Fields of dreams
THE SEARCH FOR A COUNTRY GETAWAY LED A COUPLE TO THE SIMPLE LIFE: A 42-ACRE FARM THAT FLOURISHES SEASON BY SEASON
Many city folk longing for country getaways usually look for places with a bit of land and a certain kind of house, be it country quaint or contemporary. A picturesque town and pristine beach nearby are also standard requisites.
One Chicago family had a very different take on that formula. They wanted lots of land and didn’t mind what the house looked like-as long as it was livable. The town and beach weren’t important, either.
“We live in a brownstone with a postage stamp garden in the city, but my husband and I both grew up on farms. We wanted to work the land and be outdoors, not inside. And we wanted our kids to have the kind of experiences we did growing up,” says the wife.
Rolling acres sprinkled with thickets of trees, a pond and some kind of shelter were the priority. That would give them enough land for several different kinds of gardens, hills for sledding, water for fishing and skating and somewhere to sleep and eat. Another prerequisite was that it be within a few hours of Chicago.
It seemed like a reasonable quest back in 1984 when they started looking for such a place. But it didn’t pan out that way. “We’d read these ads in the newspaper, pile all the kids in the car, then get there and be disappointed. The ads were deceptive. The land was always so flat, and there were never any trees,” sighs the wife. By 1991, they were getting discouraged.
Then a Tribune ad led them to the 42-acre farm they eventually bought just outside a small town less than two hours south of the city. “When we pulled up, it was exactly what the ad said . . . the real deal,” says the wife.
There were fields, rolling hills, wooded areas, a one-mile-square, spring-fed pond, a winding creek, a rambling farmhouse, a barn and a garage with guest quarters above it. And the farmhouse was in good shape despite its 100-plus years, though its layout was convoluted and inefficient.
“My father-in-law told me he could tell it was an authentic farmhouse by its floor plan. Whenever a good crop came in they’d just slap on another room,” the wife says, laughing. But “all we had to do was move in and it was usable.”
All those acres were a different matter. “We live outside, so that’s what we fixed up,” she says. First the couple planted a simple vegetable garden behind the barn, then consulted a landscape-architect friend at the Chicago Botanic Garden to plan the rest of the place. An English garden in front of the garage was next, and then they tackled the pond, which became the heart of their outdoor home. It was cleaned, dredged, then restocked with fish. Banks were “furnished” as carefully as most people would do their rooms. “As you walk around its perimeter, there are all sorts of surprises-secret gardens, secluded nooks, little sitting areas, a pier and even a little bridge going over a waterfall,” the wife says.
The grounds flourished, their children grew up and the couple turned their attention to new projects. In 1999, they built an orangerie to use for potting and entertaining in the summer and sheltering potted plants in the winter. They hired Dale Carol Anderson, the Chicago interior designer who had done their city home, to execute the project.
In 2000, when their eldest child became engaged, the couple thought it would be meaningful for her to have her wedding at their beloved farm. “We’re very earth-bound,” says the wife, noting that “where we grew up, houses are where people are born, married and buried.”
By then, the grounds were as well- appointed as any grand estate, but the house remained as humble and homespun as it had been the day they moved in. “It was charming in places, and we had a few nice pieces of furniture, but it wasn’t anything special,” says the wife. So a few months before the wedding they called Anderson in to refurbish the place-fast.
“I had three months. That was probably less time than the bride had to get ready,” jokes Anderson. Given that schedule, doing anything time- intensive would be impossible. “So we worked very quickly, and used a lot of paint,” she says.
The most compelling issue to address was the home’s addition-addled layout, which couldn’t be restructured given the schedule. Instead, Anderson made cunning use of furnishings and decorative elements to refocus rooms, make them cohesive and create a good circulation pattern.
For starters, she edited the furniture and kept the stars, such as an antique dining set with Windsor chairs. “We tucked the less desirable pieces away and bought new pieces to tie together the things we had.” Aesthetics were more important than provenance; by mixing fairly simple but exquisitely crafted country pieces from Sweden, Britain, France and the United States, she was able to make the place look authentic and elegant instead of fussy and contrived.
To refocus rooms or give them completely new functions, Anderson repositioned major pieces of furniture. A large vestibule that housed a piano and overlooked the English garden was turned into a multi-purpose space for entertaining and playing music by adding a graceful drop-leaf table flanked by upholstered chairs and a sweet little settee.
In the same vein, a TV room in the center of the house became a study with faux-painted paneled walls. A room the family never used in the back of the house was fitted out as a new, far more comfortable and appropriately situated TV room.
Cosmetics came last but did the most to tie the rooms together. A color palette that takes its cues from the grounds-burnished barn red and faded leaf green-was used in every room, but the intensities of the hues were varied to achieve different effects. In the music room, cheerful red and white fabrics and pale green walls yield an airy quality; in the study deep reds paired with mossy greens create cosseted comfort.
Finally, accessories were used to give the place personality and charm. The wife’s antique quilt collection was used to dress tables, sofas, chairs and beds, while the straw hats the family wears when they’re outside became an artistic installation in the foyer. The house was ready in time for the wedding, which was memorable, reports the wife. But more importantly, its ageless ambiance continues to please and shine five years later.
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RESOURCES: Pg. 15: Bench-Urban Gardener, Chicago; stool-Donghia Furniture, Merchandise Mart, Chicago. Pg. 16: Antique fauteuil-through Dale Carol Anderson, Chicago; Windsor chair-personal collection. Pg. 17: Adirondack chairs-personal collection; orangerie table and service area-designed and fabricated by Dale Carol Anderson; pots-Urban Gardener; birdhouse-personal collection. Pg. 37: Antique bench-through Dale Carol Anderson; carpet-Stark Carpet, Merchandise Mart, Chicago.
