A HOME’S RENOVATION COMES WITH GREAT NEIGHBORS April 26, 2022
By Laura Mars
AS MORE AND MORE WORKING-CLASS FAMILIES find a way to call the Berkshires home, we see our communities bursting with renewed energy—family-focused activities, diverse restaurants and retail shops, and main streets and town parks busy with strollers and pets. For many, however, the short supply of housing is an obstacle. For urbanites Kimberly and Brian Duval, the rehab route was the way to go, and they transformed their house twice in eight years.
From the outside, the unassuming house located at 41 Tucker Street in Lenox looks similar enough to other homes in the neighborhood. Its original 1937 Cape design is evident, but differences emerge as you look closer. There are more windows. Contemporary colors. An expended shape that hints at big changes. As you walk through the front door, it’s obvious. The redesign of this modest home strikes you like a gorgeous day at the beach. Room by room, almost entirely in shades of blue and white, you are pulled into the peaceful setting that is both functional and gracious.
Prior to purchasing the home, the Duvals— and fur baby Maggie— often visited the Berkshires. (Brian grew up in Lee with grandparents who lived on Tucker Street.) The couple enjoyed Tanglewood and a break from their fastpaced city life. “Like a decaf instead of a cappuccino,” says Kimberly, comparing the stress level between the Berkshires and New York City.
Enamored with the neighborhood’s mountain views and walkability, they bought the fixer-upper in 2013 when they were in their 30s. The median age of visitors to the Berkshires at that time was 52. That median age has been trending younger, and today the Duvals represent the largest group—40 somethingers from big cities, often with families and pets in tow—who come here not only to play, but to stay.
From day one, these city folks impressed their neighbors, who watched the newlyweds fill a 30-yard dumpster with the insides of the house and move massive amounts of stone and dirt to regrade steep terrain using only a pair of wheelbarrows. “Gluttons for punishment,” the neighbors would comment, as Kimberly and Brian emerged from the house covered in paint and saw dust.
Using her architectural background— Kimberly worked for the global firm Perkins & Will and others—she designed all aspects of phase one which included a complete rebuild of the home and landscape. The couple drove out from Boston every weekend until 2016, when they both transferred to the other big city (Brian is VP for a major insurance company), and their drive changed direction.
They worked tirelessly on new living areas, turning a modest three-bedroom Cape into an extraordinary home with an expansive bedroom, a dramatic kitchen, and intimate living spaces—comfy reading nook here, family baby grand piano there— with Brian’s custom millwork skills evident throughout. The transformation continues outdoors, with stone paths and a patio.
As the Duvals split their time between Manhattan and Tucker Street, a new vision started to emerge. Although their Lenox home was comfortable and certainly bigger than their city digs, it lacked a proper carpentry workshop for Brian, had only one bedroom—and wouldn’t a bigger kitchen be great?
Plans for the second, larger renovation became a reality when they were in Hawaii in early 2020. Kimberly again designed the addition, which doubled the size of the house to 4,000 square feet, over three levels. The second floor now includes another bedroom, a full bath, and a sunroom, The first floor lost the garage but gained a family room, an impressive laundry room, a mud room, a wraparound porch, and a larger kitchen. The lower level (the basement, with daylight streaming through perfectly situated windows onto light-colored walls and flooring) houses Brian’s carpentry workshop, a third bedroom and full bath, and a second staircase.
Kimberly worked with local officials to obtain the special permits to make it all happen, and the addition was completed using a variety of local contractors, including A.M. Estate Management, All Star Excavation in Lenox, LePrevost Plumbing & Heating, Pignatelli Electrical Contractors, Arseneau Construction, J Smegal Roofing & Renovations, and Lee Tile & Stone. With Kimberly responsible for design plans and hands-on coordination of all trades, it’s no surprise that this major project was complete in the fall of 2021—14 months from start to finish.
Throughout the process, Kimberly became engaged in the Lenox community, always asking, “How can I help?” She is now a member of the Zoning Board, Historical Commission, Historic District Commission, and Cultural Council. “It’s very interesting to learn about how things work,” she says. “The Zoning Board receives lots of requests to tear down existing buildings. I’d like to see more people renovating Berkshire properties. It preserves the character of the buildings and the community.”
Kimberly used the renovation of 41 Tucker Street as a catalyst for her own design studio—41 Studios—which combines interior design and architecture. “This was a careful curation, designed to be experienced in moments,” she says with genuine affection to renovating and expanding the home. “It was never a fancy house; that wouldn’t make sense. We made do with what we had.”
While they are fully immersed in the Berkshires—both working full-time from Lenox—the Duvals will also always be New Yorkers. They just signed a new lease for their Manhattan apartment. “We will never sell 41 Tucker Street, it feels like a victory,” says Kimberly. “It will always be our home. But we can’t live in the country or the city full time.
“There are a lot of really interesting places to call home and a lot of reasons why the Berkshires are worth it, like the scenery and Gilded Age homes. And it punches above its weight class with its cultural scene and restaurants.”
More than having succeeded in thoughtfully renovating an aging home and contributing to their Berkshire community, the Duvals have gained local respect through hard work and a genuine sense of caring. Now that their house is closer to their neighbor’s, the two have plans to create a shared border garden.
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