How to Turn a Penthouse Roof Deck Into a Garden Oasis?
If you're these two city dwellers, you add flowers, a trellis, and purple.
Builder: Woodmeister Master Builders. Interior Designer: Robin Pelissier Design. Landscape Designer: Wisteria & Rose / Dan Cutrona
The Challenge
When a couple purchased this multistory penthouse at the Residences at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston, the 1,200-square-foot roof deck was unremarkable, despite its breathtaking city views. With wood flooring and lots of glass and steel, the only color scheme was the blue-and-white sky. But the buyers craved a rainbow of color: a robust garden oasis teeming with flora that would invite lounging and entertaining.
The Solution
The couple, who love the vibrant vibe of St. Barts, enlisted interior designer Robin Pelissier to revamp their deck into a jovial garden devoted to color. “I wanted them to walk out here and feel that resort-like feeling,” Pelissier says. To start, select pieces of wood flooring were replaced with porcelain pavers to resemble area rugs. To create an intimate conversation space, low-slung Italian lounge sofas—in the husband’s favorite color, purple—were paired with high-back woven chairs with cerulean cushions around the fire pit. Lavender and blue throw pillows marry the seating space to the surrounding “floral explosion” curated by Wisteria & Rose landscape designer Kerry Preston, including an arched metal trellis covered in pink mandevilla and other blooms, and topped with light globes. Overall, the ever-present purple and pink detailing throughout is “so soft against the green foliage,” Pelissier says. “It’s a fantasy.”
An earlier version of this article was first published in the print edition of the July 2025 issue with the headline: “A Bloom With a View.”
Previously
- What Do You Do With a Liminal Homework Nook?
- If Colonel Mustard Had a Library, It Might Look Like This
- This Brilliant, Blue, Boston Room Was Once a Dark Ballroom
- The Spa Who Loved Me (in Medford)
- It’s Always Wine O’Clock in This Bay Village Townhouse
