Meet the House: Upstate NY Farmhouse

1900 "Victorian" begging to be a farmhouse

You Bought a House??

In the summer of 2017, I started looking at houses in upstate NY. Totally on a whim. I'd been traveling a ton that year, and gone through my every-three-year crisis over whether I should move away from New York City all together ... but I'd circled back to the same deep knowing that this place was my home.

But, still a Wisconsin girl somewhere under the New Yorker crust, I needed a space outside the city!

After months and months and a million inspections, I became the owner of a lil 118 year old gal in deep need of some TLC.

118 Years of Good Stuff, Under 50 Years of Crap

The good news about buying a 118 year old house is that it was built with actual materials. The floors are gorgeous planks of hardwood. The foundation is stone. The ceilings are high and windows enormous.

But 118 year-old materials need love and maintenance.

This was unfortunately lost on the previous owner, who let once-simple maintenance tasks (e.g., cleaning out the gutters to keep them draining properly) turn into massive repair needs (e.g., the rotten sunroom doors because the gutters aren't draining properly).

So, we had some work to do. Before I get into all that, here's the "before" state of things when I bought it in December 2017.

Happy Little 'Victorian'

Entryway and gorgeous stairs

Living Room - Through French doors off the front hall

Dining Room with tons of space

Beautiful original layout and detailing

Third bedroom - Off the dining room

Beautiful entryway

Kitchen - Recently Reno'd, but quite dark

Kitchen - Recently reno'd, but quite dark

Sunroom - huge potential

Exterior - Deck, sunroom, kitchen

HUGE deck

Lovely big backyard

Upstairs Landing - Love the railing & light

Master Bedroom - amazing light and space

Master Bedroom - 'Juliet Balcony' and connected 'Office'

Second Bedroom Upstairs

Bathroom - tons of space & potential

Vibe Goals

In contrast to my city life in Brooklyn, I wanted this to be a place that's overwhelmingly chill and welcoming - a gathering place for my friends and family.

Aesthetically, both classic American farmhouses and Scandinavian design were huge influences. I'd gone to Stockholm and Copenhagen just as I was buying the house, so the idea of highlighting the heritage and detail of the space, while mixing in warm, minimal, well-crafted furnishings was top of mind.

In a more squishy way - there's this gorgeous song by ODESZA that captured the magic I was after. It beautifully surrounds you and washes away any sort of stress or tension ... like you're being bathed in a bright calm light. That's what I wanted everyone that walked into my house to feel - overtaken by a bright calm feeling, letting you leave all your city shit at the door and start connecting to yourself and the other people there.

(links to images on my pin board)