How to combine a humble 19th-century farmhouse and an edgy contemporary art collection? Step 2: Situate the outsized art.
Photography by Rush Jagoe, courtesy of Berman Horn Studio.
“At the beginning, this was a sweet and modest but rather unexciting little 19th-century Federal-style house in Columbia County,” says Berman.
Curiouser and curiouser. The house belongs to a Manhattan couple who use it as their half-time residence.
The eclectic living room.
A sculptural slice of burled wood that the clients owned was raised on Lucite legs to create a coffee table in the rear living room.
In front of the hearth, a Charlotte Perriand daybed is upholstered in Melbury Ebony, a black-and-white check from Romo (initially, it was in Melbury Cilantro, a green-and-white check, but “in the end, the room needed a more punchy graphic, so we redid the cushion,” says Berman).
“It was in the basement on the last day priced at about $100.” As for her choice of Romo’s Linara Flamingo, a bright cotton-linen: “The room is quite dark, so we needed saturated, fearless colors. Neutrals in this setting turn to mud.”
For the dining room, with its stone hearth and classic sash windows, Berman and Horn designed a Parsons Table finished in Bacterio, a since-discontinued Memphis laminate by Ettore Sottsass.
Above : “We were really inspired by several historic homes of dear friends designed in the sixties and seventies, and perfect to this day in the way they create spaces full of antiques and Americana to completely contemporary effect,” says Berman.
The otherwise original pantry is now adorned with Nakai, a Pierre Frey wallpaper patterned with what Berman describes as “murderous flowers.”
Farmhouse mod: In front of the master bedroom fireplace, a Milo Baughman circular love seat (in its original Jack Lenor Larsen velvet) is paired with a Raymond Loewy molded plastic dresser from the seventies.
Berman and Horn assembled an antique Swedish writing table, Christian Bell lamp, Prouvé Standard Chair, and Fornasetti wastebasket in the upstairs office.
Contemporary art in an Americana setting.Throughout the house, the architects preserved the original wide-plank pine floors—”we worked hard on the stain to get to a color without any of the dreaded orange or honey tones”—and painted the walls Cloud Cover from Benjamin Moore’s Off-White Color collection.
The bedroom off the back stairs has a blue-and-white Les Indiennes Esme/Brigitte Quilt layered with an antique American quilt.
A kids’ room has a trio of vintage quilts found at Brimfield and a pie safe for extra bedding.
A room with a closeup view.
An outdoor dining area; see more of the gardens and the exterior over on Gardenista.