Connecticut Farmhouse

This 30-something couple brought only a Goyard trunk, a midcentury desk and a fabulous art collection to this 8,000-sf Litchfield County farmhouse, part of it circa 1700s. I immediately responded to the impressive trestle-ceilinged barn housing the living room, so I riffed on American agrarian vernacular, but not in a cliché way. Referencing farm machinery material are a metal armoire, patinated steel tables in the living room and attractively rusted French 1980s galvanized steel chairs in the dining room. There are hooked and plaid cotton rugs throughout, and much of the furniture has a plainspoken American modesty, such as the antique Gustave Stickley dining table and the historic Mission-like Paine chairs in the living room. Only the study skews more Scandinavian with its simple wood forms, a pretty complementary match. Their desk landed here, along with Papa Bear and Alvar Aalto chairs and a Danish Modern-style file cabinet I designed. Luxe magazine called it “Barn Beautiful.”