A Designer's Eye

IT TOOK A PROFESSIONAL TO SEE THE POTENTIAL IN A RANCH HOUSE IN TOPSFIELD.

- KATHERINE GUSTAFSON

Interior designer Mindy Haber, a principal at Cummings Architecture + Interiors, was looking for a new home. This was her chance to put her creative stamp on a project for her own family, instead of for a client—“to use all the wallpapers and fabrics that I had been eyeing for a long time,” as she puts it.

The goal was to create a family home that would feel adamantly livable, but stylish and versatile enough for holiday entertaining. Her choice was an unassuming ranch house in Topsfield that had seen better days. With her designer’s eye, she knew the structure provided just the right “blank slate” for her creativity.

“I think it scared the average homeowner away because it wasn’t in great shape and hadn’t been maintained in a long time,” she remembers. “So it would have been a hard sell for someone who wasn’t in the know, perhaps not in the industry.”

She saw right away that its high ceilings with dark wood beams and unusual three-sided fireplace would make the basis for an inviting home with memorable character. And the neutrality of the ranch style gave her “a canvas to put my spin on,” providing latitude to combine a range of elements and ideas.