My Houzz: Handmade Coziness in a Potter’s New England Home and Studio
http://www.decor-ideas.org 06/14/2015 01:13 Decor Ideas
“It was a wreck,” says potter Lucy Fagella about the house she and partner Terri Kerner found 21 years ago. Despite its appearance, she knew it had potential. “I saw through all the bad things to the bones of the house and barn,” she says. “The land was love at first sight — the field and woods and the beautiful Green River behind our property.” Since moving in, the couple has renovated the barn off the side of the house, turning it into Fagella’s pottery studio, where she works and teaches classes. They also redid the kitchen, started raising chickens and bees, and began a garden that sustains their family most of the year.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Lucy Fagella and Terri Kerner; Lucy’s sons, Luke and Andrew; and dogs Willow and Daisy
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Size: 1,700 square feet (158 square meters), including the studio, on approximately 3 acres; 4 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
“When we first moved in, we didn’t have any money, so basically we just tore up the ugly carpets and refinished the floors,” Fagella says. “[We] took down the wallpaper to find falling-apart horsehair plaster. Spent lots of time repairing walls and ceilings and painting.”
In the winter the family gravitates toward this open living space that combines the kitchen and living area, as the woodstove provides plenty of warmth. “I love the openness from the kitchen-dining area to the living area,” Fagella says. “I love to cook in the kitchen and be able to interact with family in the living room.” Their dogs, Willow, left, and Daisy, right, also enjoy the revamped kitchen.
After saving up money for 10 years, Fagella and Kerner redid the kitchen. “We lived with rusty metal cabinets in the kitchen for the first 10 years until we had money to redo the kitchen the way it is today,” Fagella says. Now the kitchen cabinets are her favorite part of the space. All of the cabinets are made with reclaimed wood and glass from the house. Friends of the couple built the cabinets using old hardwood paneling from the inside of one of the barns on the property that needed to be taken down. The glass doors are from the once-enclosed porch, which was turned into an extra room by the previous owner.
At the same time, the couple renovated the barn so it could become Fagella’s pottery studio and workspace.
Mahogany wood shelves are installed above the sink and stove. “I love the way our friend Jamie curved the ends of the mahogany shelves above the sink,” Fagella says. “So much changed about the kitchen — it is totally new from what it was. I love the flow of the whole space and the granite countertops that are easy to clean.”
The drawer pulls on the new cabinets are original to the house, taken from the many drawers of an old china closet that needed to be taken down when the couple opened up one of the walls in this space.The latches were purchased from The Renovator’s Supply.
Fagella’s pottery, both functional and decorative, is displayed throughout the house. She made most of the pottery on the shelves above the oven, including the large bowls on the top shelf, the dinnerware set, the salt cellar hanging on the wall and the sugar jar. Other pieces are the work of fellow potters, following a common tradition of trading pieces.
Fagella made these kitchen countertop tiles that surround the oven area, the sugar jar and the white pasta bowl. “The tiles are a labor of love,” she says. “Each tile is handmade, and hand stamped with a drill bit, from the old Tap and Die factory, which closed years ago in Greenfield.” The wood that surrounds the tile is mahogany to match the upper shelves.
Fagella thought the shelves above the oven could use a little sparkle on the underside, so she drilled holes and glued in different-color glass beads. “It really gave it a playful feeling and at the same time gave the illusion of light,” she says.
Fagella made the larger bowls on the top shelf and the green striped covered server on the lower shelf. Also on that shelf, the covered casserole on the right and the square baking dish at bottom left are favorite recent purchases from potter friend Robbie Lobell of Cook on Clay.
“We seem to have a chicken theme going on in our kitchen, which evolved over time,” says Fagella, who has kept chickens for more than 20 years now. The basket on this cabinet gets filled daily with their eggs. “Some of the pottery on this cabinet was made by me, but many of the pieces are trades with potter friends. The cookie jar was made nearly 20 years ago when I worked in stoneware clay,” she says. “It has survived two boys who daily reach in there for homemade cookies!”
This cabinet to the left of the stove is one of the couple’s favorite parts of the kitchen. “I designed it, and my cabinetmaker friend, Jamie, built it,” she says. “I wanted something to hold my collection of mugs, some mine, some trades with friends. The shelves are shallow to just hold the depth of one mug.” Under the mugs is deeper cabinet space for other kitchen items. The glass doors are from the old enclosed front porch, which Kerner refurbished and painted.
The homeowners also had the kitchen pantry installed on the back side of the mug cabinet. The pantry door was one of the finds from the old barn previously on the property.
Fagella loves the space for its wraparound shelves and the fact that the items are within easy reach.
The dining table and chairs are flea market finds. “The table looks out to the big sky, field and woods,” Fagella says. “We sit and enjoy our meals while looking out the large west-facing window … it brightens up any day.” Friend Judith Bowerman, a painter and printmaker in western Massachusetts, gave Fagella the painting of tangled-up carrots.
The living space off the kitchen is where the family spends a lot of their time, and the easy flow between the two rooms is part of what Fagella loves about this space. The print above the couch is by Judy Bowerman. The paintings were painted more than 60 years ago by Fagella’s grandfather.
Off the open living area is a sun-filled room with south-facing bay windows that are surrounded by rich original woodwork. Fagella’s two sons enjoy relaxing and watching TV in this space. “I love the bookshelf in this space,” Fagella says. “Plenty of room for books and pottery.”
The front entryway to the house has all of the original woodwork and doors. The light fixture was a housewarming gift from Fagella’s mother.
The entryway chest was given a fresh coat of paint and is used to store hats and mittens. Willow and Daisy can keep an eye on things from the stairs.
Fagella’s studio space was once a barn that housed both tractors and hay in the loft when the house was a working farm. Fagella worked with a contractor to design and remodel it into a functional pottery studio. “The studio is a sunny, light-filled workspace, a wonderful place to make my pottery and to teach classes,” she says. “The main floor is where I work and teach pottery classes, and the loft space stores packing materials and my stock of urns for the urn part of my business.”
Displayed in the studio is Fagella’s line of cremation urns. All of her work is made by hand on the potter’s wheel, which overlooks the backyard and has a view of the field and woods.
Outside Fagella’s studio, a wood fence and gate welcome visitors. The fence is a labor of love made from saplings cut in the spring from the surrounding woods.
Fagella used river rock and broken pottery shards to make the decorative sidewalks surrounding the house.
The back porch, overlooking the field and woods, is where the family spends time in the warmer months. It’s the perfect spot for morning tea or lunch.
Kerner made the farm table; the top is from an old barn board, and the legs are made from an old bed’s headboard and footboard. The chairs are flea market finds.
Fagella and Kerner recently extended the space below the upper porch by 3 feet, screened it in and filled it with wicker furniture to create a wonderful space for hanging out in the summer.
The house sits on nearly 3 acres of land, and a small space outside the back porch is used for a kitchen garden. The greenhouse they had installed off the studio allows them to keep eating lettuce and spinach until January.
Underneath the studio is the chicken coop, in an area that also provides access to the greenhouse. Fagella and Kerner built this log ramp that leads to the chicken yard outside on the side of the barn, allowing the chickens to run freely from inside to the outdoors.
A larger garden sits farther down the hill in a field surrounded by trees. “I have been gardening my whole life, and I have lived here for over 20 years,” Fagella says, “and we provide much of our food for the whole year from this backyard and chickens.”
The couple recently started keeping bees in this area as well. “We feel that it is really important for backyard gardeners to have bees,” Fagella says. “The bee population is in crisis due to a number of factors, [including] pesticide use for greener lawns and mono crops in agribusiness. Bees need diversity, which small organic farms and fields provide.”
Fagella, pictured, is a full-time potter and ceramics instructor, teaching wheel throwing, glazing and other classes in her studio. Her work graces the tables and mantels of homes around the world, and has been in numerous ceramic exhibits throughout the U.S.
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