It is no accident that Melanie Charlton Fowler's country retreat, nestled at the base of a forested mountain in northwest Connecticut, retains an unmissable storybook quality. Its narrative potential is what initially drew Fowler, founder of the organizational design firm Clos-ette, and her husband, a health care executive, to the 200-acre estate that encompassed a main house, horse barn, and pondside fishing cabin. It's also why they chose to take the more arduous and costly route of painstaking renovations instead of simply tearing things down and rebuilding. "I knew that this was going to turn into more than we bargained for," she confides, "but I really wanted each part of the property to be special."
The pastoral setting, as well as a hint of the unexpected, inspired AD100 designer Virginia Tupker's brief, which to date has included an overhaul of both the barn and cabin, as well as an ongoing years-long renovation of the primary residence. "Melanie loves to ride, and they saw this place as a gathering ground for the kids and the family to spend time together," the London-raised, Connecticut-based decorator says of her clients.
Fowler realized early on she wanted to convert the barn into a space that would house not only her two Irish Draught horses but also the couple and their blended brood-one girl and four boys, ages 12 through 18-indefinitely while the main house was completed. Fowler, who splits the rest of the year between homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and Dallas, had one architect in mind for the job: Michael Goldman, a veteran of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the office of Thierry Despont, who had a portfolio of residential projects in the area she admired.
Bu hikaye Architectural Digest US dergisinin July - August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Architectural Digest US dergisinin July - August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Figuring It Out
Barbora Zilinskaitė's biomorphic wonders ask us to rethink objects and how we relate to them
Bicoastal Living
California mainstay Nickey Kehoe plants its flag in the heart of New York City
Gather Around
Revived by RH, Harvey Probber's modular seating innovates anew
DISCOVERIES Southern Charm
At her modernist home in historic Charleston, interior designer Angie Hranowsky writes her own rules
passion project
For fashion designer Adam Lippes, home is a bucolic retreat in the Berkshires filled with objects he has lovingly collected over the years
A STAR IS BORN
Design phenom Giampiero Tagliaferri adapts an avant-garde Los Angeles home into a showstopping office and salon
DOWN TIME
Near Accra, Ghana, art star Amoako Boafo fashions a restful retreat for himself and others
light touch
To craft the perfect getaway for her family, designer Victoria Hagan breathes new life into a dark, old Palm Beach manse
VIVE LA FRANCE
In advance of this summer's Olympic Games, Atelier De France's expert artisans are working to make sure Paris landmarks shine as bright as ever
PLEASURE DOME
Superstar DJ and music producer Diplo assembles a team of visionary creatives to conjure a dreamlike compound in the Jamaican jungle