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mtnrdredux_gw

For lovers of old homes ...

mtnrdredux_gw
9 years ago

I adore this place featured in the NYT today. The patina! I love stone homes like this, which are pretty common in the area where I grew up in PA, not too far across the river from this beauty.

I love love the shutter color!

This is a "collected" home too, for sure, but without many layers. Not everyone would find its proportions liveable.

Here is a link that might be useful: old stone house

Comments (34)

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    I wish they'd shown rooms rather than the personal items of the owners. I too love old houses. I don't quite get the only-two-shutters thing, and the shutters blend in with the house. The three front doors is interesting and makes me wonder what that building was. And I have to say, these people seem to have very good taste, so I don't get the white walls.

    But old homes have so much feeling to them and character. I happen to believe that, every person/family/resident leaves behind an aura which has been absorbed into the house.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago

    The house looks so interesting...but as so often with the NYT, the photos are most frustrating as they don't show the rooms, only small little vignettes which could be located anywhere.

    I used to look forward to the style mag, but gave it up years ago as, if I wanted to see the clothes, I had to look at the ads. The photos were so dark and the models so bent or crunched or otherwise "artfully" displayed that you didn't have a prayer of seeing the actual clothing.

    That form and function thing again...they seem to forget why they're there....

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ahh we, you know me Annie, function is so "last year"! LOL

    I just like the purty pictures.

    Tibb, I didn't even notice it only had two shutters; but I love the color of the trim.

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    mtn. that's what I mean! didn't even notice only two shutters. Took me a couple seconds as well because of how they blend in. Seems like an odd choice . The color itself is beautiful, though.

  • crl_
    9 years ago

    And I think of my 1926 house as old. I love the exterior. I do wish they had taken some whole room shots. The white walls really set off the antiques nicely.

  • Joe
    9 years ago

    Covet the Hudson River School painting.

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    Oh my, love that house. I have a serious case of deep window sill envy, and like billy I totally covet the HRS painting!

    I really wish they had shown more of the home and focused less on the furniture and price of the pieces.

    Thanks for sharing Mtn!

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    Holly, so agree with you re: deep window sills. My house has them, since it is from the 1880s, and I love them. When I bought the house, I had two large windows put in the MB. There was NOTHING on that wall, and when the guy cut the holes for the windows, because it had been a barn, we discovered that that wall, too, was very deep. So I've got these five-foot windows with very deep sills. Just love them.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Love the stone and the deep sills that always come with old stone homes. I also wish they had concentrated more on the rooms and the building itself rather than the furnishings. Too much of that "look at what we spent, aren't you impressed" in the slide show.

    The trim color is perfect, albeit incredibly subtle. Thanks for sharing.

  • lavender_lass
    9 years ago

    Why did they paint the stone? I'm just not a fan of peeling paint...my one falling out with shabby chic. I just want to sand stuff down and either refinish it...or paint it. Not a fan of the neglected in between. Sorry :)

  • outsideplaying_gw
    9 years ago

    I'm a sucker for old stone houses. Love the deep sills and the beautiful pictures but also would have like to see more of the overall rooms instead of just vignettes and the prices. But did enjoy it.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I guess trim is usually chosen to pop, since most of the time we are putting it on fairly uniform surfaces. The stone is so interesting, you would not want the trim to pop, I think.

    Lav, not sure what painted stone you are talking about?

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    It reminds me very much of the old mill workers homes near me, although a house that size would accommodate several families. Judging by the three entry doors, I guess it did. Didn't read the article closely. Very beautiful. Historic homes always tug at my heart, especially the ones with more humble beginnings like this one. The oldest house near me was built in 1690.

    Mtnrd, I did not know you were a Pennsylvanian.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Mtn, I suspect she is referring to the white. I suspect that the house may have been stuccoed or had the stone covered in some way and now they are letting that wear off naturally. There was house in Gladwyne like that (Black Rock Rd, ded) . The owners were always trying to repair the exterior which cracked and always looked awful. Finally, they just removed that and let the stone shine forth. Looked fabulous.

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    Cyn, trying to picture which one it is on Black Rock. The one with the stable in the back, or on the "other" side of Black Rock, across Williamson? There are some beauties on that street.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    On your right as you leave the village, just up toward the center of town and across street from the house with the stables. It sits right up on the road, no front yard really. Walton family used to live there.

  • 1929Spanish
    9 years ago

    Thank you for sharing. We don't have this in CA. I could live here if it came with my more warm weather. :)

  • anele_gw
    9 years ago

    I love it! I agree, though-- wish we'd been able to see more of the rooms.

    I'm only 5'1" and my husband 5'8", so we'd manage with the low ceilings!

  • jshore
    9 years ago

    I love the feel of these old stone houses. I'm not sure I understand why the price of all the antiques is listed.
    Tomorrow I will be driving by the house Cyn mentioned, it's right down the road from me!
    A friend of mine has a house with stone like that. There's a name for it, which I can't remember. She and her husband bought their current home because it was pointed just like his childhood home.

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    Ah. I know the one you mean. The Stewarts lived there for a long time. Someone bought it so they would have access to the land behind it. They built a monstrosity back there and their driveway runs alongside the house. They rent out the house but I must say (even though I strongly dislike the people who bought it) that the little house is well kept. At one point the barn behind it became a second property. The big-house owner also bought that and has reunited them. Believe me, it was not out of love for older houses, but so that they could maximize use of the land to build their monster.

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    Cyn, now that I think about it, that's the wrong house. The house I mentioned has clapboard. I know which one you mean -- it also has a barn behind it. That is a great place. Thank goodness that area is now an historic district so the houses are protected.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Now that we have completely hijacked this thread...

    You're right, Ded-I forgot about the white house across the street right up at the road. Also forgot there was a barn behind the one I was thinking of. Sorry. I really need to visit. I hate forgetting 'home.'

  • peony4
    9 years ago

    Like Annie, I find the photography unfulfilling. I especially would like to see the kitchen in a house like this.

    The pricing notations are odd--although they did get those club chairs for a steal!

    Dedtired, with the symmetry of the doors and windows, your guess about the multiple doors makes sense. I was also curious, and found this article of explanation. My grandparents' home had 2 front doors--I never questioned it growing up. Much like the ell that connects old farmhouses to their barns, the multiple front doors here just remind us how differently homes used to be built.

    Here is a link that might be useful: multiple front doors

  • awm03
    9 years ago

    Sigh...another old house to fall in love with. Some people adopt rescue pets, I get urges to adopt rescue homes. This one is in fine shape and doesn't need to be rescued, per se, unless you fear a developer will buy it and knock it down.

  • KevinMP
    9 years ago

    Well you know I like it. And I'm trying to find something bigger and like this one here in the burbs, but it's just outrageously expensive here or too much major work. It's going to take a while...

  • kswl2
    9 years ago

    I'm a sucker for peeling paint.... This worn off whatever it is (whitewash? Stucco?) is fabulous. I'm kind of glad we can't see the inside.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, KSWL, I guess the peeling paint is a kissing cousin to lime-dusted brick... which I also adore.

    KevinMP, did you see the listing for author Elizabeth Gilbert's house, in the same area I think? I am sucker for Pennsylvania fieldstone though, those soft creamy golden tones I don't see anywhere else.

  • KevinMP
    9 years ago

    It's nice, but I don't think I could ever move to NJ, let alone convince my fiance to. (No offense to anyone!)

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    9 years ago

    I grew up in the Hudson Valley of NY, and the _three-rooms-across, each with a door_, is the Old Dutch style of architecture; goes back to the late 1600's. Search for old stone houses of Ulster County (especially Stone Ridge, Kingston, Hurley, and New Paltz.)
    Casey (orig from Bloomington)

  • chicagoans
    9 years ago

    Love that house! So pretty - it just looks like it belongs there (unlike some of the new massive homes that look like they bullied their way onto a lot.) Thank you for posting.

  • elizabeth1234
    9 years ago

    Wao what a house I really like these kind of old designed house. Please do post the interior pictures too. Keep posting such stuff

  • eandhl
    9 years ago

    How I would love to see pictures of the house! Love it.

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the article about multiple front doors. I always presumed every house like that was a multi-family home at one time.

    Kevin there is a nice1864 twin house for sale near me. It has a great location. You should buy it. It is crying out for your design help. If we were neighbors you could then come over and help decorate my very boring brick house.

    Here is a link that might be useful: house for Kevin

  • beachpea3
    9 years ago

    Mtn- what a jewel. Thank you for posting. I am a sucker for early houses. Especially the Pennsylvania stone...and lime washed brick Georgians. Currently live in a c.1680-1730 saltbox - alas only one front door - that being enough to keep out Indians, bears, etc.

    Re: multiple doors - Around here (MA) the Greek Revival houses have two "front" doors - one on the actual front and one on the side - both considered "front". One for family and one for the minister/funeral/formal events. These doors usually opened into individual parlors as well - for the same reasons.

    Re: white walls- The use of white walls would be appropriate in Mtn's exquisitely restored stone house. Mostly early houses have some sort of plaster walls - horsehair, clamshell or more modern plaster walls.Typically they are painted or whitewashed white and the trim gets the color. Happily all those historic colors give the rooms some zip and - as noted by someone earlier - the white walls are great for showing off the antiques.

    Mtn- thank you again for the eye-candy!

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