A 1740s Weston Farmhouse Gets a Vivid Transformation

In the dining room, olive-green millwork plays off the adjacent study’s British-racing-green grasscloth wallcovering and Farrow & Ball’s “Treron” paint. / Photo by Sian Richards

This article is from the spring 2025 issue of Boston Home. Sign up here to receive a subscription.

The owners of this 1740s saltbox farmhouse in Weston knew they needed a push to fill their home with color and pattern. “We didn’t want a traditional beige house,” the wife says. “Left on our own we default to safe.”

The couple, who have two school-aged sons and a rescue dog, bought the home for its rich character and 6 acres of rolling fields, knowing they would eventually expand and modernize it. Architect Frank Shirley designed a nearly 3,600-square-foot addition to the original section of the house—the center hall entry and stair with the living room on one side, the office on the other, and the rooms above it. While the previous additions they demolished were a discordant mishmash, the new one speaks to the original post-and-beam dwelling, making the house appear to have grown over time.

Like Shirley, interior designer Katie Martinez created a similar—though much more colorful—story for the interiors, one that looks as though it unfolded over the years. In a sense, it did. Not only does the design highlight historical features such as handhewn beams and wide-plank floors, but Martinez also devised schemes incorporating pieces the couple already had. “Inherited antiques help tell their family stories,” the designer says. Artisanal wallpaper, textiles, and lighting, along with antique rugs and vintage furniture imbue the home with its lived-in feel. That the colors and patterns don’t always match contributes to the effect.

The clean lines of the custom coffee table by Manchester-based Studio Rossi complement inherited (but reupholstered) pieces such as the footstools and armchairs. / Photo by Sian Richards

A vintage Oriental rug adds even more character to the original wide pine-board flooring in the entry, while an abaca rug prevents the living room from feeling stuffy. / Photo by Sian Richards

Martinez set the tone in the entry with a green Marthe Armitage wallcovering in a handblocked meandering botanical that invites the meadows indoors. A glimpse into the living room, where they uncovered the original wood ceiling, reveals a complementary scheme built around their existing drapery with red climbing vines. The focal point? A red velvet-mohair sofa. “It was a big discussion, whether we were willing to risk doing a red sofa,” the homeowner says. “We love it so much it seems silly in retrospect.”

The dining room marks the physical connection between the old and new parts of the house, which is reflected in the dance between the formal and informal décor. Vintage midcentury-modern chairs from Ramble Market tone down the heaviness of the owners’ antique table, as does the free and easy Noguchi lantern. New wainscoting painted an earthy green relates to panels on the original fireplace, and peach-and-blue Marthe Armitage wallpaper references the property’s former iteration as a farm. “The color pairing is unexpected, lending the sense of an evolution,” Martinez says.

Chairs from an antique market in Peabody lend age to the new kitchen, along with unlacquered-brass spigots and an antiqued-brass sconce, both by deVOL. / Photo by Sian Richards

Walnut tops the large island, lending warmth and coziness to the kitchen painted in Farrow & Ball’s “Stirabout,” an off-white with gray undertones that ties into the veining of the marble-slab backsplash. / Photo by Sian Richards

Walls washed in Benjamin Moore’s “French Macaroon” colors the family room in a salmon-y shade. Here, multiple colors—rose, chartreuse, olive, lake blue—and patterns—floral clusters and leafy stripes—converge to create a space that hums with happiness. The eye dances delightedly around the room before settling on the age-worn wood mantel salvaged from the husband’s grandparents’ home in Cleveland, now dressed up with an authentic Delft tile surround.

The classic bisque-colored kitchen with marble countertops, nickel-gap walls, and a big walnut-topped island is both made for the modern family and inspired by Insta-famous English kitchen company deVOL. “I’m obsessed with them,” the wife laughs. A handwoven rattan pendant, vintage chairs with rush seats from a local antique market, and unlacquered double spigots channel cozy English vibes in the light-filled breakfast nook.

The powder room bursts with energy thanks to designer Katie Martinez’s pairing of Delft tile with floral wallpaper by Schuyler Samperton. “It’s a pattern clash, but it works,” she says. / Photo by Sian Richards

GP&J Baker wallpaper wraps the primary bedroom in ferns, creating a lyrical backdrop for the bed, which is upholstered in an orderly Alice Sergeant linen. Vintage nightstands and Studio Atkinson sconces ground the tableau. / Photo by Sian Richards

Upstairs, mismatched patterns and colors inject youthful energy into the landing and boys’ bedrooms and baths. Martinez wrapped the primary bedroom in a lively fern-patterned wallcovering once the homeowners embraced the idea of covering all the walls, loving how it speaks to the natural landscape. The upholstered headboard adds an almost wicker-like layer, and the Nickey Kehoe bohemian throw loosens up the ensemble.

By contrast, the primary bath is intentionally spare. Martinez ran wide wooden floorboards in there, not wanting to fancify it in marble. A luxurious soaking tub looks out to the verdant surroundings. “I can’t believe I get to get ready in here every day,” the homeowner says. “It’s just so beautiful.”

A sheer striped shade filters sunlight in the pared-back primary bath, where an antique rug from Gray House Antiques in Manchester-by-the-Sea provides some protection for the wood floor. / Photo by Sian Richards

Architect Frank Shirley Architects
Builder Tall Guy Builders
Interior Designer Katie Martinez Design
Photo Stylist Katie Henry