White Haute

By Henry Kuryla

Photography By: Stacy Wieczorek

 

After moving from Manhattan to start a family, an accomplished designer and her financier husband soon outgrew their 200-year old farmhouse in Harding. Flexing her unique design skills (her resume includes: illustrative, food and fashion styling and overseeing her own line of clothing) she drew up plans for an expansion, but much to her dismay found out that their historic farmhouse was subject to a whole host of crippling restrictions. They decided to look for another home.

Having grown up in Southern California she wanted a bright home filled with sunlight that would blend the indoors with the outdoors. After an exhaustive search which came up short, it was decided to look for a property and build a house she would design.

They fell in love with a secluded site on a sunny hill surrounded by woodlands in Mendham. Little did they realize, the vast amount of work needed to reconfigure the land to create a space flat enough to build a house with outdoor entertaining and recreation areas, gardens and a pool. When all the heavy equipment and seemingly endless parade of trucks bringing landfill were gone, they were able to build.

Today their dream home is nestled on over 7.5 park-like acres with complete privacy, rolling lawns, a stream, open meadows and multi-level hillside gardens. 

While the exterior of the 15-room, 12,000 square foot residence brings to mind a large, sprawling Mediterranean-style villa high above the ocean in Santa Barbara, its interior with three fireplaces, six bedrooms and ten baths is contemporary with expansive walls to display their art collection and an open floor plan with easy access to all the outdoor living areas.

“A seamless flow from the inside out was our objective,” said the designer. ”It works not only from a family perspective – raising our three children, but also for entertaining large groups of people.”

Amenities abound. It’s impossible not to notice the extraordinary attention that has been paid to the homes many custom-designed details.

Throughout the residence’s first floor, white, wide plank oak flooring has been customized for each space – stained in the living room, bordered with limestone in the dining room, accented with stainless steel in the kitchen and inlaid with river rock in the hall galleries.

The lighting which literally bathes the house in a soft, warm glow was also custom designed by the homeowner. She utilized every means possible, including recessed lighting, up lighting, directional lighting and kick lighting on stairs, in addition to skylights, sconces and chandeliers.

“I’ve always customized everything I’ve ever done from clothing to furniture, accessories and interiors,” she said. “I don’t know any other way to work.”

Custom design is also quite evident in the soaring, two-story entry foyer. With its curved Venetian-plaster accented walls, limestone floor with mother-of-pearl inlays, and stunning oak staircase with a custom hand-forged filigree railing.

The evanescent, cone-shaped chandeliers above were designed in collaboration with a lighting company in Brooklyn.

Off the entry foyer are a spacious state-of-the-art media room and a perfect-for-entertaining living room complete with a handsome wood-burning fireplace, banquette seating and an amenity-rich, fully-equipped bar with stainless-steel counters and sink, an ice maker, 2 refrigerators, a wine fridge and dishwasher.

Adjacent to the stainless steel bar with a sandblasted  etched glass top lit with LEDS, is a distinctive, custom-designed dome and chandelier over an elegant, swirling, stainless-steel staircase leading to the lower level. Here is a billiard room, music room, gym, recreation room with a climbing wall and a 4,000-bottle temperature-controlled wine cellar and cigar closet.  “It’s just the most wonderful house for entertaining. We’ve hosted a wedding here, and entertained over 200 people for our annual Christmas party and numerous charity events and fundraisers,” the homeowner said. “Caterers especially love the kitchen.”    

The dream kitchen boasts two islands, granite counters, a walk-in pantry and every high-end appliance including; two Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezers, an indoor grill and a Dacor double convection oven. Off the kitchen, are both the breakfast area and the family room.              

The grand master suite and four unique bedroom suites with full baths are upstairs. There is also an in-law suite/office.        

Designed with the same attention to detail as the residence, the sun-drenched property features mature, beautifully landscaped, multi-terraced grounds carved out of the hillside. It incorporates a pool, an arbor, stone walls, stairways, terraces, patios and a rose garden.        

“Don’t forget the peonies!” the homeowner interjected. “They’re my pride and joy. We always look forward to peony weekend, right around Memorial Day, when my 300-plus plants collected over the years are in full bloom. It‘s a knockout! No question, all the planning, hard work, time and effort were well worth it. In every sense it’s all a dream come true!”