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A happy surprise

Marc Glasberg thought the Back Bay apartment might be too spare, but it's the ideal background for his antiques.

The Commonwealth Avenue home of Boston antiques dealer Marc Glasberg did not start off as his dream house, but its open floor plan, white walls, and skyline views do provide a dreamy backdrop for his collection of antique treasures.

Glasberg, owner of Marcoz Antiques on Newbury Street, says that when he saw the two-bedroom condo in a stately brownstone with its cathedral ceiling and rooms that flowed one into the other, he balked. It wasn't really him. He liked more architectural detail, more intimate spaces. But the more he looked at the condo, the more he realized how cleverly the space had been used.

The building had been a single-family home before it was developed into condominiums in 1980. Glasberg's apartment had served as rooms for the house staff, but a creative architect figured out a way to break down the walls of the warren of tiny rooms, open part of the living room ceiling so that it rose 20 feet through half of the floor above, and carve out a kitchen from where a staircase once spiraled to the roof. A huge skylight that once lit that stairwell now brings sunbeams to Glasberg's kitchen table.

"I surprised myself in taking this apartment," says Glasberg, whose shop has been a Newbury Street fixture since 1972. "I realized, though, that the open space would be a gallery exhibiting old things, and that the architecture would not be fighting for attention with my things. So I went with the openness of it and sold my antique rugs so the oak floor would show and it would just be airy. It's great for entertaining."

While Glasberg's furnishings are formal pieces, mostly French, from the 19th century, the living room still feels accessible and cozy. A custom-upholstered overstuffed sofa with down pillows is perfect for plopping on, and a game table and leather chaise on the other side of the room add to the relaxed atmosphere. His collection of small boxes and jewelry caskets made from tortoiseshell, porcelain, enamel, crystal, and wood adorns the surfaces of the glass-topped coffee table and side tables. Glasberg installed a Louis XVI marble mantel and fireplace surround, replacing a plain pine version.

A terrace off the living room offers sweeping views of the Back Bay, from Dartmouth Street on the left to the Arlington Street end of Commonwealth Avenue on the right.

The dining room doubles as a reception area, with a 60-inch round table covered by an elegant cloth dominating the space. Above it is an enormous chandelier that once hung in the entry of a French chateau. The French dining chairs, their seats and backs upholstered in leather, are positioned around the room rather than at the table, and two room-divider screens painted by an artist friend frame the room on either side, giving it a sense of intimacy.

An 18th-century tapestry of a landscape in greens and blues hangs ceiling to floor on the wall that separates the dining room from the kitchen, bringing a bit of the outdoors into the windowless area.

The kitchen has terra cotta floor tiles, white laminate cabinets, and a built-in buffet shelf with storage below. Glasberg plans this year to replace the cabinets with wood, use granite for the countertops, and replace the buffet with a French country hutch. A wrought-iron stand holding Glasberg's grandmother's copper pots dominates one corner, while bird cages and French coffee and tea tins are clustered on top of the cabinets. An enormous grape-picking basket filled with dried flowers hangs just beneath the skylight.

In the master bedroom, a carved cherub reading a book perches above the bed, and a French armoire stands opposite - though it's not strictly necessary, since the bedroom has its own bath and walk-in closet. One corner is devoted to Glasberg's father's favorite chair, a cushy piece originally covered in mohair, with a matching ottoman.

"My father used to read the paper and smoke his pipe in that chair every night," says Glasberg. "My mother held onto it for years, and I think it's wonderful that she kept it for me." The room is painted a gray called "wet pavement," by Martin Senour, and the bed is set off by luxurious French linens and a duvet cover.

A spiral staircase off the dining room leads to Glasberg's office/den, where a French daybed covered in antiqued velvet is the centerpiece. A reproduction 17th-century Chinese cabinet holds the television. And another spiral staircase leads to a smaller room with a half bath and a built-in wet bar; this serves as an anteroom to the condo's piece de resistance, a two-tiered roof deck hugged by the Boston skyline.