.indd 131

10/19/20 9:55 AM

B

By the time I got the car out of the garage, my wife was already on the sidewalk cradling our ten-month-old daughter who was now completely naked and covered in vomit. She launched into the back seat of the car and yelled, “Drive!” My daughter’s eyes were swollen shut and she was painfully disoriented.

I raced to Boston Medical Center, speeding through a half-dozen red lights before leaving the car still running in the middle of the parking lot. We sprinted into the emergency room screaming: “Help! Help! Our daughter is in anaphylaxis!”

132

When we learned a few months earlier that our daughter’s severe head-to-toe eczema could be connected to a dizzying number of food allergies, I honestly wasn’t overly alarmed.

I had a couple of friends growing up who were allergic to peanuts, and as far as I could tell, their allergies hadn’t slowed them down.

I remember when the nurse was teaching my wife and I how to use the EpiPen, I asked her how we would know if our daughter was going into anaphylaxis. “Trust me, you’ll know,” she responded bluntly. “You see it once and you’ll never forget it.” As our daughter continued to flail, scream and projectile vomit in her mother’s arms in the ER, I now understood exactly what she meant. I was never going to forget this experience—no matter how hard I tried.

After our daughter was finally stabilized with epinephrine, steroids and antihistamines, we spent a long sleepless night in the pediatric ICU, watching her through the bars of the hospital crib. Twenty-four anxious hours later, we walked back into our apartment where the whole ordeal had started. We learned that a tiny little pea was the culprit for her allergic reaction.

Totally shell-shocked, my wife and I agreed that we would do whatever was necessary to never relive that terrifying experience. However, as fate would have it, less than thirty minutes later, our daughter went into what’s known as rebound anaphylaxis, a secondary reaction.

And so into the ambulance we went for another sleepless night in the hospital. Clearly, food allergies were infinitely more complex than I had ever imagined.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

130-135_NEL_AllYouCanEat_FW20.indd 132

10/20/20 12:51 AM

Thieringer treats her young clients at her Allergy A.R.T. center in Lexington

In the months that followed, my wife launched a crusade for answers. She read late into the night about the modernday explosion in food allergies, how in the last thirty-five years, the number of children suffering from food allergies had increased by ten times. Today, 32 million Americans have food allergies and the rate of anaphylactic reactions has grown by 400 percent over the last decade. Theories abound for the causes of this explosion in food allergies, from the rise of processed food, to more chemicals in the environment, to an increase in antibiotics, to the multiplying of vaccines. Beyond their physical symptoms, children afflicted with food allergies also bear mental and emotional burdens. They often find themselves sitting alone at allergy-free lunch tables and unable to partake in birthday cakes, pizza parties and the many little events that define a childhood.

In search of ways to treat our daughter’s enflamed eczema and manage her allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, gluten and soy, my wife willed her way onto long waiting lists to see some of the top allergists in the country. The appointments often left us feeling discouraged. Powerful steroid creams were prescribed to treat our daughter’s eczema, while we would have to keep her away from all her allergens until she was old enough to manage them. Even then, the conventional treatment for food allergies, known as oral immunotherapy (OIT), would only seek to make her allergies “bite safe,” meaning that if she ate, say, a single peanut, she would not go into anaphylaxis. OIT might not enable her to eat peanuts or any of her allergies freely.

As we descended into deeper despair, my wife happened to share our daughter’s food allergy woes with celebrity chef and friend Ming Tsai. “Oh, well we have to introduce you to Amy,” Ming said immediately.

When Ming’s son David was diagnosed with extensive anaphylactic-level food allergies as a child, Ming and his wife, Paulie, discovered Amy Thieringer, the founder of A.R.T. Allergy Release Technique, a holistic approach based in Lexington, Massachusetts, that is totally revolutionizing the treatment of childhood food allergies.

“The work that Amy does is life-changing,” Ming said.

Today, his adult son is completely cured of his food allergies thanks to A.R.T.

“The most amazing part of this work is that a family can come in here so fearful and so scared and I can look at them and say: Your kid is not going to have food allergies,” says Thieringer, who began developing her A.R.T. protocol more than fifteen years ago after her own son nearly died of an anaphylactic reaction. “I’m going to change your life.”

Thieringer says, to date, she has cured more than four hundred children of their food allergies through a protocol she has developed to balance and bolster a child’s immune system.

“Nobody else is looking at the root of the issue,” she explains.

“If you ask leading allergists, they’ll say that food allergies are due to an overactive immune system, but they cannot shift and reset that immune system. That’s what we’re doing.”

Using an FDA-approved radiofrequency machine, Thieringer identifies and treats toxins and other stressors that are overloading an individual’s immune system. In addition, A.R.T. uses a professional-grade probiotic and alkalizing agent, all of which strengthen the microbiome in the gut. Thieringer also integrates cognitive behavioral therapy to mitigate the client’s anxiety response, and gradually introduces allergens, ramping them up slowly until clients can eat them freely.

“When these clients first come into my office, their world is very small, they’re very anxious, and there’s no hope,” she says.

“We’re giving them hope, where traditional medicine leaves them feeling hopeless.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

130-135_NEL_AllYouCanEat_FW20.indd 133

133

10/20/20 12:51 AM

While her protocol was initially met with skepticism by traditional doctors and allergists, there is now a clinical trial in the works to document its effectiveness. Perhaps even more compelling is the fact that a number of Thieringer’s patients are children of traditional doctors. Dr. Wayne Altman put two of his sons through her protocol.

“We started with traditional methods,” says Altman who is the president of the Family Practice Group in Arlington, Massachusetts, as well as the Jaharis Family Chair of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. “First, we saw the traditional local allergist who said get an EpiPen and make sure they don’t eat peanuts or tree nuts, but I became determined to see what else we could do because it made me nervous, both in the present and the future, that there might be some accidental exposure that could be dangerous for them.”

Continuing on the traditional medicine route, Altman sought out a world-renowned allergist and enrolled one of his sons into clinical trials treating allergies through OIT and peanut patch therapy. “Neither of them were really successful,” he says. Then Altman heard about Thieringer and A.R.T. through a colleague that practiced functional medicine. He contacted her and learned about the revolutionary protocol. “Balancing the immune system through radio frequency was new to me; it’s outside the domain of the medical world,” Altman says. “But I’m openminded, and I recognize that in medicine there’s things that we don’t understand and we can’t see.” Moreover, Altman spoke to a number of Thieringer’s past patients who had been cured by the protocol. “There was enough of a track record to prove that it was working that I thought we should give it a try,” he says. “So I got on the waiting list, eventually got my sons treated, and now they’re cured.”

134

“WE’RE GIVING THEM HOPE, WHERE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE LEAVES THEM FEELING HOPELESS.”

As a professor at Tufts Medical School, Altman is currently helping roll out a study to be published in mainstream medical research documenting the results of A.R.T. in what he described as “a rigorously scientific manner.” With those studies in place, he believes that A.R.T. will become a mainstream treatment of food allergies.

“The biggest challenge is scaling this,” Altman says.

While Thieringer personally has a long waiting list of more than four hundred people, she has spent the last three years training others in her protocol and is in the process of opening A.R.T. centers across the country. “We’re starting a movement to eradicate food allergies,” she says.

“We’re scaling this so we can safely see the most amount of people possible.” At press time, Thieringer was in the process of expanding her center in Lexington, Massachusetts, while plans were in the works for New York City and elsewhere across the country.

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

130-135_NEL_AllYouCanEat_FW20.indd 134

10/20/20 12:51 AM

Taking a seat in Thieringer’s office a little more than a year ago, my wife and I were initially struck by all of the photos. Hundreds of smiling children adorn her walls. Some are holding out a slice of pizza, while others are spooning a bowl of ice cream with peanuts on top. Thieringer informed us that our daughter had one of the most severe cases of eczema that she had ever encountered and her half-dozen food allergies were likely to be equally acute. But as she had said to so many families before us, Thieringer promised that she could fix it—and a year later, she is well on her way to fulfilling that pledge.

Today, my daughter’s skin is not only completely clear of eczema, but she’s already eating eggs, dairy, fish and gluten. And not just in small “bite-safe” doses; she eats a cheese omelet and washes it down with a glass of milk—a breakfast that could have killed her this time last year. Over the course of the next year, we’ll begin introducing treenuts and peanuts. By the time our daughter is able to order for herself at a restaurant, her food allergies will likely be just a distant story that she will have no memory of. Whether our own trauma as parents witnessing her go into anaphylaxis will heal, time will only tell. NEL

Above: Thieringer's office walls are adorned in notes and pictures from past clients who have been cured by her A.R.T. protocol. Below: Thieringer (right) with A.R.T. practitioner and vice president of operations Julie Fletcher.

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

130-135_NEL_AllYouCanEat_FW20.indd 135

135

10/20/20 12:51 AM

LU XURY IS EXCLUSIVE When a marketing program has been designed exclusively for high-end properties and an affluent clientele, the results are extraordinary.

COLDWELLBANKERLUXURY.COM

136

The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Affiliated real estate agents are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. Š2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell BankerŽ System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised which owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. 203WH0_9/20 | W NEWENGLANDLIVIN G. T Voffices I NareT independently ER 2020

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 136

10/20/20 12:31 AM

WINTER

real estate INDUSTRY LEADERS | HOMES FOR SALE

COMMITTED TO CITY LIVING Page 138 WHAT MOVES THEM Page 140

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 137

137

10/20/20 12:31 AM

FEATURED PROPERTY

By Lisa Cavanaugh

COMMITTED TO CITY LIVING Contrary to popular belief, Boston real estate remains strong amid the coronavirus

Written By Lisa Cavanaugh

S

peculation about real estate trends during Covid-19 have followed a familiar line: everyone is moving out of the city. But, as sales statistics began to eventually demonstrate, that isn’t necessarily the whole story. “We had a period when there was a lot of talk that people were leaving Boston, seeking more space and distance in the suburbs and beyond,” says Ken Tutunjian, branch manager of Coldwell Banker Realty in Boston's Back Bay. “But that was more hype than reality.”

Tutunjian said that he saw a different shift that indicated there was just as many buyers as sellers. “I wasn’t sure if that trend would hold, but now months into the pandemic we are seeing better ratios than 2019. The downtown Boston market is experiencing exceptional activity with homes selling in less time and for higher prices.”

138

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 138

10/20/20 12:31 AM

One of the downtown properties that has sold well in this challenging environment is a new building in South Boston called The Ceinture. Located in Broadway Village, The Ceinture will include fifty-four luxury residential units as well as over 4,000 square feet of amenity space including a roof deck, a clubroom with catering kitchen, fitness center, a community work café, and a furnished lobby with a part-time concierge.

"The building is already 75 percent reserved,” says listing agent Dan Gollinger. “ We had been selling well before Covid, and then we had a few months of shut down. But the minute the city re-opened we began seeing a big influx of buyers.

"Gollinger says that a lot of buyers are looking to move out of smaller residences but want to still stay in Boston. “ The most popular units are with two bedrooms or an office. People realize they need break-out space for work, but they don’t want to leave the city mindset and everything that comes with urban core living.”

Tutunjian says his overall sense is that people will never turn their backs on Boston. "I've seen families choosing to stay and empty nesters coming back to Boston, with everyone being even more committed to city living.” He recognizes that there was a moment, early in the pandemic, when no one knew what would happen but then people adapted and learned how to live within the new environment. "I was in real estate in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, I was here in the crash of 2008. I sold properties after the marathon bombing when everyone was saying the city isn’t where you should be,” he says. “And the good news is that each time Boston came back stronger.” NEL

Mathew Dallin & Dan Gollinger of Coldwell Banker Realty 20 W 5th St, Boston, Massachusetts 02127 781-248-0886 theceinture.com

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 139

139

10/20/20 12:31 AM

WHAT MOVES THEM *

"I’M A DEFINITE BELIEVER IN ROUTINE, SO DESPITE WORKING FROM HOME, I STILL GOT UP EVERY MORNING, PUT MY MAKEUP ON AND NEVER STOPPED REAC HING OUT"

he work t t u p u o y “If rds are a w e r e h t in excellent!”

”Breaking out of

your comfort zone"

”H elping clients find a home and getting them excited about where they will live"

“Being part of the community"

“ I love working together with my clients to get over a hardship or loss or to celebrate something new or their next chapter.”

WORKING HARD …

COLDWELL BANKER REALTY’S TOP FEMALE BROKERS SHARE SOME OF THE SECRETS BEHIND THEIR SUCCESS

{ 140

Written By Lisa Cavanaugh

}

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 140

10/20/20 12:32 AM

Sales Associate, Coldwell Banker Realty, Brookline

Jamie Genser

According to the National

Association of Realtors, more

than 60 percent of all certified realtors are women, clearly

showing that the industry is one where women thrive. Coldwell

Banker Realty recognizes this

and regularly celebrates women

who are at the top of their field, including the new President of

Coldwell Banker Realty in New England, Pauline Bennett.

Inspiration: “I’ve been working at Coldwell Banker Realty for twenty-three years. My work ethic was inspired by family members who who never gave up and kept on trying. My husband is also a huge supporter…he is really smart, so I talk to him all the time and get great advice.”

Challenges T his Year: “From March 12th through May 12th, I did not sell one thing. I thought to myself, ‘Uh oh, here we are in prime of spring market.’ But I knew if I just kept working, something would happen.

I’m a definite believer in routine, so despite working from home, I still got up every morning, put my makeup on and never stopped calling, "During challenging times, the inspiration and strength to move forward so often comes from those around us,” says Bennett. “There is no shortage

checking listings and reaching out to people. And it worked.”

Life/Work Balance: “It is especially important to stay safe and well during this time. I’m not an unrealistic person, and I don’t overly

of these examples among the amazing woman of

pressure myself, but I do set achievable goals and work to meet them. I

Coldwell Banker Realty. They find ways to serve

have three kids, a dog, and a husband, so I make sure to set aside time

their clients and their communities no matter what

to spend with them.”

unprecedented challenges they face. Coldwell Banker’s 'What Moves Her' initiative was the perfect way to acknowledge the remarkable success and perseverance of these women. I could not be more proud of them.”

With that in mind, New England Living asked

Advice: “I recommend doing things that feel natural to you, especially with marketing. Also be consistent with your efforts, but realize that sometimes you have to try something new. Break out of your comfort zone and attempt something you aren’t comfortable with. It’s how you grow.”

three of the top selling Coldwell Banker Realty

What Moves Her: “I love my job because I love helping people. I want to

women realtors in New England to share some

help my clients find a house and get them excited about where they will

insights into what “moves them” to succeed.

live with their family.”

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 141

141

10/20/20 12:32 AM

Premier Associate, Coldwell Banker Realty, Norwell

Poppy Troupe

What Moves Them

Inspiration: “This is an easy one for me. My mother has been selling real estate for close to thirty years. She had her own company and was one of the top agents for many years. I brought her on board with me about eight years ago and I couldn’t do what I do without her. I’ve learned through how she did business over the years, being honest and holding our clients needs above all else is most important.

She is so well respected and I hope to have the same legacy.”

Challenges T his Year: “The surge in the market over the summer months made it difficult to have any downtime or vacation. Everyone was feeling stressed. And there is no inventory! I put a place up last night and it will be under contract before the weekend. Everything is going within days.”

Life/Work Balance: “As a working mom of four school-age children, managing work and motherhood has been one of my biggest challenges. I’m lucky to have a very supportive family! I’m also a church goer, and even though we’ve been doing Zoom services, I have the sense of that community around us.”

Advice: “It’s important to go in with one’s eyes wide open, understanding that it’s really hard work. It’s super gratifying work though, and very fulfilling. It’s important not to get discouraged if deals don’t happen right away.

It takes time—but if you put the work in, the rewards are excellent!”

What Moves Her: “I love the stories. I love to hear where people have come from and where they are going. I love working together with my clients to get over a hardship or to celebrate something their next chapter. And my community of other brokers is one of the reasons I love working for Coldwell. It is a wonderful group.”

142

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 142

10/20/20 12:32 AM

Luxury Property Specialist, Coldwell Banker Realty, Weston

Kathryn Alphas Richlen

Inspiration: “I had a large, close-knit and hard-working family, including my my aunt who ran a family business, having started as the accountant as a teenager. I came from a financial background at a high-tech company before entering the real estate profession, so I feel that I have followed in her footsteps. And my first manger in real estate was dynamite.

She really inspired me. Now I’m the #1 broker in Massachusetts.”

Challenges T his Year: “There was no slowdown for my market because we saw a lot of people interested in moving to the suburbs for more space, including home office space. But the inventory is low and the demand is high, so it has been challenging trying to help all those families find properties.”

Life/Work Balance: “I have a great husband. Even though I put in tremendous hours, together we make it work.”

Advice: “This career means a lot of hard work, lots of weekends, but if you put your time in and stick with it, it can be a very rewarding job. And it can be really fun!”

What Moves Her: “Buying a home is one of the biggest financial investments and can create a lot of pressure. So I find it very meaningful and important to help facilitate that momentous event. A home is such an important part of someone’s life and is really rewarding to be part of that chapter with them.” NEL

W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 | N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V

138-142_Coldwell_NEL20_FW.indd 143

143

10/20/20 12:32 AM

K AY L A M A N D E V I L L E

|

@K _ ELIZ ABETH

FINAL THOUGHT

“These woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

—Robert Frost

144

N E W E N G L A N D L I V I N G. T V | W I N T E R 2 0 2 0

144_NEL20_FW.indd 144

10/20/20 11:02 AM

Designing a new kitchen or bathroom? Your KOHLER Signature Store can help. Stop by for a complimentary design consultation, and experience KOHLER products, tile and cabinetry selections firsthand. ®

Let’s make your dream a reality.

19 3rd Avenue, Burlington, MA 323 Speen Street, Natick, MA 7 Tide Street, Boston, MA (833) 269-2600 KSSbySNE.com KOHLER.COM

****_cover_NEL20_FW.indd 46

10/20/20 3:41 PM

BOSTON & MILFORD, MA • SOUTH NORWALK, CT • 800-845-8247

CLK_NELiving_B_COVER_1_17.indd 3 ****_cover_NEL20_FW.indd 44 Cover_2018_fall.indd 47

1/30/17 7:16 PM 10/20/20 3:40 PM PM 10/6/18 3:06