The Washington, Connecticut Farmhouse was a restoration of a historic, colonial-era farmhouse built in 1783. The house had been sensitively enlarged and restored around 1900 by a noted Connecticut architect Richard Dana. The project brief was to again restore the house while retaining as much historic fabric of the structure as possible. The building was completely taken apart down to the post-and-beam oak structure. Then it was carefully reassembled to incorporate energy-efficient systems, windows, and insulation. The interior plan was modified to create more flexible and open living space, but retaining quirky features such as three existing staircases.
A modestly-scaled addition was added to the north facing facade to contain a new kitchen. The original massive brick chimney was restored to working condition, including a wood fired brick beehive oven in the great room. Original wood floors were retained in all spaces where they were extant, and supplemented by carefully selected reclaimed oak. ERA restored the original doors, hardware, paneling, trim, wainscoting and added new details to harmonize with the old. The interiors are a layered and cozy mixture of antiques collected by the owners, with new and vintage furniture sourced by ERA.
