Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/121906
HAUTE PROPERTY RIGHT: The original coffered ceiling was uncovered when the second and third floors were peeled back. BELOW: The building was the original home of the New England Museum of Natural History, where dinosaur bones found a resting place. MORE THAN A STORE At RH Boston, The Gallery at the Historic Museum of Natural History, both the environment and the merchandise eloquently articulate Restoration Hardware's knack for repurposing the past. • A variety of Napa wines are served from the stone wine bar by Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley—the first outside of Yountville, California. • A 1930s Burch World's Fair model popcorn machine cranks out buttery morsels in the Cinema Room. • Four "clubrooms," which surround the indoor park and conservatory, create enclaves for perusing Motown vinyl records and vintage reads. • Guests can belly up to a century-old beer bar salvaged from a local pub or make a break on a refurbished vintage Brunswick billiards table in the Music Room. • The RH Objects of Curiosity collection features reproduced or reimagined artifacts, such as a 1920s German light bulb tester turned into a bar, and tabletop binoculars fashioned after those on the decks of World War II naval vessels. • The new RH Tableware collection is a veritable United Nations of entertaining, with authentic Chinese porcelain, German stemware, English silver, and Belgian linen. • On the subterranean level, the company has given birth to its first RH Baby&Child Design Showroom on the East Coast. • Personalized RH Interior Design Services help tie it all together. • Coming attractions include an outdoor sculpture garden as well as lifestyle programs being developed by the Restoration Hardware spin-off, Hierarchy. The restored building is an ideal home for RH's retro-chic offerings. 120 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, BOSTON (MUSEUM); BY MARK HUG/RESTORATION HARDWARE (CEILING); KATHRYN BARNARD/RESTORATION HARDWARE (LOBBY) continued from page 118 sides. You never see that in the middle of a city as significant as Boston." One-of-a-kind creations further enhance the interior, such as custom lighting by Ross De Alessi and one of the space's true showpieces: a custombuilt steel and glass elevator that reinterprets an 1892 traction and counterweight model. On the third level, the elevator doors open to an indoor conservatory and park. The coffered ceiling—glistening in iridescent shades of gold and punctuated by a 24-foot steel replica of the Eiffel Tower discovered in a Paris flea market—provides year-round protection from the elements. The composite flooring is made of decomposed granite; reproductions of silver-leafed olive trees dot the third-floor "landscape"; and working fountains complete the parklike atmosphere. Explains Friedman, "The trick is to find the juxtaposition of making it look historic with a new twist." 234 Berkeley St., 857-239-7202; restorationhardware.com BC BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 117-120_BC_HP_Opener_LATESPRING_13.indd 120 4/10/13 12:08 PM