Historic Boston Home’s Music Room

There’s nothing more enchanting than seeing a historical piece of architecture come to life in the hands of people who care about history. Built in 1883 by the renowned Rotch & Tilden architecture firm, this Historic Boston Home has been given new life by smart lighting, courtesy of TSP Smart Spaces, Fourth Dimension Lighting Design, and Illuminate (Boston), who oversaw the project. The home, which sits in Boston’s Back Bay, now has its impressive Music Room lit up for a new generation to admire and behold its splendour.

Added in 1897, the home’s Music Room is the true crown jewel of this project. The room was built to host private performances for international musicians to grace the guests and residents of the home. Its grand arches and half dome were made for acoustics and to benefit those who played there, but now that history has seeped into the architecture, the home is able to share its own music. Through delicate details on walls, intricately done columns, and hypnotic stained-glass windows, the home’s Music Room demands the spotlight – and it deserves it.

Tasked to brighten and revive the space, TSP Smart Spaces envisioned a much better and simpler lighting system that the home had previously. The dim and train-station-like illumination didn’t do the stunning features of the room any justice, so an update was called for. In an effort to further modernize the home, TSP sought to install smart solutions for the room, ranging from lighting to sound systems. Since the greatest challenge of this room was the architecture, TSP decided to bypass extravagant luminaires and focus on minimalistic light fixtures that would bring attention to the features of the room and not the lighting itself.

To combat the lifelessness that the previous lighting setup had, Fourth Dimension Lighting Design carefully positioned MP Lighting’s L52 compact cabinet luminaires behind columns with a 2700K colour temperature to maintain some warmth in the room while highlighting the stunning Greek-inspired marble columns.

In order to illuminate the beautifully placed plaster rosettes in the half dome, L225 spotlight luminaires were strategically placed above columns to shower the ceiling in light, making it the center of attention. To cover enough ground, both small and medium sized L225s were chosen; and to make sure that the architecture was the focus, a matte clear anodized finish was chosen so that the spotlight luminaires could blend in with their backdrop. One huge advantage of using the L225 fixture is that the adjustable head on the luminaire means that the fixture can be positioned differently according to where light needs to hit, and that each individual spotlight can be tweaked to better light up a spot.

During the 19^th century, a stage stood. Now, a piano and fireplace stand. Instead of musicians, piano lessons take place – but the spotlight never changed. Two L225s were placed on the ceiling to highlight the beautifully intricate plaster details that are located on both sides of the fireplace. The white powder coating finish blends in with the white ceiling creating seamless illumination for the wall details, and the adjustable heads ensure that the spotlight luminaires are aiming at the correct spot.

For artworks displayed on the walls, wall-mounted L225s were chosen. The matte clear anodized finish blends in with the walls and provides spotlight illumination that accents the beautiful artwork that’s featured in the Music Room of Historical Boston Home. The small and adjustable spotlight head ensures that light is being directed at the correct spot and that there’s minimal visual pollution – leaving more room for the artwork to truly shine.

This stunning project was made possible by the owners who recognized the potential of the Music Room, by TSP Smart Space, Fourth Dimension Lighting Design, and Terry Rogers of Illuminate, who introduced the two companies for this project. With Rogers’ insight and the thoughtful hands of TSP & Fourth Dimension, the Music Room is again a place to learn, to gather, and to savor – as it was intended since its construction in 1887.