Comfort Zone

When you're living within city limits, space comes at a premium. So it goes without saying that architects Monica Ponce de Leon and Gregory Saldana, who purchased an Italianate row house in the South End, wanted a home that every member of their family—including two children and two dogs—could enjoy. The result is a place overflowing with personality, from eclectic art to high-end-but-not-too-precious furnishings. (Case in point: an elegant midcentury couch, one arm nibbled by the playful pups.) "We all live in every room, and every room is lived in," says Ponce de Leon, one of the founders and principals at award-winning design firm Office dA. "We feel at home because we are here—here among our children, the dogs, the books, the photographs, the objects."  

Soon, a job will take them out of town—Ponce de Leon has accepted a post as dean of the architecture college at the University of Michigan—and they'll carry all those signs of togetherness with them. "But the plan is to retire here," asserts Saldana, who runs his own consulting practice in Boston. And when they do, their home will be here waiting for them—and, of course, for their dogs.

View the slide show below.

FAMILY TIES: Ponce de Leon and Saldana relax in their South End townhouse with their children, Beatriz and Simon, and their two Vizslas, Zsa-Zsa and Buda.