What an exciting winter we’ve had here at Farmhouse! The last two winters have been no fun at all, closed because of COVID with all our staff furloughed fighting to stay in business… a complete bummer. But this winter we didn’t get shut down (yahoo) and even though there were lots of concerns in December and January about omicron, business was steady, and we were thrilled to be open! And this allowed us to focus on some much-needed renovation work that we’ve been putting off quite some time. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to build things. It’s what I’d do all day everyday if I could. I’m the happiest when we are under construction and this year, we focused on two very large (and exciting) remodel projects that I’m so excited to update everyone on.
The historic cottages adjacent to the main farmhouse date back to the early 1900s (check out our history page for more information) and for over 100 years these rooms have been worker housing, vacation rentals, a boarding house, a bed and breakfast, and now a small luxury inn. While these cottages were adorable, they hadn’t been touched in over 20 years and needed serious TLC. In 2019 we completed cottage remodel phase I remodeling the front three rooms (rooms 3, 4, 5), stripping them down to the studs and completely rebuilding them to be the best version of the Farmhouse cottages that they can be. These new rooms, while smaller than our larger newer rooms, have all the same amenities, charm, and style you would expect here at Farmhouse. And we and guests alike have been so very happy with the way these rooms turned out. So now it’s 2022, yes three years later, and we’re finally getting around to remodeling the remaining three cottages (rooms 6, 7, 8). We had three long years to think about the remodel of these rooms and plan out every detail repeatedly.
Pretty much, like everything else at Farmhouse, Catherine and I envision it, we design it ourselves, I oversee the construction, Catherine oversees the interiors – it’s a labor of love where every detail is thought about, every touch point considered. And I’m so happy with how these final 3 cottages turned out!
Catherine and I have always felt that it’s important to tell the story of the history of this property with each guest room. With all our newly constructed rooms, we built them where the original farm buildings were located, and the outside structures intentionally look reminiscent of barns. For these rooms we went with a very modern farm interior. But for our cottage remodel, we wanted to go in a slightly different direction. These cottages are original to the property and full of historic character and once were even small homes where families lived. So, for these interiors we were inspired by the historic city apartments full of elegant nooks and modern furnishings we have visited in places like New York City. Sounds weird, right? But stay with me. We decided to go a bit chicer than we typically have done in the past sourcing slightly more modern, yet cottage inspired decor. Some of the playful elements that we really love are the library arm reading lamps in the bed nooks, the whimsical sofa lamps, and the pewter leg coffee tables. We married this with our all-natural fabrics – cottons and linens – that we have always loved to use and a few playful elements like the door into the bathroom is hung like a barn door, but it is a huge six foot wide 12 panel modern door. And, of course, the huge bathrooms feature heated Carrera marble floors, steam showers, and huge cast iron pedestal soaking tubs – the perfect spot to luxuriate! These elegant spaces feel a bit chic city apartment but very much are in line with our Farmhouse aesthetic that we have developed over the last 20 years. We designed the larger cottage rooms, our Petite Suites, with flexible bedding – a giant king bed and a private alcove full bed – perfect for a girlfriend’s getaway or extra space for families. The cottage rooms are elegant refuges full of small details that we hope you’ll love, and we can’t wait for you to come see them!
So, what’s the other project I’ve been working on? Well that involves our restaurants (yes, plural as in TWO!), Farmhouse and FARMSTAND. We’ve made some exciting changes, both with the décor and the team, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. But that will have to wait until my next blog. Until then, please come by and check out our new cottages, I’m happy to give you a tour!
