Flower Farmhouse Everything Room

A space well imagined.

When we bought this serviceable old farmhouse as a rural retreat seven years ago, we knew one day we would want to add a great room for doing all of life's great things - cooking, eating and napping in front of the fire.

The original house came with four bedrooms, a basic bathroom, a tiny kitchen and dark living room that was cramped and didn’t take advantage of the sweeping views. We have a stunning vista over a popular fishing lake and swath of designated wetland – the wildlife and scenery were a huge draw for us. Equally so was the abundant space to have a large garden where we could teach our children about growing vegetables and flowers. Graham grew up in the country and his dad was a renowned agricultural researcher and advocate, so this was really important to us. Over the years we expanded the arable area and now have a mini flower farm that is currently overflowing with snapdragons, zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos and other garden classics.

We are sincere about restoring character homes – we believe keeping the integrity and respecting the soul of the place is important, but that making it functional and fresh for how we live today keeps older homes relevant (and safe from demolition). So when it came time to renovate a few years ago, instead of taking down the original farmhouse, we updated it and added a large new wing with great room (and master bedroom suite).

The most important aspect of the design plan was to take in the magical views over the lake. We wanted a casual, organic-feeling interior space that mirrored and respected the natural environment outside - so you'll see a lot of rough-hewn wood, simple cabinetry, marble, linen and a palette of white with a little grey and green. Decorative elements are sparse but impactful, like the floor-to-ceiling wood wall, the over-sized barn lighting above the kitchen island, or the rotating display of seasonal foliage that brings a bit of the outside in.

Take a tour and see how it turned out.