Home Improvement Interior designer Lisa Bonneville, who specializes in designs that accommodate physical limitations, melds beauty and safety in Tom Baker’s home. Tom Baker in his elevator on Oct. 2. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Tom Baker’s Gloucester home is proof that safety and beauty can coexist.

A visitor may be struck by a creative mix of paintings, sculptures, textiles, posters, books, rugs, and furniture from all over the world. It takes longer to notice, but equally important to the design is its accessibility. There are no sills or trip hazards; the doorways are wide enough for a wheelchair to pass; any change in elevation has a hand rail nearby; bathrooms are equipped with curbless shower floors, grab bars, and multilevel shower heads; and the kitchen has reachable storage space and work surfaces. Best of all, an elevator just big enough for one wheelchair and a caretaker opens to all three levels of his condominium.

Interior designer Lisa Bonneville created a universal design in Tom Baker’s Gloucester home that will allow him to age in place — and in style. – Eric Roth Photography

Baker, 82, doesn’t use a wheelchair, but he is concerned about his diminishing ability to walk, and he’s not taking any chances.

“I don’t want to ever move again, no matter what happens,” he said. “This is my forever home.”

The marriage of artistic furnishings with Universal Design is the work of Manchester-by-the-Sea interior designer Lisa Bonneville, who specializes in homes that accommodate physical limitations and issues of aging. She is the author of “The Safe Home: Designing for Safety in the Home,” published by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) in 2007, and she has lectured on the subject all over the country. She and Baker met via a mutual friend when he moved here in 2020.

With the help of interior designer Lisa Bonneville (left), Tom Baker ‘s three-story townhouse was turned into a universal-design home where he can grow older. This included removing sills, widening doorways, installing an elevator, and other changes. – Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

“I started out working in advertising in New York; it was very much the life portrayed in ‘Mad Men,’” Baker said, smiling. “Then I moved to California and worked as the travel manager for Reader’s Digest. I traveled constantly, all over the world, until I retired in 2010.”

Since leaving the corporate world, he has written and published three novels, a book of short stories, and, in 2024, a collection of prose poems entitled “A Book of Common Flowers.”

In 2011, his partner of 35 years died.

“By then, Santa Monica, where we lived, had changed. It was discovered by movie executives, who moved there, and that changed the funky, low-key vibe. And then there were the fires,” he said.

Baker poses in his office.
– Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Baker decided to move back east.

“I was not downsizing. I knew that I needed space for my things. I wanted something all on one floor, but nothing like that was available. I liked this place when I saw it, but I knew I would need the help of a skilled interior designer. A friend introduced me to Lisa, and she said to me, ‘You have great stuff to work with.’ We had an instant connection.”

Bonneville headed up an extensive building project in which the kitchen and bathrooms were gutted, and walls were reconfigured to provide wide turning spaces.

The bathrooms are equipped with curbless shower floors, grab bars, and multilevel shower heads. – Eric Roth Photography

“We did one floor at a time, starting with the top floor,” she explained. “That way, Tom could live relatively undisturbed while we worked. The hardest part was aligning the elevator for all three levels.”

On the top floor, the elevator door is in the hall beside the primary bedroom suite. On the main floor, it opens to the hall between the living room and the kitchen. On the ground floor, the elevator is next to the door leading into the garage.

The garage entrance is the only entryway that has steps. If needed, a ramp can be installed in the future. – Eric Roth Photography

“Originally, the door into the garage was where the elevator door is now,” Bonneville said. “We took the space for the elevator from a closet and put a new door to the garage into the blank wall next to it.”

“Right now, five steps lead up to the door; they have handrails, a shallow rise, and are 11 inches deep,” Bonneville added. “In the future, if needed, we will put a ramp where the steps are.”

Baker is photographed at his garage entry with custom steps and handrails. – Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Once inside the house, the only other level change is two steps down into the sunken living room. The lowest level also has a family room, a home office, a bathroom, and a movie theater complete with twinkling ceiling lights and a 96-inch screen.

“This was the model unit when they were first building these condos,” Baker said. “They had installed the theater and, since it came with the house, I decided to keep it.”

He also keeps architectural elements that are important to him, as evidenced by the barn board that lines the wall of the downstairs bath. Originally found in New Hampshire, it traveled to California where it lined a different bathroom wall, and back to the East Coast.

Baker likes to tell the stories behind his home’s furnishings. The kitchen walls, for instance, wear the famous – and much copied – wallpaper usually called “Banana Leaf.” Actually named “Martinique,” it was created in 1942 by the design house CW Stockwell and was extensively used in a 1949 redesign of the Beverly Hills Hotel, with which it has been associated ever since. When Baker worked in advertising, the hotel was one of his agency’s clients; he keeps a framed advertisement for the hotel on a kitchen wall.

The eat-in kitchen has the famous wallpaper from the Beverly Hills Hotel, which was a client of Baker’s during his time in advertising. – Eric Roth Photography

In a corner of the living room stands the glowing skeleton of a modern chair, a piece that noted neon artist David Otis Johnson made specifically for Baker. You clearly can’t sit in it, but it is a delightful companion to a pair of tubular steel and cowhide Le Corbusier Sling chairs pulled up to the fireplace.

Bonneville asserts that beloved objects are an important part of aging in place.

“Beauty and nature around us provide a sense of emotional wellbeing and nurture the spirit,” she said. “Yet, it is the ease of function inside our homes that nurture a sense of safety.”

Among the mobility-friendly elements Bonneville installed are soft lights under the primary bathroom’s vanity. They act as nightlights as well as making the floor more visible. She designed chair rails that camouflage grab bars, pointing out that they need not look institutional.

“There are so many good-looking products on the market now that we have a lot more choices than we did even a few years ago,” she said.

She says that, while an extensive construction project like Baker’s is costly, it is important to compare costs before deciding to leave a familiar and beloved home.

“Once a home is accessible and safe, it is less expensive to stay there and to have help come in,” she said. “Until you require eight hours of care a day, you spend less than you would in assisted living.”

The office houses many of Baker’s books. – Eric Roth Photography

Baker loves his Gloucester home. He loves being surrounded by his books, his art, and his cherished objects, and he loves feeling safe there. He uses a walker much of the time, made easier by wide halls and doorways without sills.

“What I love best is the elevator. At this point, I can climb stairs, but it’s not easy. Because of the elevator, I move around a lot more than I would otherwise,” he said.

“And,” he added with a grin, “We put gold wallpaper on the ceiling of the elevator, and I’ve got some favorite pictures in there. It’s functional, but it’s also a pretty space.”

Project team

Interior Designer: Lisa Bonneville, FASID, Bonneville Design, Manchester, MA

General Contractor: Robert Marshall & Sons, Inc., Danvers, MA

Millwork: Dean Richards Custom Woodworking, Essex, MA

Electrician: Bolduc Electrical Service, Danvers, MA

Plumber: Brian Nadeau Plumbing and Heating, Groveland, MA, (978) 372-7285

Painter: Paul Canova Painting, Inc., Danvers, MA

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