Authentic Colonial Design & Consultation
Building our heritage into our future....
House Plans, Interior Design, Millwork & Consulting
• Do you want to build an Authentic Reproduction of an 18th century Colonial Home?
• Have you recently purchased an old home and don’t know where to begin?
• Do you have a new home in which you’d like to add 18th century atmosphere?
• Need a new Kitchen, Cupboard or a Wall of Paneling for the Fireplace? Or even a Period Fireplace?
• Wish you had a Bookcase for those piles of books in the attic?
• Need a Corner Cupboard for the Dining Room to display your china?
• Considering an Addition to accommodate a Master Bedroom, Bath or Kitchen?
Our consulting and design services can help you plan your renovation or building project. Our general contracting services can bring it to completion. For over 35 years we have been designing and building new old homes, restoring antique homes, and recreating the atmosphere of 18th century living in modern interiors. Our projects have been diverse: detailing a townhouse, with classical millwork throughout, in New York City, another in Beacon Hill; transforming a condo in CT with 18th century columns, cupboards and wainscot; turning a garage into an 18th century room to house an antiques collection; building a colonial kitchen in Texas; reproducing a CT colonial in Iowa, and a CT River Valley Doorway in Arkansas; disassembling and reconstructing 18th century houses; countless restorations. The list is endless, the projects fascinating.
Designing and building New Old Homes, Kitchens, Libraries, Family Rooms, Dining Rooms, and Additions is our specialty. Restoring old homes, our passion.
In new homes and interiors we strive to perfectly emulate the character and integrity of 18th century work. Every moulding, cabinet and doorway is designed with the character of your home in mind. The proportion and balance of 18th century millwork may be a thing of the past, but it is the first and foremost consideration in every project that we do. Each home and interior is unique, and we are personally involved in the design and building process to assure that our goal is achieved.
In new old home designs, we can tweak an original floor plan to accommodate a customer’s lifestyle, without sacrificing charm. In an addition, or at the back of the house, we can take liberties with windows and doors, e.g., add larger windows or French doors to take advantage of pastoral views. We can devise subtle ways to incorporate 21st century amenities into 18th century rooms. The entire home is the canvas, every detail affects the whole, and our vision and purpose is to seamlessly integrate those details into the whole, thus preserving the home’s character and flow, while adhering to the principles of the past.
Living in an old house is living in history. It is an experience like no other. Every room tells a story. But it is not for everyone. Building a new one with the same carefully selected materials, hand made bricks, hand made paneling, wainscot, staircases, beam casings and mouldings, each thoughtfully designed and crafted as they had done two hundred years ago, we come very close to achieving the same result. But one must be a student of historical architecture and have a true sense of proportion and balance to know how to put it together. It is the only way to instill the old soul into the new house. It is this magic that draws the old house lover to the product. It is not new, it is as old as Stonehenge, and as powerful. From Mount Vernon to Monticello, from Deerfield Village to Greenfield Village, we love our colonials. Amazed by the craftsmanship, we stand in awe of how so few could do so much with so little.
And so, the new old colonial, instilled with a true old soul, will continue to appeal to the sensitive and the savvy, as it fulfills our need to connect with the past, enrich the present and inspire the future. In these times, I can’t think of a more worthwhile endeavor, for both the psyche and the soul.