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  • This Old House

    BETTER THAN EVER

    Jun 07, 2019 5 minutes
    By David Masello
    Photographs by John Gruen
    Produced by Nicole Esposito-Polly
    Styling by Anna Molvik

    RENOVATING AN OLD HOUSE is not unlike rejuvenating a mature garden: Both require careful pruning, the vision to direct new growth in the right direction, and a commitment to preserving the beauty and historical integrity of the overall structure.

    The similarities are not lost on Michael Beck, executive director of the Berkshire Botanical Garden, and his husband, Beau Buffier, an antitrust lawyer who is also an enthusiastic gardener. When the couple decided to renovate and add on to their circa-1810 house in the tiny hamlet of Richmond, in western Massachusetts, they quickly saw parallels: “Working with an eighty-five-year-old botanical garden means being sensitive to history but also understanding how to bring something

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