Midcentury Modern Collector’s Residence

Brookline, Massachusetts

Ben Olson, a collector of twentieth century designed objects began his design education at the early age of five. His family moved into a house that was featured in House Beautiful in 1953. This architect-designed residence had custom built-ins as well as the latest furniture designs manufactured by Knoll Associates and Herman Miller. This exposure ignited his early expertise into the best of quality design. His education continued with studies at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and his work at the famed D|R, Design Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Ben Olson has modified his residence to best present this growing collection of industrial designed objects. Here one discovers a myriad of objects from a stuffed animal by Philippe Starck to a table clock by Richard Sapper. A wooden monkey by Kay Bojesen is displayed next to a porcelain vase by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. And chairs manufactured soon after World War II, designed by Saarinen, Eames and Bertoia are in the company of a Deco-style vase by Gio Ponti and Lobmeyer crystal designed by Josef Hoffmann in 1917. Some interior walls have been removed and selective lighting added. Also accent paint colors once used at Pompeii and a stenciled wall of dots provide a backdrop for this unique design collection that continues to expand.