BOSTON EARL FLANSBURGH CONTEMPORARY KITCHEN
Earl Flansburgh meet Samantha DeMarco, Samantha DeMarco meet your next kitchen
Over the last fourteen plus years, Divine Design and their team of architects and designers have amassed a pretty generous body of work. All of which were at times challenging. But, of course, in the end, an overarching vision prevails and triumph is bestowed upon our diligent creatives: if we're speaking in melodrama, wink. But when going through the archives of plans and images and closed jobs of many years past, one project in particular gleams above the rest. For not only was its "Divine" completion impeccable, but its backstory more telling than anything the team had entertained before. So for fellow fans of mid-century modern and its most authentic modes: hop on board, your train into the history of design has arrived. And, it’s only fitting, that our queen of modern, minimalist design would be the right fit for the job and your tour guide, nay conductor! But, alas, you tell us: What happens when that project manifests itself rather in a historical timeline. When your own voice becomes the restoration of one of your industry heroes? What happens when that job is entrusted to you, and it’s the original family home of one of the country's most influential architects of their time? Of our time? What happens when the sitting court of original modernist design is now wrapping you in their world? Well, you certainly can’t let anyone down now, can you? We think not. Nor did Samantha.
HISTORY AND EVOLUTION COMBINE
So a brief aside if you might: Enter 1963. The year in which Earl Flansburgh, an MIT alumnus and an integral part of the modernist architecture movement, completes his family's own. This home, snuggled into the woodsy backdrop of Lincoln, Massachusettes -- a town, actually, not too far from where the transcendentalists had gotten their start. So, naturally (no pun intended) this architect finds resolve in a deeper appreciation for the land in which we are all born. Thus, like Flansburgh's more literary-motivated predecessors, this particular artist --- a man of both form and function --- a man of design, incorporates nature, and the beauty of his lot of land in Lincoln, as the overwhelming design element carried throughout. Like Emerson and Thoreau, Flansburgh too, in his own way, brings nature into his own space rather than in mere phrasing. Beautifully articulated gardens and modern, wood accents enunciate the very essence of the surroundings. Thus, it’s of no surprise, that along with so many of the late architects existing designs throughout his focus on planning and design of educational facilities are still standing, and will always be timeless. His home, surely, no different: a capsule in time. But, the natural progression of everything: be it living or not, is to evolve. And that's where we find ourselves in the storyline -- decades later, circa 2014 when Earl's wife Polly decides to sell this piece of history so as to let another family introduce a new plotline. And, while the home is still classic, it's details and technology so advanced than - needed its own chance to evolve too. And thankfully, this task was brought into action with the tedious, lover of all things clean lines --- Samantha. Innovations from European cabinet makers, like handle-less systems and weightless appliances were a natural progression. So natural, that when you look at this blurbs associated imagery, the before and afters are obvious, but so much more painless and natural in their transition than anything we had done before that point.
Consequently, this Divine designer was able to showcase a talent unfounded in most: to understand how to blend the old with the new. Ms. DeMarco practices a deeper understanding of a project's needs rather than her own voice's demands. The integrity of the home is kept, and major design elements such as Flanburgh's slatted retaining walls and curvatures, and impressive built-ins are understood and maintained. But, now, Leicht cabinet systems are integrated alongside Gaggenau's legacy of innovative cooktops and etc. to unveil the future of kitchen design. Playing off of the home's original "organic" design features, Samantha chooses natural stone floors in the newly renovated bath which act to both contrast the ultra-contemporary vanity, but also compliment it perfectly. For, the home's original form does both just the same as well.
~Madison Silvers
