Last night as I was working on this post, I kept thinking, “I know this house!” You know that feeling when you see someone in passing and you just know you’ve met them before. It nags and nags at you all day, until finally it dawns on where you first met.
This morning as I continued working on this post, I decided to watch the video at the site where I found all the wonderful pictures I’m sharing today. Ah, ha! The video solved the mystery! This home is one that’s prominently featured in one of my fave books, The Great American House. It’s been a while since I poured over its lovely pages but as soon as this post goes up, it’s calling my name.
This beautiful home,Westview, is located in Millbrook, New York and Wow, look at that view! Such a serene and pastoral setting! (If you have the book The Great American House, you’ll find the first pictures of this home starting on page 21. Some of the pictures are grouped together, then it skips and they are all throughout the book.)
This beautiful home was designed by Architect, Gil Schafer in the Classic Greek Revival style and if you didn’t know better, you would believe it was an historic home that has been fully restored. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see talented architects like Gil Schafer and James Strickland (Coming Home) carrying forth the beauty and quality we love so much in older homes into the homes they are designing today.
The curved staircase in the entry continues the Greek Revival style of this home. Notice the color of the teal-blue damask wallpaper. Miles Redd, the Interior Designer for Westview, carries this color throughout the home.
I never would have thought of pairing the color blue we saw in the entry with the colors seen here in the living room, but I absolutely love how it looks here in the drapes. I definitely would have imagined it would work with the yellows and reds but never would have thought of using it with the green color we see in the sofa and with this wall color. But look how great it looks!
Seeing this is definitely a wakeup call for me. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what color draperies to use in my master bedroom, searching for a color that would work well with my spring/summer bedding and now with my recently acquired winter bedding. This has seriously inspired me to think way outside the proverbial box and to consider other colors I would never have thought to use. Forget playing it safe, go bold and look at all your options!
This gorgeous room has twin fireplaces at either end. Oh, the agony of deciding where to sit! I’d have to spend the morning at one end and the evening at the other!
Notice how the sofas and the sweet bench are the same but the chairs at either end are different…love that! They have also used the same amber lanterns on both fireplaces but the clock and the blue/white porcelain vases are slightly different. The artwork is similar, probably by the same artist. I like the continuity but how it’s not all exactly the same. Beautiful ceiling!
Notice how they have used paneling here in the breakfast area and in the kitchen, but it’s painted. It gives you that feeling that the home has been here for ages and at some point the paneling was painted over. I love the texture the painted paneling gives to the walls. The floors are slate. We see the teal blue continued here in the breakfast room in both the draperies and the chair fabric.
Another view of the kitchen…loving all the glass cabinets!
The slate floor and painted paneling continues here into this cozy family room/hearth room, as does the teal blue in the drapes, coffee table and built-in shelving. Notice the rustic beamed ceiling and molding in this room. This room almost has a cabin feel with painted paneling, rough-hewn molding and the branch end table.
I so love this paneled study/library. ~~~sigh~~~ The paneling is pine so you’ll notice it gives the room a much lighter/brighter feel than if they had chosen to go with mahogany for the walls. I wonder if they painted the garden seat that shade of green or lucked out and found it in that color.
I think this may be the Master Bedroom. Hard to tell, but the underside of the canopy looks like it may continue the teal-blue color seen throughout the home, but in a slightly lighter shade.
Per The Great American Home, Interior Designer, Miles Redd, chose a floating mirror for the Master Bathroom to bring in even more light. You don’t normally see a big window over the sink in the bathroom so that was a really clever way to keep the window and all that great natural light while still having a mirror over the sink.
The wallpaper looks very much like Mario Buatta’s favorite, Colefax & Fowler Bowood.
The guest room has a more masculine feel with rich burgundy drapes. When I first saw this room, I thought how much the bamboo bed reminded me of some of the furniture I’ve seen in the Tommy Bahama line. I love some of his bamboo chests! The Great American Home says the bed is an antique bamboo bed. If you love the bed, Google “West Indies bed” or “bamboo bed” and you’ll find beautiful reproductions online, including this four-poster bed by Tommy Bahama that I just found in a google search at Wayfair. I love these bamboo beds!
The Great American Home (page 70) describes the wallpaper as a “fresh glazed chintz.” The coziness of the room is further enhanced by all the books we see throughout the room. Books! They are my favorite decorating accessory with the added bonus…you get to read them!
You’ll find additional pictures of this wonderful home online at Houlihan Lawrence where these pictures were found. You’ll also find all of these pictures (plus many others) in the book I featured in this morning’s post, The Great American House: Tradition for the Way We Live Now. Interestingly, Bunny Williams, another designer you may recognize, wrote the Foreward for the book.
What was your favorite room at Westview? Hard to choose, isn’t it? I’m torn between the living room with the double fireplaces and the library.
My friend once lived in an antebellum Greek revival house in Cato, NY. (1840s?) It was gorgeous, but in quite a state of disrepair and needed an enormous amount of work, which they couldn’t do themselves. It ended up at auction and I was tempted, but I have my own wreck to deal with. It is one of my favorite styles, though!
Oh, that would be so tempting, especially if you could get it for a super low price! I’ve heard you need 3x what the house cost to fix it up…and that’s probably if you pay a pretty normal price…so they can be money pits for sure. But maybe worth it! 🙂
Wow, there is so much to love about this house. First the double fireplaces, do not think I have seen that before.
The triple moldings on the ceilings and all the windows, of course with some transoms!! 🙂
I noticed that in the one room, they had teal cupboards and matched all those lovely teal checked drapes.
I have two favourites, the living room and the kitchen. All those glass cabinets!
*sigh*, are we putting this on our list Susan? I hope so, with two fireplaces we can all sit in that living room!! 🙂
Definitely going on the list! 🙂
Favorite room. I think the family room with the teal blue and white palette, and all that texture. It’s where I would have my daily champagne, to celebrate living there!
I love the way you think, Mia! 🙂
Susan, I love the kitchen! it has so much space and room to work and all the shelves, love it, next is the library. Thanks for sharing.
What a beauty! I especially LOVE the teal. TFS.
I have a serious case of kitchen and bath envy.
Me, too! 🙂
Hard to choose. Sweeping staircase, bath, or master bedroom?
Let’s go with all three! 🙂
GORGEOUS home Susan!! We live about an hour south of Millbrook.
I love this post. 🙂
I think Benjamin Moore uses that foyer/staircase in one of their ads for showing different paint colors. If it isn’t the same foyer it is twin!
Beautiful home, and I am loving the gray floor in the family room with the teal cabinets, drapes and oriental rug. Beautiful.
I have that book, and with a list of stuff to do today, I can’t afford to sit and look through it again; but I am tempted. =)
I just love everything about this BEAUTIFUL dwelling!! Then…I spot those pillows…they just “tie it all together.” That upholstered chair in the den area…gees, I could go on and on and on, etc.!! Better check out that book…franki