A Beautiful Dining Room

In every home I visit, I always discover a favourite room. In my parents' home, it is the living room with its dark hardwood floors and big picture window looking out onto the garden. At the home of my friends Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, it is the tiny bedroom on the second floor. It has only a twin bed, a small desk and a cabinet built by Brent's grandfather filled with vintage linens. It's a perfect little room.

 

Last year, when I visited Brent and Josh in Sharon Springs, New York, they introduced me to Michelle Curran, a local real-estate agent who helped them secure the purchase of their home. I visited Michelle with my travel companion, Jessica Hodgson, who is quite a talented photographer. (Click here to see more of her work.) Jessie photographed the house inside and out. Looking through the photos recently, I fell in love with one particular room in Michelle's house: the incredible dining room.

 

Michelle lives in an 1850s Italianate-style home high on a hill just outside of town. The dining room immediately captured my imagination with its 14-foot ceilings, fireplace and tall windows overlooking the hills of the Mohawk Valley. It is utterly grand. I wondered about all the people who had dined here over the decades. When Michelle acquired the house, she insisted that there be no electric lighting in this room. It is lit only by candlelight at night, giving it a warm, ethereal glow. Michelle also chose a very unique and striking colour scheme for the room: dark purple for the walls and a deep chartreuse for the ceiling. It works perfectly and reflects Michelle's adventurous spirit. You will see more of this house in future posts.