A House in the Country PETER PENNOYER KATIE RIDDER WITH ANNE WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC PIASECKI fter decades of building and designing houses and interiors for clients around the world, renowned architect Peter Pennoyer and highly A sought-after interior decorator Katie Ridder decided they were ready to build their own dream house. They spent years looking for the per- fect property and in 2009 came upon a narrow, overgrown six-and-a-half- acre parcel of land with a ranch house in Millbrook, New York. Over the next few years, Peter and Katie transformed the property, honoring Millbrook’s history of nature conservancy and sporting pastimes. The result is an exuber- ant, one-of-a-kind Greek Revival–inspired house with woodland and flower gardens that looks as though it’s always been there, nestled amid the gently rolling hills and farms of the area. In A House in the Country, Peter and Katie open the door to their house and tell the story of its conception, design, decoration, and landscaping. Fea- turing gorgeous full-color photography by noted photographer Eric Piasecki and finely rendered plans and elevations by Anton Glikin, the book shares charming and honest anecdotes about every step of their process, from some of the challenges they faced—it’s no small feat to turn a fetid bog into a thriving pond—to some of their favorite choices, like Katie’s use of a varie- gated purple mosaic tile in the front hall. Readers are invited to join Peter and Katie on their journey, gaining design inspiration and tips for their own homes along the way. Their book is as much a portrait of creative partnership as it is an account of building and designing a practical family house. The book is organized into three main sections: Exterior, Interior, and Garden. Peter says his first sketch of the house plan was a “simple box,” and working with colleagues at his firm, he transformed that basic idea into a con- temporary take on a Greek Revival design. Many unexpected choices influence the overall aesthetic: there are four symmetrical but distinct façades, including a semicircular bay with whimsical bas-reliefs depicting a dog chasing a rabbit on one façade and four fluted Doric columns announcing the main entrance on another. The warm gray of the exterior, paired with bold red window sashes and deep blue shutters, is unusual, giving a modern twist to the classical ele- ments. The house is also fundamentally environmentally friendly, including details like rainscreen siding, two-part insulation, and LED lighting, because Peter has always believed that traditional design is inherently green. When you walk through the front door, it becomes apparent how magical a space can be when the architecture and interior decoration are entirely in sync. The floor plan is open, filling the interconnecting rooms with daylight, and yet each space feels distinct, thanks to Katie’s dynamic color schemes, which modulate from one room to the next. Shopping at auction houses for unexpected pieces (and some great values), she layered personal collections with custom wallpaper of her own design and finishes and hardware designed specifically for the house. She also took advantage of every square foot, mak- ing each room a place the family really lives in. For example, the curved dining room is open to both the kitchen and the living room, and although the three rooms have very different color schemes and moods, Katie manages to harmonize the spaces with a palette of colors from mulberry to pink to periwinkle. The entire house is a feat of texture, color, and personality. Katie’s gardens are much the same. She’s a passionate, self-taught gardener, and the landscape of the property offered her a blank slate. She researched extensively—to the point of obsession—enthusiastically studying types of plants, garden layouts, and even bed dimensions. The resulting flower garden, cutting garden, and woodland garden are both beautiful and magical. The flower garden is a room-like space with a rose- and wisteria-draped pergola at its center that serves as an outdoor living and dining room. The entire garden was designed along the lines of an English cottage garden, with a lush, dense mix of more than 200 perennials, annuals, rare plants, shrubs, and bulbs that Katie has gath- ered from all over. The book features a gatefold pullout of the garden plan, com- plete with a key to specific flowers and plantings. Her cutting garden, where she grows over eighty different types of dahlias, along with peonies, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, and other annuals alongside vegetables and berries, is an abundant source of flowers for the house and produce for the kitchen. It’s often said that an architect or designer’s best work is seen in his or her own home. Peter and Katie’s talents, their passion for history, and their desire for meaningful, family-filled days come alive in this very personal col- laboration. Because at its heart, A House in the Country is the story not just of a house but of a relationship—a relationship between an architect and a designer whose talents make this place so extraordinary. About the Contributors PETER PENNOYER Peter Pennoyer founded Peter Pennoyer Architects, an award-winning firm recognized as a leader in classicism and historic preservation, in 1990. He is a member of Architectural Digest’s AD100, a trustee of the Morgan Library & Museum, President of the Whiting Foundation, and coauthor, with Anne A House in the Country Walker, of four books on early twentieth-century American architectural by Peter Pennoyer and Katie Ridder practices. Peter has served as director and chairman of the Institute of Clas- with Anne Walker sical Architecture & Art and in 2014 he was elected to the College of Fellows 228 pages with gatefold, 10 × 12 in. of the American Institute of Architects. More than 300 photos and illustrations ISBN: 978-0-86565-329-0 KATIE RIDDER $55 US/$65 CAN Interior designer Katie Ridder’s work has been published in Architectural Publication date: September 2016 Digest, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Town & Country, the New York Times, and Domino and is the subject of the monograph Katie Ridder Rooms (Vendome). Contact: She is regularly included in the “Top” lists of designers by magazines includ- Meghan Phillips ing House Beautiful, Elle Decor, and New York magazine. Katie is a member The Vendome Press of the Board of Directors of the Decorator’s Club and serves on the Friends 212-932-0688 of Horticulture at Wave Hill. At the New York Botanical Garden she is a [email protected] member of the Corporation and the Horticulture committee. Her firm also produces fabrics and wallpaper of her own design. or ANNE WALKER Sarah Burningham Little Bird Publicity Architectural historian Anne Walker holds a master’s degree in historic pres- 917-546-6866 ervation from Columbia University and is the author of seven books on his- [email protected] torical and contemporary architecture and design, including Peter Pennoyer Architects (Vendome). She is an adjunct professor at New York University, where she teaches with Peter Pennoyer, and has appeared as a commentator on National Geographic’s television series American Mansion. ERIC PIASECKI Interiors photographer Eric Piasecki is a Cape Cod native who is based in New York City. He contributes regularly to Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, and House Beautiful, among other magazines nationally and internationally. .