Taking Root in the Past

When we undertook reconcepting the restaurant space that is now Willow & Ivy, we worked hard with our design firm, Bergmeyer, to ensure that we were connecting Willow & Ivy to both our own past as well as rooting the space in Boston itself. From upholstered wall coverings that draw on the restaurant’s days as Diamond Jim’s to the Venetian mosaic floor under the bar that mirrors the original lobby flooring to the cobblestone entryway, there are nods to the past in nearly every nook of the restaurant.

In Bergmeyer’s own words:

From the moment you step in off the sloping city sidewalk, you feel the layered history of the place. The building’s age (125 years and counting) presented both quirks and charms: uneven levels, historic materials, and features shaped by decades of service. Rather than mask these traits, we let them guide us. Original columns were left in place. Molding was restored where possible. A white mosaic floor discovered in a closet — dating back to the early 1900s — became the inspiration for new tiling throughout the main dining space.

Design decisions leaned into storytelling. The palette, rich in natural textures and softness, combines warm brick, inviting greens, and floral tones like mauve and blush — a subtle nod to Back Bay’s iconic charms, such as the blossoming star magnolia trees and the nearby Public Garden. Preserved plants and wooden features cascade overhead, evoking the embrace of a weeping willow tree. Ivy climbing the walls. Together, these details transform the space into something more than a restaurant: a place where memory and modernity meet.

The hostess check-in greets guests in a low-lit chamber, transitioning into a brighter, window-lined dining room at the heart of the space. Willow & Ivy was always intended to feel residential, elegant, and familiar — not a flashy hospitality insert, but something that could have always existed within the hotel’s original blueprint.

There’s a quiet nod to Boston’s history embedded throughout, echoing the spirit of the women who once graced the Lenox. One of them, Isabella Stewart Gardner, served as an informal muse — a socialite known for her bohemian charm and salon gatherings during the same era the hotel first opened. That spirit of eclectic elegance lives on here.