A Fresh Start

When a botched facelift left a Wellesley Colonial with an identity crisis, a crack team of designers, builders, and architects smoothed out the wrinkles and restored the light. —By Julie Suratt

The realtor’s blurb for the 1925 Colonial in Wellesley promised “sophistication and style”—a complete renovation that maintained “the charm of a bygone era.” But when California transplants Megan Dyer and her husband, John, walked into the seven-bedroom, six-bathroom home, it was anything but charming: “The finishes were cheap, the flow was off, and the rooms dark and dreary,” says Megan, who deemed the house “completely unmemorable.”