In a gesture more typical of royalty and definitely from another era, Grace Farwell received a wedding gift from her father that few daughters would quibble with. But her father was far from the typical father of the bride.
In 1922, U.S. Senator Charles B. Farwell commissioned the architecture firm of Delano & Aldrich to design a 15,000-square-foot Georgian Revival brick colonial to sit amid the 18 1/2 acres where his former estate-Fairlawn-stood until it burned to the ground a few years before.
The new Fairlawn, as it was also named, contained vast rooms, appropriate gathering spaces for the well-heeled, influential clan. The living room measured 20 by 46 feet. Ceilings soared upward-to 20 feet. Hallways continued endlessly. The gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who had fashioned New York`s Central Park.
Fast forward to 1989. The house, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, catches the eyes of an active young couple with two teenage daughters. Even though a fire and neglect had taken their toll and the grounds had been subdivided, the house remained structurally intact and imposing and its 3 1/2 acres still afforded ample privacy.
What piqued the new owners` interest was the idea of an excess of space. They also wanted greater kinship with the outdoors. Their prior home-a few miles away-was in an area where development was encroaching and destroying any bucolic feeling.
Yet, while the owners respected the home`s lineage, they were adamant about not recasting it in a time warp. They had a slightly contemporary vision in mind, influenced by the wife`s work as a painter and the home`s strong architectural lines and sweeping views.
Among their decisions was to focus on architectural details, such as graceful arches, on the enormous spaces and on the unending vistas through large original windows. ”This wasn`t a house that would look right fussed up and made cute. The scale-almost theaterlike-had to come through,” says the wife, who took charge of the redesign.
They painted walls white or soft neutral hues. An exception was the garden room, which contained an original trompe l`oeil mural of the outdoors, a good antidote also to the Midwest`s typically long, cold winters. They left most windows uncurtained, revealing original marble sills and old panes, some of which offered distorted, romantic scenes. They kept most floors bare to show off original slate with marble inlays and lovely woods.
When the framework was complete, they deftly placed their collection of 18th Century English antiques about to emphasize scale and make individual pieces stand out rather than be lost in a dizzying muddle.
Nowhere is it more apparent that this is a family that lives squarely in the present than in the kitchen-a sprawl of cooking zone with multiples of equipment, breakfast area and large sitting area. With the help of De Guilio Kitchens, they selected modern and traditional materials that look fresh, natural and can take abuse. White lacquered cabinets have little detailing and few recesses where dust collects. Countertops are beige granite. One backsplash is a lush onyx. Walls pick up that hue with their creamy hue with a hint of green. The floor is a wood herringbone in a large pattern, deliberately not polyurethaned.
