Pre-marriage and pre-kids, antiques supplier Jonathan Burden and costume designer JJ Joseph spent summer time weekends in a gaggle share on Shelter Island located off the japanese tip of Lengthy Island, New York. Each are individuals who gravitate to the previous and untouched, in order that they couldn’t assist however admire the scraggly farmhouse throughout the way in which. “It had unbelievable previous timber and the home itself was at all times empty,” says Jonathan. “It was clearly a gem that wanted to polished and that’s what I do.”
A number of years later, when associates reported that the aged house owners of the farm wished to promote, the couple expressed their curiosity and, after a lot forwards and backwards, struck an settlement. Or thought that they had: “It was a pleasant handshake deal that turned stratospheric when actual property brokers bought concerned and we needed to step away. Actually fairly painful.” A 12 months handed and, to Jonathan’s shock, he bought a name from the house owners: “They mentioned they preferred us and had been able to promote—on the worth we’d initially agreed upon.”
That was greater than a decade in the past, and Jonathan and JJ, now the mother and father of two daughters, have since lovingly shored up each inch of the place. Again in 2019, after we first featured the mission, they themselves had simply promote it—being within the restoration enterprise, Jonathan mentioned he was prepared for his subsequent large mission and had set his sights on upstate New York or northwest Connecticut: “we’ve executed the seashore and now I need to reinvent one thing within the hills, the place I may arrange a workshop.” Two associates of the household, stylist Hilary Robertson and photographer Dana Gallagher, captured this chronicle of life on the Burden farm, which we’re revisiting as a Remodelista favourite.
Styling by Hilary Robertson and images by Dana Gallagher, except famous.
Above: The household get round on the island in Jonathan’s darkish blue 1958 MG, which he acquired from his former associate within the antiques enterprise. (Jonathan grew up in Yorkshire, England, and has a level in furnishings restoration from West Dean, an arts and conservation school; his NYC gallery and restoration studio, Burden, is in Lengthy Island Metropolis). The farm’s previous horse barn and Matt’s Pond are within the background.Above: The mid-Nineteenth century home sits atop a hill subsequent to Coecles Harbor, the place the household retains their sailboat. The facet porch was previously boarded up and used for storage; the Burdens restored it and added copper screens. In addition they planted many extra timber for privateness (scroll to the top for an aerial view of the property) and launched an extended driveway that winds across the property and “by means of a cathedral of two enormous walnut timber.”Above: Because the couple suspected, nothing had been executed to the home for years, “so we didn’t need to redo dangerous issues,” says Jonathan. Their strategy was to “restore and put life again into the place.”
The kitchen is positioned in a long-ago transformed rooster coop, which the Burdens refreshed with understated elements: a farmhouse sink, cherry counter with skirted storage beneath (see New Instructions: 11 Interiors Tendencies for 2019 for extra on skirted sinks) and open shelving within the unused house subsequent to the fridge. Jonathan painted the checkerboard flooring himself and labored alongside an area carpenter in each room. The partitions listed below are painted a Farrow & Ball heat grey known as Dove Tail.
Above: The flooring all through the remainder of the home are painted white: “We went forwards and backwards with Danish waxes and tea stains for a couple of 12 months,” says Jonathan. “Then we settled on three coats of Farrow & Ball Previous White. It was a terrific choice; painted flooring are really easy to wash they usually’ve actually held up.”
The eating room, proven right here, has its authentic beadboard paneling: just like the kitchen it’s painted in Farrow & Ball’s Dove Tail. Many of the furnishings are antiques supplier favorites and castoffs: Jonathan made the eating desk by marrying an Anglo-Indian base with a brand new high and the wall hutch was initially a part of an previous Welsh dresser.
Above: Edward Curtis portraits flank the passage between the residing and eating rooms.Above: A wood-burning range by Rais of Denmark heats the lounge: “we put it into the previous flu; it’s a super-efficient little machine and the perfect cash we spent,” says Jonathan. The couch is an 1860s Chesterfield “about as previous as the home” lined in a purple-brown George Smith mohair known as Mink.Above: Jonathan added cube-shaped log holders on both facet of the range: “I simply constructed out the body on both facet of the chimney utilizing two-by-fours and a brick base. It serves as the point of interest of the room—a mantel and show house.” Right here, the partitions are painted Farrow & Ball Robust White.Above: Jonathan sits at a seventeenth century “Cromwellian desk” behind the lounge, which opens onto a library. He inherited the pair of Windsor chairs from his father—who, in flip, inherited them from his mother and father—and the summary portray within the background is by his mom, Ann Burden. The hanging mild is a Danish midcentury design bought at Christie’s.
As for Birdie, the cockatiel: “My spouse was sitting outdoors doing her bookkeeping, when he simply landed on her head and wouldn’t depart her. We put up misplaced fowl flyers, however that was ten years in the past and he’s nonetheless with us. Earlier than we had a automotive, he traveled to the island with us by jitney. We put a blanket over his journey cage and he’s completely joyful.”
Above: The home serves as a repository for Jonathan and JJ’s assortment of artwork books. The striped chair got here as is from a classic retailer in Sag Harbor and the layered daybed is a Swedish vintage.Above: Set beneath the eaves, the main bedroom has a platform mattress that Jonathan constructed from wooden left over from the library cabinets. It overlooks a big soaking tub on the different finish of the room.Above: The Burden’s teen daughter, Ophelia, has a pale pink room with an previous hospital mattress and a Fifties glass tulip mild that got here with the home.Above: The Burden women hang around on the screened porch in a hammock that the household introduced again from a visit to Brazil. The Zigzag chairs are prototypes from Jonathan’s fashionable line, Burden Modern
Above: French doorways behind the home open to a gravel patio shaded by a wisteria arbor: “It shields us and the home from the warmth,” says Jonathan, “but it surely takes some upkeep: it’s a must to wack it again each few weeks.” Jonathan made the painted desk from previous boards discovered within the barn. The Bistro Folding Chairs are French classics from Fermob.Above: The Burden youngsters’ maternal grandmother despatched them their tree swing from Atlanta, Georgia, the place JJ is from. The household are avid sailors and plan to return to Shelter Island each summer time and reside on their boat.Above: See extra of the home and property in its Corcoran itemizing. {Photograph} by Hally Dinkel through Corcoran.
Extra farmhouse stylish:
N.B. This put up has been up to date; the unique story ran on January 7, 2019.