Wait the Worth

AFTER YEARS OF DESIGNING HOMES FOR OTHERS, DEE ELMS TURNS HER ATTENTION TO HER FAMILY’S CAMBRIDGE RESIDENCE.

Text by FRED ALBERT

Photography by MICHAEL J. LEE

ABOVE: “When houses are painted out in one color you notice a lot more of the detail and texture,” says Elms, who mixed bluestone and wood steps to break up the ascent to the high-gloss green door.

LEFT: Elms jettisoned the existing staircases and installed a new one. The walls are done in Venetian plaster, which adds textural movement. FACING PAGE: “I really loved all the different colors this piece brought into the room,” Elms says of the Pamela Jorden painting, which provides a circular counterpoint to the living room’s custom marble mantel and millwork.

That began to change eleven years ago, when Elms and her husband purchased a tired home in Cambridge. They rented out the residence for several years and then spent five years living in it as is. “Sometimes you don’t get to move into the perfect house the moment you buy it,” Elms acknowledges. “We had to be patient and continue to plan for what we wanted.”

By 2019, they were ready to remodel. To maximize space for the kids, Elms had the house lifted off its foundation and temporarily relocated to the backyard, while excavators added three feet of height to the head-bruising basement.

The interior was gutted and rebuilt, its upgraded windows and doors paired with simple fumed white-oak flooring, and its hallways and stairs wrapped in lustrous Venetian plaster. “It’s a great surface for a very busy house,” notes Elms. “It’s very forgiving.” Durable, family-friendly materials

A Lindsey Adelman chandelier illuminates an eclectic array of chairs in the dining room, which Elms wrapped in an inky raw silk wallcovering to distinguish it from adjoining rooms. FACING PAGE, TOP: The custom walnut table can seat twelve; an interior window (at rear) offers views of the backyard across the family room. FACING PAGE, BOTTOM: “I wanted it to be clean and simple,” Elms says of the kitchen, which features painted Downsview cabinets topped with a quartz countertop that extends up the wall and an oak island lit by plaster pendants.

THE FAMILY ROOM FEELS LIKE A WINDOW SEAT, WITH A GRIDDED WINDOW WALL DRINKING IN THE BACKYARD VIEW.

CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW: In the family room addition, a sectional from B&B Italia enjoys verdant views of the backyard through a steel-andglass wall. The rear mudroom stops clutter in its tracks; an Urban Electric Co. pendant adds sophistication. “I always think powder rooms should be memorable,” says Elms, who achieved just that thanks to a concrete sink and bold, colorful wallpaper.