This New Bed for Boston’s Oldest Home Was Three Years in the Making—And Was Totally Worth It

Built in the mid-1600s, James Blake House is the oldest residence of its kind in Boston and one of the country’s few remaining examples of West England country framing. Originally the home of English immigrants James and Elizabeth Blake, the property was passed down to family members until being acquired by the city in 1895 and sold to the Dorchester Historical Society the following year.

Since 2015, the two-story gable-roof home has been managed by a live-in caretaker, Barbara Kurze, who is charged with leading tours of the downstairs museum and keeping up maintenance of the house. There is just one problem, though: With no closets or overhead lights, and few outlets, the interiors weren’t made for a modern resident. Kurze had been sleeping on a twin-size bed—the only option that could fit up the narrow stairs—before seeking out the assistance of interior designer Sarah Cole.

“Through a renovation of our own home in dealing with the historic society in Newton, I met [Kurze],” she says. “She originally contacted me to help her get organized and furnish and decorate the home. There’s no kitchen cabinets, or counters. She has a fridge and a table.”

They also worked with the historical society to fund necessary updates, specifically painting and repairing plaster. But in February 2019, Kurze was ready to tackle her bedroom. However, for a 300-year-old home like the James Blake House, doing so isn’t as easy as going to the store and picking one out.

“I threw out a whole bunch of ideas at first. ‘Do you want a contrast? Do you want to go übermodern or do you want to do something kind of traditional?’ I did show her some pictures of antique beds from the 1600s,” Cole recalls. The client loved the idea of making the piece feel period-appropriate. “We looked at some antiques from England, but they’re pretty expensive, as you can imagine (not even counting [that you have] to ship it across an ocean. And then you run into the fact that they’re usually not sized for a standard mattress—so there were just a lot of hurdles to get over.”