Past Meets Presents

After serving eight generations of the same family, a historic home in New York's Hudson Valley turns over a new leaf-make that a new needle- for a family well suited to celebrating it for many Christmases to come.

- written by LAURA KOSTELNY

Branching Out

Once the holiday soundtrack starts streaming in Christina Salway and John Moskowitz’s home, it’s up to John to find the family a perfect tree. “It should be noted that he is Jewish, and he is also the biggest Christmas enthusiast of all three of us,” says Christina. “He won't tell us when it’s going to happen— one day he just rolls in with a tree in hand.” A quilt-turned-tree skirt and a gingerbread tree topper reinforce the old-fashioned, homespun feel of the tree's trimmings.

Christina Salway and her husband, John Moskowitz, spent years making a list—and checking it way more than twice—of things they were looking for in a forever home. After an exhaustive search and nine previous home renovations (several of which you've seen featured in Country Living), the couple finally found a six-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath property in New York’s Hudson Valley that checked all the boxes, including having beautiful architectural bones (that porch millwork!), lots of land (15 acres), and a colorful history (it was built nearly 200 years ago by Hosea Birge, George Washington's bodyguard during the Revolutionary War).