Reviving a Half-Finished Farmhouse in New England
“Perfect” is not the word you usually hear used to describe a 1790s Massachusetts farmhouse with a caved-in ceiling, popped-up floorboards and the absence of a kitchen — yes, an entire kitchen. But for this Manhattan family, the situation was ideal. “It was in a perfect state of disrepair,” the homeowner says. “A lot of buyers walk in and don’t like the kitchen. I probably would have ripped out what was there anyway. But I didn’t have to.”
He bought the weekend home on a foreclosure. It looked like a remodeling job had been abandoned halfway through, and a flood had damaged most of the rest. “Some rooms were 90 percent done, but at the same time there was no kitchen,” he says. “It was half a wreck, but also half finished.”
The homeowners enlisted the help of architect Jimmy Crisp to help restore the farmhouse’s original elements — like old wood beams and three fireplaces made from large pieces of soapstone — and to modernize the rest with a new living room addition and a clean and bright kitchen.
A dirt road winds through the countryside near the Berkshire Mountains, past a pond and up to the house. It’s about 20 minutes from Butternut resort, where the family has been skiing and snowboarding for nearly a decade.
The new living room addition extends from the original house, but Crisp and the homeowners took care not to detract from the traditional aesthetic. “We didn’t want a Hamptons-type place, a monstrous expansion,” says the homeowner. “We wanted it within the scale of the house.”
“Almost every old farmhouse has been added on to over time,” Crisp says. “You don’t necessarily need or want to make an addition identical to an old house, but you want to respect the old house. That’s our mantra.”
Weeds had overrun the property. Crisp cleaned up the landscaping and added a new roof and simple white paint. The neighbors were glad to see the site revitalized.
This was the state of the house when the homeowner purchased it. It appeared a remodeling job had been started and abandoned partway through.
AFTER: Crisp added a screened-in front porch and a new covered entryway with a mudroom. Though all the windows on the house are new now, most of the frames are original.
The porch, a breezy spot for muggy days, has a mahogany deck with a natural sealant.
A mudroom was added because it is “critical during ski season,” the homeowner says. So is the new laundry room.
Continue reading Reviving a Half-Finished Farmhouse in New England
He bought the weekend home on a foreclosure. It looked like a remodeling job had been abandoned halfway through, and a flood had damaged most of the rest. “Some rooms were 90 percent done, but at the same time there was no kitchen,” he says. “It was half a wreck, but also half finished.”
The homeowners enlisted the help of architect Jimmy Crisp to help restore the farmhouse’s original elements — like old wood beams and three fireplaces made from large pieces of soapstone — and to modernize the rest with a new living room addition and a clean and bright kitchen.
A dirt road winds through the countryside near the Berkshire Mountains, past a pond and up to the house. It’s about 20 minutes from Butternut resort, where the family has been skiing and snowboarding for nearly a decade.
The new living room addition extends from the original house, but Crisp and the homeowners took care not to detract from the traditional aesthetic. “We didn’t want a Hamptons-type place, a monstrous expansion,” says the homeowner. “We wanted it within the scale of the house.”
“Almost every old farmhouse has been added on to over time,” Crisp says. “You don’t necessarily need or want to make an addition identical to an old house, but you want to respect the old house. That’s our mantra.”
Weeds had overrun the property. Crisp cleaned up the landscaping and added a new roof and simple white paint. The neighbors were glad to see the site revitalized.
This was the state of the house when the homeowner purchased it. It appeared a remodeling job had been started and abandoned partway through.
AFTER: Crisp added a screened-in front porch and a new covered entryway with a mudroom. Though all the windows on the house are new now, most of the frames are original.
The porch, a breezy spot for muggy days, has a mahogany deck with a natural sealant.
A mudroom was added because it is “critical during ski season,” the homeowner says. So is the new laundry room.
Continue reading Reviving a Half-Finished Farmhouse in New England
