Newsy Neighbor

Rustic beauty nestles in woods near riding trails

 

By SUSAN W. MURRAY
The Independent

 

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The highest compliment the Newsy Neighbor can pay to the French country manor at 2510 Chatham Lane, priced at $1.395 million, is to confess that she mistook it for an old house.
Though just two years old, the home’s stucco and stone exterior blends beautifully into its five-acre lot, with a sweeping lawn in front and dense woods adjoining the Bull Valley riding trails in back. The Meadowview Estates subdivision, just off Route 120, is nearly built out, but the adjacent lot is available and could provide additional pasture.
Inside, each of the 13 rooms serves a purpose and creates a feeling of intimacy, even in a 6,200-square-foot home. Six-inch white oak plank floors, exposed triangular-shaped beams in the family room ceiling, beadboard doors on the upstairs bedrooms and distressed wood kitchen cabinets give the home its rustic character. The emphasis on comfort over show would make any family with children feel welcome.
The arched mahogany front door opens to the spacious foyer. To the right, is the dining room; straight ahead, the family room and to the left, the master suite. Also to the left, the staircase to the second floor winds along the home’s turret; a twin staircase winds down to the lower level.
In the dining room, a built-in mirror reflects light from the antique brass chandelier hanging from an oval tray ceiling. A window seat takes advantage of the bow window that looks out on the front of the property.
The rustic look in the kitchen derives from the use of fine materials, including an Italian tile backsplash and floor, copper farm sink and granite countertops. The alder cabinets and island’s painted white beadboard have a slightly distressed finish. The kitchen includes a built-in china hutch, walk-in pantry, counter with room for three stools and an eating area that incorporates a window seat below the triple bay window. One door from the kitchen leads to a screened porch that faces the woods. Another door leads to an enormous L-shaped laundry room. In addition to a walk-in closet for coats, there are 10 alder cabinets and six drawers for storage and a full bath with shower for use after a trail ride.
The two-story family room‘s woodburning stone fireplace reaches 28 feet to the vaulted ceiling. The fireplace can be outfitted with a heatilator to warm the home, and two lighted ceiling fans provide cool air in summer.
The Newsy Neighbor wishes to take up residence in the first-floor master suite. French doors open to a sitting room or office, painted a soft sage. A barrel-shaped hallway houses a walk-in closet with the master bath opposite. The bath includes an Italian tile floor, double-sink vanity in alder with marble top, a claw- foot tub and oversized shower with rain showerhead, massage jets and handheld shower.
Opposite the niche designed for the bed, a curving wall of windows provides views of the woods. With privacy a given on the five-acre site, the owners eschewed window treatments, making the house awash in light. A door leads to a small deck that overlooks the woods.
Heading upstairs, the winding staircase leads to a curved balcony that overlooks the family room on one side and the foyer on the other. Hardwood floors continue into the first two bedrooms, one with a tray ceiling, the other, a vaulted ceiling. A pocket door in the hallway bath closes off the toilet and combined tub and shower from the double-sink vanity. The third bedroom is a carpeted, long and narrow room, either enabling two children to share the room peaceably or to put a bath on one side of the room.
A door in the third bedroom leads to a bonus room that runs the length above the four-and-a-half car garage. Under barrel-shaped arches, five dormer windows bring in light. With access from the garage, this space currently works as a home office, but could be a game room, teenager’s room or in-law quarters.
Finally, few lower levels boast 9-foot ceilings or a heated, stained concrete floor, but this home has both. Besides areas for game tables and watching television, the cavernous space includes an exercise room, storage area, closets and a partially-constructed full bath. A fireplace has been stubbed in.
For information about the house at 2510 Chatham Lane, call Natalie Kruse of Harding Real Estate at 815-338-3850. For more photos of the house, go to www.thewoodstockindependent.com.

This article was published in the March 19, 2008 edition of The Woodstock Independent.