Hello everyone;

We are happy to announce that our special sections and lifestyle magazines will be offered online in an interactive digital format. It’s easy to use and  offers the full experience of reading our publications page by page. This format will also give our advertisers a broader audience and more feed back with a live link feature: if you see an ad or article with a web address, just click and go, it’s that simple.

See Our Digital Issues HERE!

We are creating archives for recipes, Tastemaker profiles, Home and Garden tours and other online exclusives separate from the digital publication to provide you with inspiration for all your creative endeavors.
Our TRR Website will also be getting a facelift and offer more opportunities to learn, interact and be entertained.
We thank you all for your support and look forward to interacting with you online!

UPDATE: 3/7  Just met with our web Guru, exciting changes are on the way!

Lori Malone
Creative Director
Stuart communications

Photography | Danielle Gaebel

The garden of David Gibson & Rich Kiamco, Ferndale, NY

The garden is a metaphor for life, and gardening is a symbol of the spiritual path.

~Larry Dossey

Text & Photgraphs | Marcia Nehemiah

Children come in different shapes and sizes. Some are round, some square, and a few are pentagons. For a lot of children, school can be a constant struggle to fit in to narrowly defined learning styles. While public schools strive to address the needs of all their students, some parents want a different environment for their children.

Bethany Children’s House
Bethany’s Children House (BCH), a non-profit Montessori preschool located just outside Honesdale, PA, is celebrating its 30th year of implementing the educational ideas of Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952). While it is difficult to sum up her contribution to children’s education, her impact cannot be underestimated. She said: “Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” She also said “that education is not something which the teacher does, but it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.”

As children exercise their freedom within established order, they develop a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Their experience tells them that they can trust themselves and solve problems independently.

Bethany Children’s House provides carefully designed hands-on activities that allow children opportunities for discovery. Each child develops at his or her own rate, and various learning styles are respected.

In the Preprimary class, three children sit in child-sized rocking chairs and a bright blue couch exploring books and sharing their discoveries. Another girl sits at the art table, coloring a picture of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Under the picture is an incomplete sentence: “She is dreaming of …”. In the blank space, the girl prints the words, “the stars.” Two boys unroll a mat and work with dice they have chosen from the shelf where all the math activities are located. A boy and girl unroll a mat and begin playing with blocks.

When Miss Katie (Katie Brosky, certified Montessori teacher and directress of BCH) sounds three chimes, the children excitedly find their spots for Circle Time. Miss Katie and the children exchange “good mornings” in English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Greek, Italian and Indian. Miss Katie tells the children that the letter of the day is Z and asks them questions to help them understand the concept of “zero.”

Every Montessori classroom is divided into eight areas: Language and Reading, Science and Nature, Geography and World Cultures, Math, Music, Art, Sensorial and Practical Life, each of which contains materials designed to stimulate interest in the child and to facilitate learning.

The role of the teacher in the Montessori classroom is to direct and guide. Although Miss Katie and Miss Bronwyn are not the center of the classroom, they are constantly observing the children and encouraging them. Their careful preparation is evident. All activities are created so that the children can develop order, concentration and coordination, and become independent thinkers who are actively engaged in the learning process.

The same goals guide the Toddler class. As teacher Miss Lynn reads tells a story using pictures in the book “Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor,” aide Miss Diane quietly helps children focus their attention.

Miss Katie tells me: “We get feedback from the Kindergarten teachers in the public schools that our kids are farther ahead in math and reading skills as well as organization.”

Enrollment for theschool year at BCH continues until classes are full, on a first-come, first served basis. Interested parents should call the school (570/253-6359) to set up an observation time. Visit bethanychildrenshouse.org.

The Homestead School
At the private Montessori-based Homestead School, set on 85 acres in Glen Spey, NY, the world is the classroom. Children hike nature trails, plant gardens, tend goats, sheep and chickens, work in wood shop and perform original plays in the outdoor theater. The indoor classrooms look out on the mountains, woods and open space that surround the school.

Directors Peter Comstock and wife Marsha opened the school in 1978 with 12 preschool students. It gradually grew to include kindergarten and first grade. When son Jack and daughter-in-law Nisha joined the staff in 2001, “they put their creative imprint on the school” said Peter, encouraging its expansion by one grade a year.

The school now has three levels — preschool through kindergarten, first through third grade and fourth through sixth grade. “Quite a lot of planning goes into our curriculum. We are trying to integrate the subjects,” said Jack. For example, during the unit on Greek civilization in the upper elementary grades, the study of Archimedes incorporated physics. Children learned about his inventions by making levers and pulleys.

Art classes incorporate art history as well as the skills of making art, and one classroom is devoted solely to fiber arts. Students shear sheep who live at the school, spin wool and dye yarn. They learn to knit. This year, they are weaving masks and belts, knitting a baby blanket as a group project, and sewing stuffed animals.

Students have examined issues in the world beyond Glen Spey. Their study of mountaintop removal resulted in a trip to West Virginia. They have raised money to preserve rainforest acreage in Latin America. Most recently, they have studied the issue of gas drilling. These investigations require their use of reading, writing, math, problem solving, public speaking, history and science.

Children from the Homestead School enter public school in seventh grade, well prepared and capable of adapting to the different learning environment. Nisha said that most Homestead grads take honors classes, and excel academically and socially.
Contact 845/856-6359 or homesteadschool.com.

Home schooling
Eduardo Antonetti, a public school educator and administrator, and his wife Lenore Rogan are strong supporters of public education. But when it came to their children, they had reservations.

“We began to feel that school might not be the best match for our kids,” said Rogan. “We worried whether their intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for learning were being nurtured in an environment that often emphasized conformity over individuality.” They wondered if the kids “were being sufficiently challenged.”

So when Gian, 10, and Pancho, 8, asked for home schooling, “We decided to leap into it, and it felt very much like I imagine skydiving might feel — simultaneously liberating, exhilarating and terrifying,” said Rogan. They embarked on a home-schooling program in September 2009. Samantha, 3, is now in the class.

The National Household Education Surveys Program indicates that in 2007, over 1.5 million children in the U.S. were home schooled. Parents choose to home school their children for a variety of reasons including dissatisfaction with academic instruction in public schools, concern over negative peer pressure and the public school environment, a desire for more flexibility and religious considerations.

Rogan does the hands-on teaching, since Eduardo works long hours. He is a resource for her, answering her questions and giving advice. “I am grateful to have a partner who knows as much as he does, but in the end, it really comes down to the kids and me.”

Each state mandates that home schoolers follow a core curriculum very much like the ones in public schools. In Pennsylvania, where the Antonetti children live, professional educators evaluate each child’s educational progress. Students must take standardized tests and present a portfolio of work. A certified teacher or school psychologist provides an annual written evaluation for each student. According to The Washington Post, “All surveys of home-schooled students so far indicate that they have higher achievement rates on average than regular students.”

Rogan acknowledges that there are challenges to home schooling. “Finding time to research and experiment with resources that will work for your family while making sure there is food in the fridge, everyone has clean clothes, you have time to develop friendships and to be a mom as well as a teacher can be overwhelming. I am not working outside the home right now, but I did last year; working adds a whole extra layer of complexity to the balancing act.” She said that “keeping a hearty sense of humor help a lot, too.”

She has found the experience to be a positive one. “I can say confidently that we have grown closer, that we know each other better and respect each other more than we did before. I have no idea what the future holds, but I know that we will meet it strengthened by the mutual respect that only looking long and hard can provide. I feel good about that.”

Photography | Danielle Gaebel

the garden of  Dan and Kathy Edminster, Hurleyville, NY

“There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.” 

~Mirabel Osler

A myriad of salvaged finds can be found at Barryville Antique Emporium located on Route 97 in Barryville, NY

I have recently become obsessed with finding the perfect pair of corbels to mount in the upper corners of an nine-foot-wide passageway between my kitchen and dining room. Although both rooms are part of my home’s original 1935 floor plan, the passageway was widened from a standard, 30-inch doorway during renovations. The freshly painted sheetrock opening and surrounding walls seem a little too “new” for the vintage space, so to integrate the new with the old, I thought a pair of vintage corbels with a simple mission style would add interest and cohesiveness.

Much of my free time is spent on-line scouring  the listings on E-Bay, Etsy, Craigslist and Bonanza, as well as frequenting local shops like The Barryville Antique Emporium in Barryville, NY and Green Demolitions in Honesdale, PA, in search of the perfect pair.

I haven’t found my corbels yet, but what I have come to understand during my three years of renovating is that patience is key when you have something particular in mind. I also have learned that you must always be ready to seize the moment, as I did recently when I spied a solid Virginia oak mantle remnant while looking for shutters. The forty-dollar mantle fit (nearly perfectly) over my fireplace in my home’s great room, which is new construction.

Solid oak mantle remnant, a steal at $40.

The timing seemed karmic as my stonemason, Patrick Kelly of Kelly Masonry & Design, had begun working on my fireplace’s surround. The fieldstone he selected in warm shades of gray, brown and green still had mossy spots on them. The mantel’s simple style appealed to me and I thought it would look nice painted a bright white against the natural tones of the rock.

(Check out the “before” and “after” in coming weeks  right here on Our Country Home blog!)

This isn’t the first “reclaimed” architectural detail that I’ve added to my home. When the addition  was constructed, it required removing part of an exterior wall which had a lovely diamond-shaped window. I hated to part with one of my home’s most charming features and decided to relocate the window to the top of the stairs overlooking the two-story great room—I’m now looking for vintage hardware to finish it off.

An important factor in retrofitting old architecture in new construction is hiring a competent carpenter who can not only see your vision, but execute it seamlessly.  Michael Parker of Michael Parker Carpentry and his crew had the skill to do just that. In fact, the once stationary window was made to open for cross ventilation, as well as interest when looking up from the space below. The detailing of my home’s original moldings was mimicked to give the window the appearance it has always been there. It’s now one of my favorite features and always gets noticed by guests.

Where To Begin

If you are looking to incorporate vintage and antique elements into your home’s architecture, décor or landscape, it’s always a good idea to know what you want: the style, size and finish you desire, and some ballpark pricing so you can recognize great deals when you come across them. I always recommend carrying measurements in your wallet (or portable electronic device) and to keep a tape measure in your glove compartment or handbag. If you’re not sure about a piece, take a photograph of it and mull it over. Most times these items are final sale, so it’s a good idea to be sure. Be aware, however, that in doing so you also risk losing it. To find salvaged and second-hand architectural embellishments nearby, check out area yard sales, flea markets and the classified section of local newspapers, like The River Reporter (also a great place to sell such goods).

If your home’s architecture is not in need of embellishment, but you still want to incorporate salvaged and reclaimed elements to your decor, visit Van Gorders’ Furniture, based in downtown Honesdale and  Lake Wallenpaupack. They carry a unique rustic line called Green Gables Furniture at their Lake Region showroom. Green Gables creates beautiful custom furniture using antique boards and timbers reclaimed from old barns. Green Gables Furniture is functional and stylish with intricate details like barn wood drawer handles. “Owning one of these pieces is like inviting a bit of history into your home,” says Scott Van Gorder of Van Gorders’ Furniture. “And its built to last another 150 years.”

Bridgewater Mercantile, in Jeffersonville, NY, also carries a line of hand-crafted kitchen islands and tables. Owner Jamie Stankevicius’s most sought after pieces are kitchen islands, made from yellow pine or cypress with a heavy bluestone top he crafts in his Pennsylvania workshop, and his farmhouse tables; a mix of old and new construction, the tables bring a sense of permanence and stability to any home. Stankevicius crafts European-style turned legs from re-purposed antique wood with barn board tops, hand-rubbed to bring out their character also made from reclaimed barn wood.

1)Van Gorders’ Furniture: The Green Gables furniture line at their Lake Region location is functional and stylish, made with reclaimed wood and intricate details like barn wood drawer handles.  (contributed photo)

2) Bridgewater Mercantile: Jamie Stankevicius’ farmhouse table, crafted from reclaimed wood, adorns the showroom of his Jeffersonville, NY shop. (photo Cass Collins)

3) The RLW Cabin: Home owners used reclaimed barn lumber to  clad the fireplace wall. (photo Barbara Winfield)

Everybody’s doing it

There was time when only the purists in home restoration painstakingly weeded through salvage yards and demolition sites seeking period architectural elements and fixtures to replace missing or damaged ones. Now, many architects and home owners are using salvage as a way to enhance their new construction. Our Country Home’s feature, The Floating Farmhouse featured in the Summer 2011 issue of Our Country Home, demonstrates  how to use salvaged materials in new construction masterfully. From floating bathroom sinks to a 19th-century wood soaking tub, the spare modern backdrop is made warm and inviting due to these  salvaged pieces.

Many homes featured in Our Country Home over the years have used vintage fixtures, reclaimed wood and salvaged architectural material in a number of interesting and unexpected ways.  The RLW Cabin, an eco-sensitive cabin owned by Larry Cohn and RJ  Millard featured in Our Country Home last fall, used reclaimed barn lumber to clad the fireplace wall and to construct the bed in the master bedroom, and old fire doors salvaged from a New York City building were reused as bedroom doors.

As important as style is, the greatest benefit in using reclaimed and salvaged material is that it helps the environment while it preserves the craftsmanship of a bygone era and architectural history.

Now, go reclaim something!

Current Trends In Salvage

• Using architectural remnants, like columns,  corbels, bric-a-brac and stonework, as  sculpture and wall art is a great way to incorporate salvage into your home’s decor.
• Metal grates & gates outfitted with legs and glass tops are being used to make stylish coffee tables.
• Industrial pendants are very popular right now, as is re-purposing vintage exterior lanterns for interior use. Another popular trend in salvage lighting is melding elements from  several fixtures to create one unique fixture.
• Using reclaimed barn wood to clad everything from walls to ceilings to fireplace walls is a trend that continues to grow in popularity.
• Vintage kitchen sinks are now turning up in bathrooms (sans cabinetry). The floating iron and enamel sinks, mounted to walls, create a utilitarian yet airy space.
• Reclaimed doors are being hung with sliding, barn door hardware, creating dramatic  entrances for rooms.
• “Primitive” wood benches are turning  up  as coffee tables, being used in place of sofa tables, and at the foot of a bed for a rustic touch.

The town of Milford, PA features buildings and grounds designed by some of the 19th century’s most celebrated architects, the preeminent example being Grey Towers National Historic Site. The structure was completed in 1886 as a leisure residence for James and Mary Pinchot and their three children, Gifford, Amos and Antoinette.
Today, the building and grounds are maintained by the U.S. Forest Service and the Grey Towers Heritage Association offers daily tours during the summer season. For the history buff, it’s a glimpse of how the Pinchots, who would leave an indelible mark on both the 19th and 20th centuries, lived and entertained. For the architecture fan, it’s a showcase of local materials assembled and restored in the chateau style. For the green thumb, it’s an array of plants, trees and landscape design. And for the young, and young at heart, it’s a flight of fancy, a castle full of wonders.

Family history
James Pinchot (1831-1908) grew up in Milford, the third of five children of Cyrille and Eliza Cross Pinchot. James’ father Cyrille came from France with his parents in the early 1800s. Allegiants to Napoleon, the Pinchots fled France as war-weary political exiles, but as mercantilists, they came well-heeled and well-stocked. After three years of running a shop in New York City, they were able to purchase 400 hundred acres of farmland in Milford in 1819 and establish the Old French Store at the crossroads of the county seat. Young Cyrille first made his wealth in land speculation, then in timber, becoming Milford’s largest taxpayer by 1850.

While a young man, James Pinchot left Milford to strike out on his own in New York City and made a fortune selling wallpaper, window shades and curtains to the denizens, offices and hotels of an antebellum-era New York with his firm Partridge, Pinchot & Warren. Out of this professional network, James wooed and successfully courted the daughter of real estate developer Amos Eno, Mary Jane (1838-1914), whom he married in 1864. James and Mary did not settle into their own home until the ‘80s, living instead among various family residences, predominantly in New York City, summering in the Eno home in Simsbury, CT., and also abroad in Europe.

James retired in his 40s, but stayed an active member in a number of powerful New York organizations. He came to regret the environmentally-destructive laurels his family’s wealth rested on, particularly in lumbering, and spent his latter years fomenting a conservation movement. James was close friends and a patron to a number of the Hudson River School artists, who used landscapes to foster awareness of industrialization’s side effect on America’s wilderness, naming his eldest after artist Sanford Gifford.

Along came Gifford
From these roots came Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946), whose well-connected and supportive parents encouraged him to turn his love of nature into a career path. His career began at Yale where he was a member of the Skull and Bones club. In those days, there were no forestry programs, so Gifford went abroad to study with foresters in England, Germany and France. He returned to the states eager to start working in forests, working at George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate. Gifford made a real splash at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago with a brochure that showcased the importance of forest management through his work at the Biltmore Arboretum.

His foray into public life came in the mid-1890s. When Teddy Roosevelt was elected to the Vice-Presidency in 1898, later ascending to the Presidency after McKinley’s assassination in 1901, a potent partnership formed between Roosevelt and Pinchot. Gifford served on several commissions, most notably as the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and became a trusted member of the President’s inner-circle. In 1900, the Yale School of Forestry opened, funded by a $150,000 endowment bestowed by the Pinchots, with a field study component at Grey Towers.

But Pinchot fell out of favor during Taft’s presidency, and lost his position. The ouster set Gifford on a political career path. He and his brother Amos, an attorney who would be a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, leant their support to Roosevelt’s Bull Moose campaign of 1912 and Gifford held the presidency of the National Conservation Association from 1910-1925, rallying for tougher antitrust laws and progressive social reform.

Pinchot’s political career was not without setbacks. He ran several unsuccessful campaigns for Senate, and he became disillusioned by the U.S. Forest Service, which he believed had lost its way kowtowing to the timber industry. But he found political success in state politics, first as the Pennsylvania Commissioner of Forestry in 1920, then as Governor in 1924 and again in 1930.

Pinchot didn’t marry until days after his 50th birthday in 1914, to the extraordinary Cornelia Elizabeth Bryce (1881-1960). She was a free spirit who often slept out of doors, and the eclectic and fascinating design aspects at Grey Towers owe much to her vision. One child was born of the marriage, Gifford Bryce Pinchot, who dedicated Grey Towers to the U.S. Forestry Service in 1963. Over the course of their family life together, they sailed to the South Pacific and traveled extensively, entertained lavishly at Grey Towers and enjoyed fishing and hunting.

Grey Towers construction
James Pinchot chose the acreage of Grey Towers for its majestic view overlooking Milford, the Delaware River, the Kittatinny ridge and rolling landscape, and its vicinity to the cascading waterfalls of Sawkill creek.

His friend Richard Morris Hunt, of Biltmore Estate fame, created the Norman-influenced design that included three 60-foot turrets modeled after the Marquis de Lafayette’s LaGrange castle, and for which Grey Towers is named. The manor was completed with over 40 rooms, over 20 fireplaces, using mostly local materials—hemlock from Lackawaxen, bluestone from Shohola, slate from Lafayette, NJ—and all local labor.

Gifford and Cornelia began spending summers in the main house, and as their political careers brought them to Pennsylvania, Grey Towers became their permanent residence. Cornelia, using mostly her own funds, took to overhauling Grey Towers, knocking down walls to allow in air and light, adding additional outbuildings like the Bait Box (her son’s playroom), the Letter Box (Gifford’s archive) and outdoor entertainment areas. One unique example of her touch (and a highlight of the Grey Towers tour) is the Finger Bowl, a stone table situated under a trellis with a pool at its center so that food could be served and passed by way of floating bowls. Cornelia was also a passionate gardener who added a new level of grandeur to the house through landscape design.

Restoration
In 1963, under the management of the Forest Service and the Pinchot Institute, Grey Towers was one of the first sites to be declared a National Historic Landmark. The site stayed steadily open to the public over the course of the years, but without adequate funding or direction.

Starting in 1980, over $16 million in federal, state and private funds was raised to complete an extensive renovation of the site, which closed briefly for two years at the turn of the century, and opened again on August 11, 2011, Gifford Pinchot’s birthday.

Today, the main floor has been restored to its former glory and the second- and third-floors conference facilities have been modernized. Today’s tour includes the Great Hall, the sitting room, the library and a glimpse of Pinchot’s office as well as the gardens and grounds near the house. A film of a visit by President John F. Kennedy to Grey Towers can also be viewed.

Mansion tours run from Memorial Day through October 30 daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for youth and free for kids under 12.
The grounds with self-guided interpretative trails are open to the public year-round from sunup to sundown.
For more information visit www.greytowers.org or call 570-296-9630.

OCH: What is the meaning of the name of your store, Enochian, in Narrowsburg, NY?
Enochian means “the language of the angels.” When I started the company, I wanted the clothes to encompass something ethereal and otherworldly, so I researched a lot of H.R, Giger’s work, which then led to H.P. Lovecraft and Philip K. Dick, which then led to “Bladerunner.” As I’ve matured, my work has become less avant garde and more wearable. It’s about making women feel good.

OCH: How did you get your start in clothing design?
I started sewing when I was 10 years old. I loved the idea that you would start with a two-dimensional pattern and create this three-dimensional garment. I studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and got an internship with J. Morgan Puett, and I was offered a full time position as assistant patternmaker under the guidance of Gary Graham. I sourced the materials and trims and eventually became the production manager.

OCH: What do you look for in a well designed article of clothing?
I start with the fabric and then I look at the pattern. I’m much more interested in how the pattern was designed than the embellishments. Also, I look for color. It can be subtle or really rich and give the garment more texture. And, how a piece of clothing is constructed says a lot about the design. The person wearing the garment should feel comfortable—even in the most extraordinary garments. When a person feels comfortable they exude a certain confidence and nonchalance. Like they’ve been wearing that particular piece forever.

OCH: What brands do you carry, and why do you like them?
Gary Graham is our most avant garde line. Clu is a Los Angeles line that uses interesting knits mixed with wovens; all the pieces are garment dyed to give them a softness. Alternative Apparel is a staple line for us. The majority of the line is manufactured in the U.S. They pride themselves on ethical work conditions and fair wages. R13 is an Italian jean line that produces its own fabric and manufactures in Italy. Pip-squeak chapeau is designed and manufactured in Brooklyn. Sveta uses a mix of felting, silks and hand knit alpaca to construct her garments. Madame Fortuna is a jewelry line designed and manufactured by local artisan Alison Ward. Melissa Easton is another jewelry line designed and manufactured in NYC.

These are just some of the designers we feature. I curate the pieces so that they can all work together.

OCH: Can you tell me about your own line?
All of the Enochian clothing line is manufactured in the U.S. Also, we try to buy material from small fabric mills around the world. Our fabric comes from Italy, France, Ireland and some of our organic cotton and wool knits domestically. We believe in ethical work practices; the people who work with us have been with us for the last eight to 10 years. I can tell people when they buy one of our pieces that four people have touched that garment: the cutter, seamstress, dyer and the shop girls.

OCH: What do you enjoy most about being part of Narrowsburg’s Main Street?
It’s my family! When I wholesaled across the U.S. I had no idea who bought our pieces, what they thought of them and how they held up. By being in this beautiful town full of talented people, I have access to customers’ likes and dislikes, where they wore our pieces and who complimented them. I love when people come in the store and tell me they bought an Enochian dress three years ago and it’s still a favorite.

 Click to view slideshow.
Photography | Danielle Gaebel
the garden of Bill Morch & Bob Goldberg Monticello, NY

“My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.” 

~Abram L. Urban

Many artists, famous or otherwise, have found inspiration for their work in dreams. Dreams, like art, operate in non-linear ways and use symbols, metaphors, associations and startling connections to create the image and move the action along. Although dreaming is shared by all people, it remains mysterious and challenging. We must use a different part of our brains to unlock the meaning of a dream, much as we are challenged to do by art. We hope you will enjoy this foray into dreamland by all our contributors to this issue of the Literary Gazette, enhanced by the dreamy photographs of Milford, PA photographer Norma Bernstock.

Literary Gazette 2011 is now online HERE!

Mary Greene
Section Editor

“ Exploring the contrast between historic and modern,
and playing these extreme elements against one another,
is a constant theme in my work. ” —Tom Givone

A PORTRAIT OF MODERN INNOVATION AND HISTORIC CHARM

Many people find that having a signature style is the best way of distinguishing their endeavors or making contributions to society. In the case of architecture, an American masterpiece called “Falling Water” was a signature achievement by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. “Falling Water” is the name of a home Wright built in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands during the late 1930s.
However, signature styles in architectural achievement are constantly being challenged, elevated and re-imagined in this dawning age of sustainability. One such achievement, which has been realized right here in the Upper
Delaware River Valley in Eldred, NY, is artisan Tom Givone’s “Floating Farmhouse.”
Givone, who was born in the Bronx and raised in Bedford, NY, alternates between staying at his newly renovated farmhouse with his dog, or in Manhattan. Wherever he might be, he uses the farmhouse as a base of operations for his country home projects.
Givone has a personal vision that exceeds his coursework at the Columbia School of Architecture. He considers himself to be a self-taught designer who has utilized his real estate properties to cultivate an impressive artisan’s approach to building and restoration. He cites the self-taught Japanese architect Tadao Ando (winner of a Pritzker Architecture Prize) as his favorite in the field.

‘A GRAND EXPERIMENT IN OPPOSITES’
About his work in general and this project in particular, Givone said, “Exploring the contrast between historic and modern, and playing these extreme elements against one another, is a constant theme in my work. In the Floating Farmhouse, I not only explored this concept inside the home but also with the home itself. Melding a modern glass, steel and concrete addition to the original wood and wavy-glass farmhouse was a grand experiment in opposites.”
He revealed that when he finds a property, it typically is not for sale and is often abandoned or in disrepair. In the case of the Floating Farmhouse, located not far from Yulan’s yellow post office, he simply left a note on the door. The owner called him back and accepted his offer. His process of designing and rebuilding this 1830 manor home spanned four years—culminating in the restoration of the house’s period appeal while featuring modernist elements.
In the front façade, Givone restored the original clapboard siding and recovered the once-hidden interior wall boards of an aged stair landing punctuated with insect and small animal remnants. A highlight of the house, and how it gets its name, is the covered wood porch cantilevered above a stream with a view of the woods. The scene is accented by a small waterfall, affording run-off for the stream below the porch through an ancient dam of hand-laid stone. The porch can be accessed from the front yard and circular driveway, or through three French doors that interface with the kitchen.
MODERN SCULPTURAL ELEMENTS
The kitchen boasts a 22-foot tower of Cor-Ten steel that houses a wood burning pizza oven and complements the steel window framing on the opposite wall. “It’s really a sculpture, very monolithic, with just a small half-moon opening at the bottom offering a clue as to its actual use,” said Givone. “I sourced the steel out of Pittsburgh, had the panels cut to my specifications, and bathed them in acid over the course of three years to achieve just the right leather-like patina. I also recently wrapped a 19th-century wood soaking tub with stainless steel in the guest bathroom, as well as installed a hand-chiseled 17th-century Italian marble sink with modern, minimalist hardware.”
Also at 22 feet in the kitchen is skyscraper glass with rusted and welded steel window frames, conceived to provide a dramatic counterpoint to the original home’s design and make the most of the water views. “Primarily, I wanted it to be beautiful, and searched for a material that could serve both purposes. The home has four 26-foot hand-hewn ceiling beams, two in the kitchen and two in the master bedroom. These are not original to the home; they were salvaged from a centuries-old barn. The roof surface is massive, encompassing over 4,000 square feet, every inch of which is recycled steel.”

CARBON FOOTPRINT: KEEPING IT LOW AND LOCAL
When asked to name some of the low carbon footprint materials that were utilized, the designer believes the home itself is the best example. The house was built in 1830 with local materials, delivered by horse and wagon and constructed entirely by hand. “Renovating an old structure pays homage to that past, both aesthetically and environmentally,” explained Givone. “It also avoids the landfill, recycles an existing footprint and spares the greenhouse gases generated by the manufacture and shipping of new building materials—even green ones.
“In terms of locally grown finish woods, I started close to home, literally. Eleven ancient pine trees, each over 150 feet tall, were encroaching on the home and threatening collapse. So I cut and milled them on site, and turned them into all of the interior woodwork in the home including the wainscoting, trim work, covered porch and the ceiling coffers in the living room.” Pine, which is a soft wood, is a good candidate for these kinds of finishes, “and it is abundant in our region.”
The heating system in the farmhouse “runs on bio-diesel, a plant-based fuel that burns clean and does not contribute to global warming,” Givone said.

The Floating Farmhouse is available for rental. For more information about the house and the architectural work of Givone, visit www.givonehome.com. For information about photographer Tommaso Fondi go to http://gallery.me.com/+fondi.

RESOURCES

Homeowners and homebuyers can reap significant tax credits for green upgrades and save money long term. A good place to start is the U.S. Department of Energy-Incentives/Policies for Renewables & Efficiency (http://dsireusa.org/incentives/). The U.S. Department of Energy operates this site in collaboration with three energy groups. All states are listed and there are links for each state based on the energy type, region of the state, tax break, rebate and so on. A U.S. flag icon alerts readers to federal incentives as well.

PA RESIDENTIAL INCENTIVES OVERVIEW

http://dsireusa.org/incentives/homeowner.cfm?state=PA&re=1&ee=1

PA SOLAR – THERMAL

http://energysavepa-home.com/solar/residential-solar-thermal-program

PA WIND AND GEO-THERMAL

http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=PA41F&State=federal¤tpageid=1&ee=1&re=1

NY HOMEOWNER INCENTIVES OVERVIEW

http://dsireusa.org/incentives/homeowner.cfm?state=NY&re=1&ee=1

NY Solar Thermal Incentive Program

http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=NY87F&State=federal¤tpageid=1&ee=1&re=1

NY SMALL WIND INCENTIVE

http://dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=NY35F&re=1&ee=1