Hidden Talent

Hidden Talent The Catskills aren’t the typical habitat for an acclaimed Hollywood actress, but the lush green hills turn out to be the perfect setting for Amanda Seyfried, who fills her stone house with handcrafted furnishings and beloved animal companions.

- Celia Barbour

The hand off—the moment a designer presents a completed project to the client—is often as staged as a Broadway show. The doors fling open wide, and ta-da! Everything from teaspoons to tissues is in place, ready for the drama of life to begin. But when designer Sarah Zames passed along a project in the Catskills to its owner, actress Amanda

Seyfried, the transition was altogether different. Yes, the 1920s house was inhabitable, but it was not “done” in the ordinary sense of the word. Indeed, it was barely furnished, and half the work had not even begun. Which is exactly how everyone wanted it. Seyfried had previously collaborated with a soup-to-nuts interior designer on residences in Manhattan and Los Angeles, but she craved a different experience here. “I wanted to see what it would be like to add to the house slowly,” she says. “Sarah’s eye lends itself to that: It’s easy for me to layer on top of what she’s done.” And layer Seyfried does, from textiles, art, and found objects to items she knits or crochets herself.

Nor are her additions limited to inanimate details. She adopts rescue animals, welcoming them into her menagerie of horses, goats, chickens, cats, and a dog. Not incidentally, she also acquired a husband recently, actor Thomas Sadoski, and gave birth this past spring to their baby daughter.