Home Truths

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

I’m the principal of The Collective. We are a top-producing real estate team based out of the Compass Back Bay office. What I like to say is we’re a lean, mean boutique machine because we are working with clients in Boston’s urban core: Brookline, Cambridge, Metro West, and beyond.

I’m one of the founding agents at Compass, and I’ve been there over 10 years. Compass has grown into one of the top brokerages in the country. Our tagline is ‘We show clients solutions they never knew were possible.’

We are family advisors for our clients. We work with them over generations. Boston is such an inbound city—people grow up here, raise their family here. Then they sell their big house in the suburbs and move back into the city when their kids go to college. We also work on the estate and the divorce side, helping our clients through every chapter of their lives, which is a privilege.

Living here helps. I feel very strongly about this city. I grew up in Atlanta, and my husband is from San Francisco, but Boston is our chosen home.

How did your family influence your career?

My father was an architect who worked on building projects around the world. Growing up in Atlanta, I would see his buildings in Europe, in the Middle East, from embassies to stadiums, to airports, just really interesting mixed-use projects. And my mother was a nurse and was originally from Boston. Both my parents loved history and culture and exposed me to it.

Having my father’s lens on layouts and spaces and additions gave me perspective. I really learned about craftsmanship and quality and developers. When I landed in Boston for college, I went from suburban sprawl in Atlanta to Boston, which is, you know, historic in almost every way. Back Bay and Beacon Hill have the best-preserved Victorian architecture in the country. I was intrigued by that—how do you blend the modern with the traditional?

When did you know you wanted to go into real estate?

Actually, I wanted to be an art auctioneer. I studied abroad in London, and I was convinced I was going to work at Sotheby’s or Christie’s. I also had an internship at the state house my senior year at Simmons University, and it made me interested in getting involved with the city.

So in college, I got my real estate license because I really wanted to start to understand my city on another level, like a behind-the-scenes level. And I felt like the only way to really get, understand Boston is through the real estate. How the neighborhoods came to be and how people in them live their lives. I went to every single building I could, going up and down five flights of stairs in the North End, learning about everything. This was right around the 2008 recession.

At 20, I was outperforming people in my little boutique real estate office, and I wasn’t even out of college yet. Clients wanted to celebrate closings with me, but I wasn’t old enough to drink. The whole business felt really natural to me, but it’s only because I took all of that time during college to learn. And I loved working with people. So I just stayed in it.

Also, I have a family connection to Boston from way back. I did an internship at the state house and took a tour, which I highly recommend everybody in Boston should do, and I remember seeing the Parsons (my mom’s family) in the rotunda. It kind of dawned on me that we have really deep roots here. Boston is an onion. There are layers and layers, and you keep peeling them back.

Do you do any charity work?

I’m on the board of the Neighborhood Association Back Bay. I co-chair the Special Events Committee, and we educate people about our neighborhoods. We do walking tours, take people into the Massachusetts Historical Society, to the State House. We just did a Fenway tour.

I co-founded and run the real estate group at the Harvard Club. I try to bring people behind the scenes of places that they wouldn’t normally get to see. I’m also a huge advocate for the Boston Preservation Alliance and a supporter of Women’s Lunch Place and Dress for Success.

Compass has an amazing arm for charity called Compass Cares. For every sale we close, I can donate a portion of that closing to a charity, which is wonderful. If the client doesn’t have a favorite charity, then I will give back to the city.

What should people know about historic houses?

20 years ago, people were trying to preserve as much as they could. Now they blend styles. I’ve seen some really beautiful renovations that mix period details with modern conveniences.

A brownstone is like a classic car. In many cases, you have to source pieces when you’re restoring it. You have to go back into the original plans. And Boston keeps those, so tap into that resource. You own a piece of history, and it takes a lot of love and attention to detail and an investment—time, energy, and money—into preserving that property. When you’re living in a brownstone or a historic building in the city, you’re a steward of that architecture. There’s a kind of understanding between you and the building that you are there for a period and you entrusted with the care of this space.

We find incredible things in these buildings that have just been untouched, in addition to some of the infrastructure: old safes, things from prohibition, and other things like that.

What happens to period details when there’s a renovation?

Boston Preservation Alliance has a database you can search for these things, and donate them, too, so if you don’t want to use that brass handle or the hinges from a window or the doors that are original, you can send it to them. For developers, before you take everything out, save the mantel, save the lights, and keep that because there are people who need it.

What mistakes do people make when they are looking to buy?

I am a big proponent of try before you buy. I highly recommend people either rent or at least spend some meaningful time in a neighborhood before they end up purchasing.

Buyers will tell me “I’m looking in five different neighborhoods: in Beacon Hill, Back Bay, South End, Charlestown, and the North End.” But they’re all so different. You need to know, are you a building person? Are you a brownstone person? What do you want to see every time you open your door every morning? What’s your lifestyle like? How close do you want your coffee shop to be? Are you walking your dog every day? What’s the noise around you?

Some people can’t commit to a six-month rental, but at least stay in a hotel for a few weeks.

What’s your favorite property in the city?

I love the Tiffany Ayer Mansion. There’s nothing else like it. Louis Comfort Tiffany incorporated Ottoman and Moorish stylings, especially on the first floor with the mosaics and the arches. You could be in Turkey or in, you know, a Riyadh in Morocco. It’s unbelievable. I also I love the Boston Public Library, and the Athenaeum, buildings that make you feel like you are stepping back in time, that retain the grandeur of that period. But I think what’s unique about Boston is we actually still have those places, and we care about keeping them that way.

Your advice for homebuyers?

I encourage people to start having conversations early to really feel out what makes sense for them. I feel like it needs to be more of an exploratory process. You don’t have to wait until you’re ready to buy. Talk to a realtor when you’re just considering a move. The best part is the journey. Truly.