JAPANDI IS A POPULAR INTERIOR DESIGN STYLE MERGING JAPANESE MINIMALISM WITH SCANDINAVIAN FUNCTIONALITY AND WARMTH.
Every inch of space was used in the primary bedroom for storage and privacy; the guest bath gives a modern clean twist to the Japandi feel of the home.
JAPANDI IS A POPULAR INTERIOR DESIGN STYLE MERGING JAPANESE MINIMALISM WITH SCANDINAVIAN FUNCTIONALITY AND WARMTH.
The Matsuzakis’ one-acre property in Great Barrington was purchased in December 2020 and underwent a yearand-a-half renovation. The house, built in the 1980s, was gutted, some rooms were reconfigured, and all new heating, plumbing, electrical, insulation, and siding were put in place. At the time, the couple was living in West Stockbridge and had one young child with a second one on the way. Reo is an associate professor of political science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut; Katy is a museum educator at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.
Preparations also were underway for Reo’ s mother to move in with them from Japan, so there was a hard deadline of June 2023 to complete the project. Cooney’ s team got to work right away.
That team consisted of architect Brian Bordonaro, project manager Benjamin Anderson, a design team, and contractor D & S Builders, with Cooney overseeing the project. They started identifying the spaces on the family’ s wishlist, which included a playroom, a living room, a cozy TV den, and more. All that needed to fit in a relatively small house. What saved them was an unfinished walkout basement, which was transformed into a functional space that included an office for Reo, an apartment for his mother, and a laundry room.
Cooney’ s favorite thing is to design a home for young, busy families, down to every detail.
“ We can make something look beautiful, that’ s easy,” she says,“ but when you know that every single thing that they own has a place for it in the house, then that really helps in the flow of their everyday lives. It takes everything and just calms it down. I always tell people that you can hold your kids accountable if everything— their bags, their coats, their books— has a place to go. I feel like we accomplished that in a really nice way in a house of that size with three generations living there.”
What is striking even before you walk into the home is the authentic shou sugi ban
54 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Spring 2026