Cottage Charm

Serving as a wonderful example of four-sided design, this cottage looks good from every angle. The historically accurate, flared chimney is constructed of fieldstone taken from the site.

Sitting in a meadow at the foot of the woods, this 3600 square foot cottage in Westchester County, New York, exudes an almost enchanted, fairy tale-like charm. Looking a hundred years older than it actually is, the home’s appeal comes from the painstaking attention to detail, both inside and out, that went into its design and construction.

"It truly is a magical place," says architect Andrew Chary, who worked closely with his client and interior designer, Allen Ransome, to hand-select and restore many of the home’s fixtures, which were uncovered in New York salvage yards.

The fieldstone fireplace (left), flanked by site-built, cedar bookcases, serves as an inviting focal point for the great room.

Located on a 60-acre estate with its own private lake, the home was designed to function as a guest house serving a main residence already in existence. Chary’s clients wanted their new retreat to serve two functions: a lakeside party house for their own use and a guest house that would provide accommodation for their grown children and grandchildren, as well as their elderly parents.

The cottage features a conveniently accessible main- floor master bedroom, and two guest suites and a loft on the second floor.

Multiple French doors provide access to the covered terrace, which serves as an outdoor extension of the great room.

Chary’s design, inspired by classic European cottages of long ago, makes the most of its bucolic setting through the use of large windows, unrestricted views and nature-oriented decorating elements. "Views are a paramount feature of this house," says Chary, of the home’s open floor plan.

Throughout the house, modern conveniences are carefully hidden or disguised. "With the exception of one small ventilation stack, no mechanicals are visible outside," says Chary. "Even the air conditioning unit can’t be seen." Inside, ductwork is concealed in false beams. Secret drawers are everywhere. Even the refrigerator features decorative hand-painted panel doors that transform it from an ordinary appliance into a faux chicken coop.

As the heart of the main floor, the kitchen has a personality all its own. The open design promotes interaction between this space and the breakfast and great rooms.

Functioning as the central hub of the main floor, the kitchen is designed with low counters on the home’s view side facing the breakfast area. "The kitchen is incredibly open," says Chary. "From the front entry, you can look straight through the kitchen and out to the lake. "Clutter areas are hidden from these important sight lines.

Chary used subtle touches to deliberately downsize the scale of the home. Actually its simple, Z-shaped, three-box design, he says, could be mistaken for almost any contemporary structure when viewed during its construction phase. "The difference," he says, "is in the finishing details." Inside, the walls feature a textured plaster finish. Floors and countertops are made of recycled barnwood.

The master bath features salvaged lighting and plumbing fixtures that Chary and his client found in a New York salvage yard.

The cottage’s exterior features a cedar shake roof that transitions smoothly into a standing seam copper lower roof, cedar shake siding and acrylic modified stucco lower walls that are 10 inches thick. This extra depth creates distinctively deep shadows around the openings for the windows and doors.
Project Spotlight
Architect/Builder: Andrew Chary Architects, Bedford, New York
Builder (initial construction): Restoration Modern Inc., New York, New York
Interior Designer: Allen Ransome, Toad Hall at ABC Carpet & Home, New York, New York
Major Products Used:
Appliances: GE; Viking
Cabinetry: Custom (site-built)
Doors: Custom
Exterior Finish: Cedar handsplit shake; acrylic modified stucco
Fireplace: Custom fieldstone
Flooring: Antique barn siding
HVAC: Hydroair; Reggio registers
Lighting: Found objects
Plumbing Fixtures: Salvaged, restored
Roofing: Cedar handsplit shake; standing seam copper
Windows: Marvin
Hand-Hammered Iron Hardware: Historic Housefitters.