“It was in the middle of a five-and-a-half acre property and looked quirky, a little English and Arts and Crafts inspired, and I knew I wanted to live here even before I set foot in it,” says Al Messina. “As the agent listened, Ken tried to stop me from talking about it, but I was blown away.”
The 2,300-square-foot home in Redding, Connecticut, was built in 1929 by artist Lizbeth Clifton Hunter; With a large north-facing window in the two-story main room, it most likely served as her studio. Al and Ken bought the house in 2005.
Hollywood ties
“One of the things that attracted us was the way the house sits on the property,” says Ken Jennings. “There is a large stone, a piece of rock, jutting out into the yard. As an artist, Lizbeth Hunter used this as a feature and built directly upon it.”
“When we found it,” Al explains, “the house belonged to Hollywood people. We purchased it from Oscar-winning film editor Stu Linder, who worked with film director Barry Levinson when Levinson lived in Redding.” Redding is also known as the site of Mark Twain's retirement home, an Italian villa called Stormfield. Ken and Al's home was originally called Spring Hill, but is now named for its location on Poverty Hollow Road.
“There was once an Episcopal church and a button factory at the end of the street. Poor people lived in the church and worked in the factory, and the whole area ended up being called Poverty Hollow,” Al says.
Although the house was originally most likely only used in the summer, subsequent owners added insulation, a new roof and a third bedroom. Al and Ken added a hexagonal breakfast room and patio. They converted the original kitchen into a first floor bedroom. Ken designed a new kitchen in the former sun porch and installed a bar in the previous mudroom.
Although they've made some structural changes, they say the house looks the same. “It has always been maintained and we have never replaced a floor,” they say. “The previous owner, Stu Linder, was a craftsman; He made the stained glass windows that can be found in the house today.”
A new kitchen inspired by the pastKen Jennings says he had this kitchen planned long before he and Al Messina even bought the house: “Every time we toured an English mansion, I wanted to see the kitchen. I wanted it to look like those old workspaces, with copper pots and marble countertops.” Since the kitchen, formerly the sun porch, is built on a slab and has no basement, Ken needed radiant heat to warm the floor. The custom cabinets are painted a soft yellow and custom blended to Ken's specifications. He covered the stove and sink wall with tiles. For the entrance to the new breakfast room, he recreated an antique arched doorway that he had loved in another home. “This entrance is 30 inches wide,” he says. “We put doors on both sides of the arch – this is our pantry.” 
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They are particularly pleased that the fir wood paneling that characterizes the interior has not been painted or stained; The same applies to the oak rafters and ceiling beams. Her previous home on Long Island supplied the furniture. “We didn’t really buy anything for this house since the house in East Hampton was about the same size,” Al says. “It was more of a reupholstery,” Ken adds. “We wanted a rural look, playful, like an English cottage. It’s relaxed – if we can sit in a chair, the dogs can too.”
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On an old house with a strange charm
The quirkiness that first attracted Al is reflected in the decor: The new breakfast room, connected to both the dining room and the kitchen, features a collection of 11 taxidermied Amazonian hummingbirds that Al found in an Italian antique shop has found; They sit on the ledge above the windows. The upstairs master bedroom presents another individualistic display: 60 framed magazine “spy” portraits affixed to the steep ceiling.
“I had to put them somewhere,” says Ken, “and this way they raised the ceiling.” Ken, an interior designer, is also a landscape architect. After hiring an arborist to remove large, dead ash trees, he planted fruit trees, boxwoods, pachysandra, perennials and herbs, and added thousands of spring-blooming bulbs each fall.
Because he and Al like fresh eggs, he designed a chicken coop located downhill from the house, near the garage and swimming pool. Fresh eggs, comfortable seating for humans and dogs, views of nature, and personal art collections make for a good life in Poverty Hollow.
– Written by Regina Cole. Photographs by Edward Addeo.
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