The Life Laconia

David Hacin’s loft building set the standard for South End living when it opened in 2000. Its unfinished units were offered to artists at discounted rates, and a vibrant community was born. We asked Hacin to help us choose three apartments that best illustrate the Laconia’s diverse design sensibilities.

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UNIT 218
Candy Nartonis, a painter and printmaker, and her husband, David, an independent researcher, hired Boston-based architecture firm Kennedy Violich to design the space and create a wall to separate Candy’s large studio from the loft’s living spaces. The wall integrates various shelving configurations with translucent window boxes that silhouette the tools of her trade. The Nartonises decorated their loft with pottery, antique tools, wooden boxes, and brightly painted flea market furniture. Candy, who was one of the first residents to move in, says, “Laconia is a special building for an outstanding community.”

Candy Nartonis works at a printmaking table surrounded by her paintings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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The open kitchen features a professional stove, stainless steel appliances, and an industrial sink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see Unit #320, go on to the next page…

 

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UNIT 320
Artist power couple Gary Knell and Michele Mercaldo wanted flexible, open, and bright space for themselves and their son, now five. Knell, a designer and fabricator, used his South Boston shop, Studio FKIA, to construct a clever plywood and translucent plexiglass system that would serve as a walk-in closet while providing a fold-away office and bookshelves on the living room side; another thoughtful touch was building vertical pockets for storing the enormous window curtains. He and Mercaldo, a jewelry designer, collaborate several times each year to dress the windows of her South End studio/shop with fanciful installations, such as a full-size birch forest and a wall of continuously running water.

 

Knell accesses the laundry nook next to the kitchen.

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A ring of cast bronze and porcelain toadstools adorns the wall above the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The son’s playful bedroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go on to the next page to see Unit #322…

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UNIT 322
Taking the industrial look to a whole new level, Joan and Howard Resnikoff’s minimalist loft boasts 9-foot-high curved steel walls. Many of the panels in the walls pivot or swing open to reveal ample storage for a couple who had to squeeze their former Winchester Colonial into 2,200 square feet. Joan, an artist and ceramicist, couldn’t hang her work in a conventional way on the metal surfaces, so magnets became a crucial part of the décor. To dampen the acoustics, the Resnikoffs installed foam-baffled panels designed for recording studios in their ceiling. The geometrically embossed foam brings an unexpected softness to the space.

The Resnikoffs in their living room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Joan in her studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The steel kitchen.