Houzz Tour: A Country Cottage Opens to Hudson River Views
New steel doors and windows, an inky exterior, and clean architectural changes update a New York family’s weekend home
With a view that could be straight out of a Hudson River School painting, the water side of the house was a major focus of the renovation.
Previously, there had been smaller sliding doors between the deck and living room. Mennes added a set of bifold steel doors to open up the views and create better flow between indoors and out. The property has beautiful plantings thanks to the beloved aunt.
From here the family has views to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point across the Hudson. The rolling hills and forests of Garrison are well-preserved thanks to the conservation-minded residents. Many who live here travel down winding, picturesque dirt roads to reach their homes. The country escape for the family takes just over an hour to reach from Manhattan.
Windows and doors: Manhattan Iron Door Co.
Windows and doors: Manhattan Iron Door Co.
The new paint color on the exterior is also a dramatic change.
“Previously, the house was rusty brown,” Mennes says. “My clients were drawn to this dark blue/off-black color.”
She added new gutters, replacing the old rusty brown ones with half-round, lead-coated copper gutters — a gunmetal gray that complements the new paint.
Newton’s Indigo exterior paint: Portola Paints
“Previously, the house was rusty brown,” Mennes says. “My clients were drawn to this dark blue/off-black color.”
She added new gutters, replacing the old rusty brown ones with half-round, lead-coated copper gutters — a gunmetal gray that complements the new paint.
Newton’s Indigo exterior paint: Portola Paints
Inside, a Cozy Upstate Country Feel
Looking inside from the deck, we get a good view of the living room, dining banquette and kitchen on the first floor. (There are also two bedrooms and a full bathroom on this floor.) Mennes undertook structural work to be able to remove an awkward column in the middle of the living room and create the opening for the new steel doors. The fireplace had housed an old wood stove; the homeowners are considering a replacement while they get to know the house.
The style of the house is a mix. “The homeowners like a midcentury look mixed with some traditional architectural style,” Mennes says. “We kept things simple with details like flat stock molding and the steel windows.” These moves lend a clean-lined, unfussy look, as does the new staircase Mennes designed. But the materials, scale and furnishings maintain a cozy upstate country feel.
Looking inside from the deck, we get a good view of the living room, dining banquette and kitchen on the first floor. (There are also two bedrooms and a full bathroom on this floor.) Mennes undertook structural work to be able to remove an awkward column in the middle of the living room and create the opening for the new steel doors. The fireplace had housed an old wood stove; the homeowners are considering a replacement while they get to know the house.
The style of the house is a mix. “The homeowners like a midcentury look mixed with some traditional architectural style,” Mennes says. “We kept things simple with details like flat stock molding and the steel windows.” These moves lend a clean-lined, unfussy look, as does the new staircase Mennes designed. But the materials, scale and furnishings maintain a cozy upstate country feel.
“The homeowners have really great taste and picked out the furnishings,” Mennes says. The pieces are a mix of midcentury finds, new pieces from retailers such as West Elm and well-worn antique rugs from Old New House in nearby Katonah. New light fixtures add modern touches.
Another detail worth noting are the velvet drapes, strategically chosen to help keep the room toasty on cold winter nights. The new doors are thermally insulated glass; Mennes says they function well, but another heavy layer helps. For warmer days, almost every room has a ceiling fan. “The house is not air-conditioned but it has good cross-ventilation,” Mennes says.
Velvet drapes: RH; ceiling fans (throughout the home): Rejuvenation; see more ceiling fans
How to Choose a Ceiling Fan
Another detail worth noting are the velvet drapes, strategically chosen to help keep the room toasty on cold winter nights. The new doors are thermally insulated glass; Mennes says they function well, but another heavy layer helps. For warmer days, almost every room has a ceiling fan. “The house is not air-conditioned but it has good cross-ventilation,” Mennes says.
Velvet drapes: RH; ceiling fans (throughout the home): Rejuvenation; see more ceiling fans
How to Choose a Ceiling Fan
A Palette of Blue, Steel and Wood in the Kitchen
Mennes designed a floating dining banquette between the kitchen and living room. It’s crafted of walnut and has leather upholstery and a secret drawer (on the left). The Japanese artwork over the banquette is a special piece that was in the house when the aunt lived here.
Dining table: Article
Mennes designed a floating dining banquette between the kitchen and living room. It’s crafted of walnut and has leather upholstery and a secret drawer (on the left). The Japanese artwork over the banquette is a special piece that was in the house when the aunt lived here.
Dining table: Article
Mennes expanded the existing kitchen window, replacing it with a new set of steel casement windows that match the new bifold doors.
A rich walnut butcher-block counter and backsplash are a fresh take on woodsy cabin style. The cabinets are painted the same indigo color as the exterior of the house.
Light fixture: Rejuvenation
A rich walnut butcher-block counter and backsplash are a fresh take on woodsy cabin style. The cabinets are painted the same indigo color as the exterior of the house.
Light fixture: Rejuvenation
Subtle Details Warm the First-Floor Bedrooms
This guest room is known as “The Pink Room,” after its inviting, soft-colored walls painted in Pink Ground by Farrow & Ball. Visible in this shot is the new door hardware Mennes added throughout the house. The knob on the right is walnut.
Door hardware (throughout): Rejuvenation
This guest room is known as “The Pink Room,” after its inviting, soft-colored walls painted in Pink Ground by Farrow & Ball. Visible in this shot is the new door hardware Mennes added throughout the house. The knob on the right is walnut.
Door hardware (throughout): Rejuvenation
The other first-floor bedroom is called “The Boys’ Room.” In a salute to the proud institution across the river, the throw blankets and the caps on the wall are from West Point.
Next to the living room, a simple entry is outfitted with an antique bench and a contemporary round mirror. Mennes preserved the home’s original maple floors but had them stained to look like walnut.
She continued the walnut stain on the stairs, creating a striking detail against the white side of the staircase. The railings combine walnut, steel cables and blackened steel, which plays off the new steel windows and doors.
Find round mirrors
She continued the walnut stain on the stairs, creating a striking detail against the white side of the staircase. The railings combine walnut, steel cables and blackened steel, which plays off the new steel windows and doors.
Find round mirrors
Upstairs: The Views Keep Coming
The master bedroom has an open, loft-like feel. The fireplace was existing but previously had a 1970s tile surround. Mennes replaced it with a whitewashed brick veneer and a bluestone hearth to make it look like it had always been there. The new steel windows provide big Hudson River views and breezes.
The master bedroom has an open, loft-like feel. The fireplace was existing but previously had a 1970s tile surround. Mennes replaced it with a whitewashed brick veneer and a bluestone hearth to make it look like it had always been there. The new steel windows provide big Hudson River views and breezes.
“There’s so much green space around Garrison,” Mennes says.
A cozy bedroom nook sits to the right of the window. The desk, plaid sofa and telephone add midcentury modern style.
On the other side of the fireplace, a corridor to a kids’ room has a bathroom to the left and a walk-in closet to the right. It’s marked by a bright pocket door and a coordinating accent wall painted in Salsa by Benjamin Moore.
And don’t miss that triangular transom, a playful architectural detail that echoes the peaked-roof shape of the accent wall. “We wanted to get a bit more light into both spaces and thought it would be fun to play with the geometry a bit there,” Mennes says.
Salsa paint on pocket door and accent wall: Benjamin Moore; pendant light: West Elm
And don’t miss that triangular transom, a playful architectural detail that echoes the peaked-roof shape of the accent wall. “We wanted to get a bit more light into both spaces and thought it would be fun to play with the geometry a bit there,” Mennes says.
Salsa paint on pocket door and accent wall: Benjamin Moore; pendant light: West Elm
The upstairs kids’ bedroom has plenty of floor space for playing.
In the Bathrooms: Brass and 4-by-4 Tiles Are Fresh Again
Mennes renovated the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms in the same way, using a mix of clean modern and vintage-style touches. She’s finding 4-by-4-inch white tiles fresh again. “I like these because they are a play on traditional but are an alternative to subway,” she says.
The hardware is brushed brass. The wall-mounted sink is a space saver. Mennes cleverly added a floating walnut shelf beneath for texture and as a spot to store things. The vintage-style beveled mirror covers a recessed medicine cabinet, and if you look in its reflection, you can see floating walnut shelves and a niche in the bathtub for extra storage. Both bathrooms have radiant-heat floors.
Takeaways
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Mennes renovated the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms in the same way, using a mix of clean modern and vintage-style touches. She’s finding 4-by-4-inch white tiles fresh again. “I like these because they are a play on traditional but are an alternative to subway,” she says.
The hardware is brushed brass. The wall-mounted sink is a space saver. Mennes cleverly added a floating walnut shelf beneath for texture and as a spot to store things. The vintage-style beveled mirror covers a recessed medicine cabinet, and if you look in its reflection, you can see floating walnut shelves and a niche in the bathtub for extra storage. Both bathrooms have radiant-heat floors.
Takeaways
- Invest your money where the views are.
- Vintage rugs can play a big role in warming up a space.
- A dining banquette is a great space saver.
- Using the exterior paint color somewhere inside the house can create a pleasing connection between exterior and interior architecture. Here it was done with the kitchen cabinets.
- You can make one species of hardwood floors resemble another with the right refinishing/stain job.
- Get creative with recesses and niches to create extra storage space in a compact bathroom.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
House at a Glance
Who lives here: This is the weekend home for a writer, a lawyer and their three young boys
Location: Garrison, New York
Size: 1,400 square feet (130 square meters); four bedrooms, two bathrooms
Designer: Annie Mennes of Garrison Foundry Architecture + Decor
Perched on a hill overlooking the Hudson River, this charming house in Garrison, New York, has been in one of the homeowners’ families since the 1970s. This generation of owners, a New York City couple with three young children, recently purchased the house from an aunt who was ready to pass it along.
The house certainly had its charms, but it hadn’t been touched in years. Architect Annie Mennes helped the couple complete a thorough update that suited their style and made the most of the idyllic location about 60 miles north of Manhattan. She accomplished this with a down-to-the-studs renovation that included opening up the living room to the outdoors and redesigning the two bathrooms and kitchen.