“Why is it so cheap?” That was Michael Carter's first thought when he saw the house. During the Pandemic closure, the interior design based in Boston was looking for a house to restore the resale. His real estate search led him to a historical structure in the village of Lime Rock, part of the city of Salisbury in the northwest of Connecticut. With an original section built in 1767 and a significant revival of the Greek revival from the 1830s, the house had a facade that was shown by an appealing symmetry. The additions of the 20th century were behind. Carter gave up his original plan and decided to restore the house as the main residence for himself and his husband David Rousseau, a veterinarian.
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A diamond in the rough
He soon learned why it was praised under the expectations. The house had neither heat nor electricity for over a decade. It was inhabited by raccoons who had discouraged potential buyers. Then there was the mildew that passed every inner surface.
The house is called Brookside for a stream that flows through the six -hectare property. The original section was the oldest structure of the village. During the majority of the 20th century, it was the home of John Fitch, a renowned racing driver and the first American to successfully participate in European races.
As the founder of the race track in Lime Rock Park, he was a beloved local. When he died in 2012, his sons were overwhelmed by the condition of the house and his accumulation of things. Therefore, Brookside was falling for until 2021 when Carter and Rousseau assumed it.
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Once a milk barnMichael Carter and David Rousseau loved the original Brookside rooms, but they also wanted a spacious room with a high ceiling. They found it on the property: an abandoned milk barn. They moved to attach it to the back of the old house. “Even the rooms of the Greek resuscitation period are usually small and we wanted drama and size,” says Carter. For the great space conversion we added the chimney and installed the most beautiful antique coat we could find. The ancient woods are structural, but also to the atmosphere. For additional height we built a break into the ceiling. As a result, a large lantern could hang a dramatic heart. “
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A Greek revival
“For me it looked like a Greek temple,” says Carter. “The backdrop is very nice with a stream and a hill. You can always repair crumbling walls, but you cannot create a landscape that has been loved for 200 years.” His start project was not to remove periodic parts of the house. However, his contractor “insisted that I let go of the mildew for the first time so that his workers would not be at risk.”
Soon the later accretions had been cut away: These were “many poorly constructed verands, baths and other rooms, boxes that were charged on small boxes,” says Carter. He revised one with a room deep floor plan, in which secondary wings flank the two -story Greek resuscitation center.
“That let us have something that we always wanted: a primary bedroom on the first floor opposite the kitchen wing,” he explains. “The primary bath is here. We kept the old kitchen in section 1767 on the other side of the central pavilion of the Greek revival.” He believes that the windows come in the 1830s addition and renovation. “The sheet above is so pretty. We are very happy that the windows survived!”
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Modern life in historical quarters
Brookside now has a classic layout in which the central living room is flanked by the kitchen, the dining room, the primary bedroom and a Wet bar. The inns are located above the living room in the Greek rescue center. Carter and Rousseau have provided an entertaining room (and the drama) to offer a milk barn to attach it to the back of the house; This is the great room now.
Before adding the milk barn, the house measured 2,750 square foot; It is now 3,400. The result, says Michael Carter, is “historical rooms together with a living space that looks historical, but has the proportions that we want for a modern life”.
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Project highlightsLocation: Salisbury, Connecticut Designer: Michael Carter McArterandco.com Program: Save a historic house that was built in 1767 and 1830s and adds a dramatic large room for additional space. • French market collection “Hunting scene” wallpaper by twelve chairs, shop.twelve-stamme.com Lantern from Visual Comfort, visualcomport.com |
– written by Regina Cole. Produced by Patricia Poore. Photos by Randy O'Rourke.
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