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BDG 20th Anniversary Edition 2017

Boston Design Guide 20th Anniversary Edition 2017. Your Luxury Home Resource Guide for everything from design to landscape.

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<strong>20th</strong> ANNIVERSARY<br />

F.H. Perry Builder<br />

Allison Iantosca, owner of F.H. Perry Builder says at our<br />

company, “We all feel like we kind of grew up under Dad.”<br />

She’s speaking, of course, of Finley Perry who launched the<br />

company in the mid 70s, with a carpentry and trade focus<br />

before converting it to the “management model” that is<br />

thriving today. Finley always “found great joy in the other<br />

people in this industry, and I have shared that with him,” says<br />

Iantosca. He was also humble, didn’t sweat the competition<br />

and was staunchly dedicated to craft and building well.<br />

Dad would be proud; Iantosca has not only continued his<br />

legacy, she has put her own stamp on the distinguished<br />

construction company.<br />

Renjeau Galleries<br />

When Renate Rosenfield opened Renjeau Galleries 40 years ago, she<br />

says, “We knew art, but we didn’t know anything about retail.” One<br />

evening, she and her husband “had the crazy idea of opening an art<br />

gallery.” They had lived in the Boston area for all of three months when<br />

they saw a “For Lease” sign on a Natick space. The rent was cheap,<br />

and Rosenfield found herself with a gallery. Her impulse paid off. Her<br />

son, Rob, who studied art history, joined her in the business 20 years<br />

in. Together, they’ve added a wealth of custom framing options and a<br />

second building on-site for exhibitions.<br />

The MacDowell Company<br />

Not too many people can say they launched their<br />

business at age 16, but Roy MacDowell Jr. can. With<br />

a pickup and an enviable work ethic, Roy did stone<br />

masonry and enlisted his four brothers to help, among<br />

them, Bruce MacDowell Jr.’s father. Fifty years later, the<br />

second generation is taking the firm to new heights.<br />

With Bruce overseeing all business operations. Bruce,<br />

too, was immersed in the field at a young age, mixing<br />

cement for the stonemasons, until Roy invited him into<br />

the office to learn project and business management.<br />

For both, their business is a passion, and the key to the<br />

award-winning company’s success. “My father always<br />

told me, whatever you’re going to be in life, make sure<br />

you’re the best at it,” says Roy.<br />

Jarvis Appliance<br />

Jarvis Appliance has always been service minded. In fact,<br />

before Antonio Jarvis founded his own company in 1957,<br />

he worked as a repair technician for a major/sales and<br />

service company. As his clientele and reputation grew, he<br />

was able to rent his own shop and branch into sales, as<br />

well. Today, his children Nancy and Tony run the business<br />

he began in a state-of-the-art showroom in Wellesley and<br />

offer over a dozen brands of appliances. They also, of<br />

course, “service what they sell.”<br />

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