In 2001, a Bucks County, PA couple fell in love with Woodstock and began what was to become an annual ritual visiting the area. In 2008 they bought 3.5 acres. Drawn to area by the excellent hiking and the Woodstock Film Festival they decided to build their retirement home there. They started researching house styles and realized the perfect layout was one that they designed themselves.
The couple chose to work with Atlantic Custom Homes, independent dealers for Lindal Cedar Homes. The Lindal Homes are semi-custom and the house they designed is loosely based on the Elements line. Using a software program called Chief Architect, they made drawings of what they wanted, then bounced ideas back and forth with the Atlantic rep, eventually submitting drawings to the Lindal architects for the final plans. To quote the couple, “We wanted to design the house around the natural slope of the land, including roof pitches. It needed to include a walk out ground floor to accommodate the “daylight basement” and large picture windows with views.
Set deep in the woods on a mountainside, taking advantage of the setting was key. Large picture windows in the main living space frame the view and allow masses of light into the space. The home is compact in size at 1850 sq ft and has all that they desire.
The open plan situates the kitchen at right angles to the main space and the soaring 20 foot ceilings lead up the clear varnished cedar staircase to the open master suite on the higher floor. Privacy is not an issue as the guest bedrooms are on the lowest floor.
The house has a covered porch for al fresco dining.
The choice of wild flowers instead of front lawn is inspiring.
On the lowest floor, the home includes an office/library, a yoga- exercise room and a guest bedroom and full bath.
The color scheme is focused around a light-medium gray, Benjamin Moore’s Bunny Gray for the communal spaces. The gray rises to the highest elevation into the master suite. We chose Benjamin Moore’s Toucan Black as an accent wall to create contrast with the pale gray. The floors are Brazilian Koa, which adds warmth to the overall color palette. All of the paint colors chosen are cool. They work well in the house because of the preponderance of very warm colored woods. The master bath is Wedgwood Gray which actually is a muted blue/ green that highlights the Mexican ceramic tiles in the shower.
Exchanging visual reference with a homeowner is a hallmark of my color consulting practice and the wife’s reference for her yoga room was an explosion of pinks and lavenders.
Yoga Room Reference
We landed on a muted lavender called North Cascades which was enlivened by a shot of hot pink in an over dyed rug. The mix of cool violet and hot pink serve to both relax and stimulate as the couple practices yoga, meditation, weight lifting and elliptical in the space.
On the bottom floor, the library continues the cool theme with a deeper blue green, Benjamin Moore’s Mystic Lake. The Guest bedroom is Sage Wisdom from BM’s full spectrum line called Color Stories. With all of the greens chosen, the colors of the interior echo those outside.
The difficulty choosing color for an open plan house is of course where to choose your color breaks. It’s best to choose accent walls which are architecturally unique or which signal a change in function to use a new color. Keeping flow is of upmost importance because changing a color in an illogical place wreaks havoc on the senses. With an overall medium to light hue for the main space we were careful to add contrast here and there to keep it interesting. Besides the almost black accent wall in the master bedroom the powder room is a dark blue, Benjamin Moore’s Old Navy. A return visit to the home found the couple in love with their new home, their color choices and their life in Upstate NY.
If you’re in need of help with interior or exterior color you can find me at amykranecolor.com.
