Betting on the Farm: A Gut Renovation Transformed This Connecticut Relic Into a Retreat

The first time Purdy Eaton visited Sharon, Connecticut, she'd come to see a friend—on what turned out to be "a brutally cold February weekend," she says. Despite the weather, Purdy, an artist whose work is shown in galleries across the country, was smitten with the town of about 2,700, situated just east of the New York border. To her, Sharon offered "all the good things of a small town—friendly people and access to nature," plus an easy commute from New York City, where she and her husband, Josh, who runs an investment firm, live in a Tribeca apartment with their children, Sawyer, 14, and Huxley, 11. By the weekend's end, she'd decided to book a place in town for the summer.

A few weeks into their rental—an idyllic time the family spent swimming at Mudge Pond and hiking—she noticed an intriguing house for sale. An 1820s center-hall Colonial, it came with several outbuildings and 50 acres of land. The catch? It had been vacant for years and fallen into such disrepair that the real estate agent was reluctant to show it. The basement was overrun with mold and puddles, a wall was painted with a mural of what looked like ghosts, the brickwork on the chimney's exterior was unstable, and a family of mice had moved in and gotten very comfortable. "It would be a really big project," the agent said.

What she didn't know was that both Purdy and Josh had grown up on farms—she in Indiana, he in Washington State. They were drawn to the stirring landscape, the house's beautiful floors and moldings, and the fact that it was a five-minute drive to the center of town. As far as they were concerned, it would be an ideal second home where their kids could run freely and everyone could unwind.

Still, the realtor insisted they meet with Rafe Churchill of Hendricks Churchill, a local architecture-and-interior-design firm, before making an offer. She knew he could identify any deal-breakers—he had experience working on old homes, often with his brother Seth, who owns a custom building company; and his wife, Heide Hendricks, who does the interiors.

Seeing past the wear and tear, the team embarked on a top-to-bottom renovation, pulling off the ornate shutters, rebuilding the chimney, raising the kitchen ceiling, and adding a side entrance and interior French doors. Despite the fact that almost every change required approval from the local historic commission, the job took less than a year.

In that time, Purdy says, "Rafe created a home for today without destroying its original character." She did the same inside, merging inherited pieces with finds from Etsy, eBay, and antiques shops, and making life easier with up-to-date kitchen appliances. All along, she says, her family felt obliged to "honor the history of the house, while we leave our little mark." In return, the home shaped her, inspiring pieces about "the interaction between humans and nature, the idea of stop-ping to take in the environment. That's what this house has given us," she says. "An expanded moment in a sliver of time."

The Eatons love hosting friends for weekends at their 14-room 1820 farmhouse. Like the rest of the place, the formal entry is a mix of old and new. The staircase, light fixture, and front doors with cast-iron decorative screens are all original. The family added French pocket doors leading to the library, and an antique Persian runner from Reservoir, a retail showroom within the design firm Hendricks Churchill.

Purdy gathered vintage dining chairs from various sources, including antiques stores in the area. She chose similar ladder-backed, rush-seat styles and painted them black for a cohesive look. The Moooi light fixture above the table mimics the glow of the fireflies that dot the landscape at night.

Purdy designed the dining-room wallpaper from census documents from 1820, the year the home was built. "This house exists because of the names on that paper," she explains. The collection of brass candlesticks once belonged to Josh's parents and grandparents. A mix of colored tapers adds an eclectic touch.

The Eatons lounge in their backyard on mahogany Adirondack chairs handcrafted by their builder, Seth Churchill, who also made the table in the dining room.

In the kitchen, stools by Eric Buck pull up to the counter, which is lit from above by Workstead pendants. The custom cabinets were painted in Farrow & Ball Purbeck Stone; the island itself is a darker shade: Farrow & Ball Mole's Breath. Says Rafe Churchill, "We wanted it to stand out as a piece of furniture on its own."

Purdy's art studio was once a chicken coop. She spruced up the interior walls with Benjamin Moore Capital White, and the floor with Benjamin Moore Sweatshirt Grey, "a color I've used in every studio I've ever had," she says. Her mother-in-law, also an artist, designed the art table, made by Seth Churchill, and the peg system on one wall, where Purdy hangs canvases to test colors.

On the studio's exterior, a bright-red Yard light by Basalite Company pops against planks clad in Benjamin Moore Prescott Navy.

A color-saturated sofa from Montage Antiques, in Millerton, New York, anchors the library, and Benjamin Moore Bella Blue paint covers almost every surface. The bold hues are echoed in the Jim Thompson No. 9 drapery fabric and the historic Morris & Co. fabric wrapped around a custom-designed ottoman by Heide Hendricks. It's an immersive setting for reading and relaxing, and for the Eatons' daughter, Sawyer, to practice guitar; she likes to sit on the ottoman as she plays.

Purdy and Josh's bedroom features a Cobble Hill king-size bed and Atelier de Troupe sconces. They chose the wallpaper, by Trove, because "it has an old feel yet is super-modern," says Purdy. "Circular floral wallpaper is a historic pattern, but this looks like a photogram, with a light-exposed imprint of the flowers, which makes it seem more like contemporary art." Hendricks, who collaborated with Purdy on the interiors, sourced the bedding from Rough Linen, and mixed in a Saint Frank lumbar pillow and custom shams sewn from Rebecca Atwood fabric.

The kids' jack-and-jill bathroom has a sink and faucet from Waterworks and whimsical Flavor Paper wallpaper filled with bats and Venus flytraps. "These are city kids, so they needed a little edge," jokes Purdy. White penny tiles from Complete Tile cover the floor, with red ones providing a dash of color; Waterworks tiles line the walls.

In the guest suite, where multiple coats of Farrow & Ball Cornforth White gloss up the floor, a Shaker-style bed from the Country Bed Store is flanked by side tables from Hammertown Barn, a shop in neighboring Pine Plains, New York.