Explore an Interior and Garden Designer’s Luxe Historic Home

Californian by birth and a citizen of the world by inclination, Bethany Berk holds degrees in both interior design and European studies. She channels that expertise into Marchioness Home & Garden, a web-based company that offers the antiques she collects in her travels and the heirlooms-to-be she creates to complement them. Bethany and her husband have devoted themselves to restoring their 1905 home on the banks of the Charles River in Dover, Massachusetts, which is a wonderland of one-of-a-kind antiques.

Bethany and her husband were living in Los Angeles when her husband flew to Boston for a job opportunity. His employers-to-be suggested he explore homes in Dover, a town settled in 1640. The rest, as they say, was history: after laying eyes on the estate they now call home, “He called me and said, ‘You’re going to love this place,’” Bethany recalls. “Soon after that I visited the home and he was right — I fell in love with it.”

“The property was a popular recreational spot for Bostonians in the 1800s,” says Bethany. “This home took us to a whole new level in terms of our experience with renovations. Specialty contractors had to be called in for the slate roof, the chimneys, the copper work. The type of work needed took craftsmen with some old-world knowledge, special tools and skill. The work is time consuming and costly. But it’s rewarding in so many ways.”

Bethany embellishes her spaces with the best of what’s branching and blooming on her property. “Fresh flowers and foliage add color, scent and life to a room. In spring and summer [use] fresh flowers and herbs from the garden, and in the fall cut branches from the trees and bring them inside,” she advises. Don’t be too precious or regimented about display: “Glass vases in multiple shapes and sizes make versatile containers. Use large-scale natural arrangements that can hold a found bird’s nest or pretty ornaments for a little whimsy and drama.”