Monday, March 14, 2011

Equestrian Estate, Connecticut, Part 1

The Devoted Classicist was raised in a family of horsemen, so he was thrilled at the prospect of making improvements to an equestrian estate in the beautiful rolling hills of the northwest corner of Connecticut, near the village of West Cornwall, Litchfield County.  The first phase of the project had already been completed by the immensely talented interior designer John Saladino who created a New England version of a Palladian stable block, adding-to and altering a complex of barns and sheds.  However, the owners decided to go in another decorative direction before continuing with the rest of the project of improvements for their weekend country house.  They switched to Bunny Williams, noted for her casual but chic expertise in this very type of project, and Bunny brought me in for the architecture to compliment her comprehensive new schemes for the interior design.  Collaborating with Bunny, I designed the the renovation and improvements to the main house and two guest houses, as well as a new swimming pool and adjacent shelter.  The garden design was provided by Nancy McCabe, who lives in the area near Bunny's own country house.  More of this project will be shown in future posts.
My contributions to the stable block complex involved creating staff quarters within the southern shed which also contained the garage and storage for landscape related equipment.  There was very little change to the existing exterior scheme, just a little tweaking with the addition of millwork detailing such as the pilasters framing the arched opening as shown added in the two photos above.  The granite trough, cobblestone  paving, and the distant dovecote were existing prior to my participation.
All these photos by Peter Aaron/Esto were originally published in the New York Times Magazine with later collage additions to the first two views by John Tackett Design.  The third view is a reverse of reality, however, for those trying to get their bearings.

20 comments:

  1. What a splendid approach your talents wrought! I am enchanted with your classic thinking for this property. Simply beautiful.

    How smart of Bunny to bring you on board for this project! I admire the work of both of you.

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  2. Beautiful.I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Thanks, Bob. Bunny really appreciates architecture and I am a big fan of her, too.

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  4. P.o.E., for the sake of variety, the next post will be a different project, but I hope you'll find it just as interesting. But as photos and drawings are converted to a digital format, they will be incorporated into a post. Thanks for your interest.

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  5. Is there a link to the NYT article? Tried several things to no avail...would love to see the rest!

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  6. Your sketched version of the pilasters and raked cornice is much prettier than what was there when the Times shot it -- Touche! It must look great in person.

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  7. Lindaraxa, I could be mistaken, but I do not think the older articles of the Pre-Internet Age are available on-line at present; but as I recall, there were no other photos from NYT.

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  8. Thanks, TOPSY. I am trying to get some of my archives together and transferred to digital, so I will be posting a variety work that I hope the readers find interesting.

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  9. Beautiful, classical design! What a fabulous property to work on. I love riding myself so to be involved in this project would have been wonderful. John are they acorn finials at the base of the pilasters? Would love to see more pictures!
    Kind regards
    M.A. the 2nd

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  10. M.A.2., yes, the design of the bollards is based on an acorn. But they are very stylized because they are made of granite which is difficult to finely shape. The bollards act as a protective bumper on that side of the arch for the farm trailers.

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  11. Lovely estate. The owners are very lucky to have gathered such a stellar group. I am excited that you plan to share more. I love a good show and tell. k

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  12. Kathy, I think I must enjoy working on an outbuilding as much as a main house. I have designed everything from very small but picturesque sheds -- to house utilities meters or pool equipment -- to lavish guest houses that I would have loved to live in full-time myself!

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  13. I really enjoy the little buildings. The almost become little temples. I can't get enough. Keep the parts coming.

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  14. A very serene setting. I can't wait to see more.
    Lynn from Decor Arts Now

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  15. If I were a horse, I would be rather delighted to live amongst your designs.
    Thanks for the warm wishes today.
    pve

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  16. Beautiful project, John. Being recommended by Bunny is as good as it gets. I'm with P.V.E., the horses have a great setting. I'd like to see the tack room, I bet its gorgeous.
    Best,
    Liz

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  17. Terry, Lynn, pve, and Liz, I really enjoyed spending time in this beautiful part of the country, although there was snow on the ground all that winter that the renovation took place. Even when I went on my own to check on the progress, I stayed at Bunny's wonderful house, enjoying it all by myself.

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  18. What a stunning property! I imagine it was a wonderful project to work on, and then gettng to work with Bunny too- what a great team! West Cornwall is such a charming little village.

    best,
    joan

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  19. Joan, West Cornwall is indeed charming. It has that marvelous covered bridge over the lovely Housatonic River, making some confuse it with the nearby community Cornwall Bridge, however.

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  20. Can't wait to see it come to fruition. Eagerly awaiting Part 2...

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