A New Stone Country House and Garden - G. P. Schafer Architect and Jayne Design Studio

Set on 60 acres in the rolling hills of New York’s bucolic Hudson Valley, there’s a new stone country house that speaks with an ever-so-slight English accent.

The owners, empty nesters who spent years living in England and collecting English furniture, commissioned G. P. Schafer Architect and Jayne Design Studio to create a weekend and summer-vacation retreat that reminded them of their time abroad.

Inspired by the Georgian and early-Regency houses of the English countryside, Gil Schafer III, AIA and his team clad the exterior of the house in local fieldstone, as opposed to cut limestone, so it feels more in tune with its relaxed rural farmland setting.

“Furthering this balance of vernaculars, a slate roof echoes those of the English precedent, while the Doric columns of the entry portico and the Grecian molding profiles throughout the design are a nod to the Greek Revival architecture of the Hudson Valley,” Schafer says.

He adds that the 4,500-square-foot country residence is compact, not rambling, in keeping with the owners’ desire for a small house.

Although the owners had visions of a house on a hill overlooking the dramatic, sweeping views of the surrounding countryside, the grade was too steep to do so. Instead, Schafer and his team sited the house on a lower part of the property where the slope eases and where it was possible to create a more level plateau for the house and its garden.

A pair of stone garden pavilions—a garage and a potting shed—hold the house into the hill, making it at one with the landscape and creating a cohesive boundary for the compound. Sculpted hornbeam and boxwood hedges complete the perimeter.

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A pergola, inspired by the work of American classicist Charles Platt, extends off one side of this new stone house. Photos by Eric Piasecki

The residence’s architectural interiors echo the formality of England’s great country houses while employing highly articulated detailing in a modified classical layout. Rooms are arranged around a central entry hall with a sweeping, cantilevered oval stair that is illuminated from the top by a laylight.

“We used cantilevered wood stringer blocks for the stair instead of the traditional cut stone one would find in a stairway to give it a more informal look,” Schafer says, adding that the colonnette balusters and handrail also are rendered in French-polished mahogany.

The intricate moldings throughout the country manor are based on English Regency profiles, and the custom mantels, made of wood and stone, were inspired by the period as well. Floor-to-ceiling and bay windows bring in natural light and allow open views to the meadows and garden spaces.

Although the house is classic in style, the floor plan veers from tradition by placing a large kitchen off the main hall instead of putting it in a separate wing, as would have been done in a historic country house.

“The owners are not super-formal people,” Schafer says. “They have an easy way of living; they are warm and hospitable people, and this house reflects their personalities.”

The interiors, by Jayne Design Studio, are classic, colorful, and comfortable and as welcoming as the owners.

In the dining room, which gets additional illumination and volume from a bay window, the antique furnishings are softened by the color scheme of red walls, and turquoise draperies and chair-seat upholstery. A Grecian-style plaster ceiling rosette, custom made, is another nod to the residence’s Greek Revival precedent.

The living room, which is centered around a marble fireplace, pairs a jolt of color—the walls are yellow—with cozy chairs, window shades, and draperies in a traditional soft blue and red floral fabric. The rug is English apple matting, another informal, relaxed touch characteristic of summer houses.

The formal-informal theme continues in the library, where French-polished crotch mahogany doors and a Grecian-style plaster ceiling rosette are elegant counterpoints to the low-key painted wood paneling.

The kitchen, which really is the heart of this house, is conveniently located across the stair hall from the dining room. A farm table and fireplace anchor the southern end of the room, and doors open to the dining pergola and the library, which is defined by austere gray-blue walls and woodwork. The kitchen’s placement emphasizes its central presence in the daily life of the house.

“Our efforts to create a thoughtful interweaving of the land, architecture, and our clients’ passion for classic English country house precedent gives the house a distinct character that feels appropriate for the owners and also its site,” Schafer says.

He adds that the owners are so pleased with the house that they are spending more and more time there. “When a house moves to being a home, as this one has, that’s the greatest thrill for me as an architect,” he says. TB