Pennsylvania Farmhouse

An attic room with sloped ceiling, painted pale gray, with hardwood floor and a beige area rug. There is a window letting in natural light, a small leafless tree in a corner, and an antique wooden chair without a seat or backrest.

Objective: Rescue an abandoned 1842 farmhouse, transforming it from an eyesore into a weekend 'country home' for city dwellers one hundred miles out.

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A two-story white house with gray roof nestled among trees on a hillside with autumn foliage, smoke rising from the chimney.
A yellow house with gray roof, multiple small windows, and a black door, surrounded by greenery and trees in the background.
Old, weathered white wooden house with peeling paint, four small windows, and overgrown bushes in front.

Before & After

The original 1840s Greek Revival façade was carefully revived from tear-down condition and original clapboards restored.

The gutter was removed, and then moldings, copied from elsewhere on the house, were custom milled and reinstalled.

A berm was created and planted with heritage shrubs to shield the house from road traffic that has increased a bit since the 19th century.

The barn and grounds were inventively transformed in anticipation of snowy winters and muddy springs

A red wooden barn with a gray metal roof, surrounded by autumn trees with yellow and green leaves, and a gravel driveway in the front.
View of an old brick house with a metal roof, partially obscured by leafless trees, seen from a porch with a hanging chain, in a lightly snow-covered yard.

  • Idle milking stalls were swapped out for protected parking.

  • The driveway was leveled by terracing with local bluestone and contained by hearty locust posts harvested on the property.

  • The original non-thermal windows, salvaged from the house, now bring light to the unconditioned barn interior.

Located a short walk from the banks of the Delaware River

Located a short walk from the banks of the Delaware River

Only the painted wood plank ceiling and hemlock floors are original. Everything else had to be recreated given that the interior was already gutted by a previous owner.

Only the painted wood plank ceiling and hemlock floors are original. Everything else had to be recreated given that the interior was already gutted by a previous owner.

The bluestone countertops were quarried nearby.

The bluestone countertops were quarried nearby.

Again everything else had to be recreated from nothing.

Again everything else had to be recreated from nothing.

Only the stair treads and wood floors are original. Simple beaded moldings were milled locally. Doors and door hardware are from salvage dealers and the furniture purchased at regional yard sales.

Only the stair treads and wood floors are original. Simple beaded moldings were milled locally. Doors and door hardware are from salvage dealers and the furniture purchased at regional yard sales.

Every mid-19th century Pennsylvania farmhouse deserves a good Windsor chair

Every mid-19th century Pennsylvania farmhouse deserves a good Windsor chair

A bedroom with a sloped ceiling, featuring a bed with white pillows and a checkered blanket. The wall behind the bed has black and white toile wallpaper. On the left side, a small wooden nightstand with a black lamp and a vase with red flowers. To the right, a white shelf with a black duck figurine and glass container, and a white radiator beneath the shelf.

The charcoal velvet 'slash' of a headboard reads as a whimsical and contemporary response to the sloped ceiling and counterpoint to a very traditional wallpaper.

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