By Antonia DePace By Antonia DePace | June 21, 2023 | Home & Real Estate, Feature,
An 1886 home gets a much-needed face-lift thanks to Christa O’Leary and her family.
Stunning ocean views were at the forefront of O’Leary’s design process
Let’s take it back to the winter of 2014. For most New Englanders, the severe ice storms stand out—but especially to Christa O’Leary and her family. “Our house in Hingham got completely destroyed,” O’Leary, who is the face behind Home in Harmony Designs (homeinharmonydesigns.com), remembers. The family of six ended up moving outside of Hingham due to a lack of availability and into Hull, where O’Leary came across a dream property that needed her special touch. After selling their vacation home on Cape Cod and convincing her husband, the sale was a done deal—but the Hull property ended up becoming so much more. “Our four kids loved it,” O’Leary says.
The sunlit breakfast nook features unblocked water views thanks to a translucent Visual Comfort chandelier.
And then three consecutive nor’easters came in 2018—this time, wreaking havoc on the new property. The entire town lost power, but O’Leary’s never came back on, causing the pipes to burst. This, in combination with a wave snapping a beam in the basement, led the Elle Decor, House Beautiful and Houzz-coveted designer to start from scratch—completely renovating their second residence from the ground up. Her first step? Opening up the home, which was previously segmented into small sections with little to no windows and a lack of water views, as well as raising the building. This, in addition to adding as many windows and doors as possible, led to an entirely new property.“When you’re standing in the kitchen, all you see is water. You literally feel like you’re on a boat,” she explains.
Beautiful chair fabric by Kravet/ Barbara Berry adds movement to the family room, which also features TV art from Blu Lemonade Photography.
Walking in from the outside of the home, those who enter climb up one set of stairs to the main deck, where O’Leary opens up the home from the outside in through creating an eyebrow roofline. “I wanted it to feel expansive when you were sitting there,” O’Leary adds. “And from the inside, the more that we were able to create height there, the more you were able to see the sky.” Also on the deck reside large fans that help to keep things cool, as well as a MadeGoods (madegoods.com) coffee table and an RH (rh.com) sectional—perfect for entertaining. A pop of color comes courtesy of the Thibaut (thibautdesign.com) indoor-outdoor pillow fabric, which pulls blue hues from the ocean beyond.A mudroom immediately greets guests from there, where O’Leary’s signature round, circle window can be found. Similar structural elements can be seen throughout the home through hardware, light fixtures and patterns. “I actually have a graduate degree in psychology, and it’s one of those things that the brain actually calms down when things make sense,” she adds. “And to have that consistency throughout a home, it allows your brain to really decompress.”A pop of color comes through in the secret bar, complemented by the same Mexican custom tile seen in the kitchen
Because the home does not have a garage or basement, prime storage was of the utmost importance throughout the space, but especially in this section. “All of the cabinetry goes to the ceiling,” she says. “Every square inch is utilized in the house.” Further within the home, pops of blue continue to make an appearance, like in the secret bar, which has cabinetry painted in bright Benjamin Moore Pool Party. Here, a custom tile from Mexico adds fun pattern and spontaneity—it can also be seen in the backsplash of the kitchen. The breakfast nook also nods to the hue through more Thibaut pillow fabric. Here, a large iridescent bubble chandelier from Visual Comfort (visualcomfort.com) adds dimension, all while keeping the views from the outdoors unblocked.
The primary bedroom adds feminine touches through bedside sconces by Visual Comfort and bedding from Eastern Accents.
Back in the kitchen, seeded glass pendants bobble from above the large island, where O’Leary chose clear acrylic stools for easy cleanup and a chic aesthetic. Within the same footprint lies the family room, which features an indoor-outdoor space thanks to large, glass accordion doors that were inspired by the interior designer’s West Coast clients. Carefully chosen tile on the fireplace and back of the bookshelves adds movement to the otherwise muted space thanks to wavelike patterns. “One day you look at [the water in Hull] and it looks like you’re looking at the Caribbean, and then the next day you’re looking at it and you feel like it’s the coast of Maine and it’s kind of gray,” she explains. “You have such a variety of the blue spectrum. So the idea was to try to pick up [the colors] no matter what day it is.”
DESIGN DETAILS
TYPE
Single-family
INTERIOR DESIGNER
Christa O’Leary
Home in Harmony Designs
homeinharmonydesigns.com
ARCHITECT
A. Kearney Architects
akearneyarchitects.com
RESOURCES
Boston Appliance
Appliances, kitchen
bostonappliance.net
Kravet
Couch fabric and chair fabric, family room kravet.com
Mitzi
Lighting, secret bar and mudroom
mitzi.com
Ro Sham Beaux
Chandelier, dining room
ro-sham-beaux.com
Tritter Feefer
Diamond hardware, kitchen
tritterfeefer.com
Photography by: MICHAEL J. LEE