Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/61746
SOUPED UP IN THE SUBURBS The upstairs space has a full bar and a pool table. "A the goods • Salvaged bar from Houlihan's in Boston, with three-keg tap system • Vintage soapstone sink • Early-1900s pool and billiards table • Two-channel amplifier system A car lover builds a carriage house to keep his collection close at hand. s soon as you start collecting cars, you realize that if they're not physically on your property, you're not driving them," says Steven Leed, the copresident of Royal Jewelers. To make sure he would have easy access to his collection, he decided to build a two-story carriage house on his North Shore property. Now, even if he's simply scooting off to pick up groceries, he can do so in, say, his '57 Porsche Speedster. To create the stand-alone structure, Leed worked with John Grasso of Grasso Construction to create a space that's more than a storage garage. "If you're going to build something like this, it must be aes- thetically pleasing but also be an important structure," he says. Like many who commission stand-alones, Leed wanted the building to harmonize with his 1930s New England-style brick home. While he knew the general style he wanted, he sought inspiration for the specific design. Leed and his wife, Elizabeth, drove through towns along the North Shore, where outbuildings like barns and carriage houses are common- place. A carriage house with a large semicircular window impressed them, so Leed sketched the image on a napkin for Grasso to modify for their garage. The structure's first floor is dedicated to car storage and display. Leed outfitted it with easily cleanable, vintage-style industrial tiles, an early 1900s soapstone sink with hose hook- ups, hidden cabinetry to conceal a compressor and tools, and plenty of wall space for his collection of vintage racing posters. Gallery lighting and wood paneling give the floor, which holds up to nine of Leed's cars, a showroom feel. Upstairs, Leed built himself a personal clubhouse, complete with a bar he salvaged from a Faneuil Hall restau- rant as well as a converted billiards-and-pool table—but no televisions. "I wanted the focus to be on what was happening in this space. The people [who stop by], the cars, what was happening right here, not on a game somewhere," he says. This is also the area where the family gathers for an occasional Sunday evening games night. Though Leed calls his collection "fluid," meaning as a desired car becomes available, one will be sold due to limited space, he holds onto a few of his favorites year after year, including a Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet, a model that was only made in 1971. Typically he has about a dozen cars at any one time. "I get a lot of pleasure from the aesthetic value of each," he says. "It's sometimes difficult to part with one, but I'm privileged to have them, even if they're only under my care for a short period of time." BC bostoncommon-magazine.com 109 this page, opposite page: photography by russ rocknak/mesh new england photograph by tk; illustration by tk