A 17th-century New England home has had many lives and many owners by the time it reaches our modern day, “transforming throughout the years to fit different purposes,” says builder Mark Ratte of Ratte Construction. Built in the late 1600s or early 1700s, this Andover home began as “The Abbot Tavern,” which “found its place in history and local legend when George Washington stopped Nov. 5, 1789,” according to records from the Andover Historic Preservation. Later, home to a “druggist,” a cabinet maker, and a Salem merchant, the house was purchased in 2002 by its current owners, who lived abroad at the time. Their decision to move stateside in 2014 precipitated the large-scale renovation project headed by Ratte, architect Sally DeGan of SpaceCraft Architecture, and interior designer Deborah Farrand of Dressing Rooms Interior Design.
“The clients loved the old house, but we had to address some real concerns before it could become a great family home,” says DeGan. “It had a tiny kitchen, no mudroom, and no real family room.” Architectural and structural faults were obstacles, and included “a lack of air conditioning, ice dams, leaky windows, and poor drains,” according to Ratte. “We needed to modernize the home, while maintaining the original historical structure.” Throughout the project, Ratte faced another challenge that often accompanies classic New England homes: “Nearly every wall, ceiling, and floor in the home was crooked,” Ratte explains. “To preserve the original structure of the home, we built perfectly aligned walls, ceilings, and floors within the warped frames that were already in place.” The team consulted with architect and historian Jane Griswold, who worked to maintain the home’s historical character and ensure that changes would be approved by the Historic District Commission; their collaboration earned a preservation award in May 2015.
Contending with the original structure would be a feat for DeGan and Ratte: the historic barn connected to the back of the house broke up the flow from room to room and isolated a beautiful screen porch added by previous owners. To preserve the barn’s antique architectural elements while “rededicating the space” to become a cozy family room, Ratte suspended the original posts and beams of the barn’s ceiling structure and built a modern roof structure above. DeGan included a nod to the barn’s architecture by designing a striking half-round window in the same location as the barn’s large rounded-top door. To finish, the team installed a modern foundation, heated floors, and spray-foam insulation, and a modern wet bar that adds a touch of style when the family entertains guests. Farrand used a muted, neutral color palette to “showcase the client’s incredible collection of ceramics and antiques,” she explains. “We wanted to create a clean backdrop that would make each piece stand out.”
With the new family room occupying the former barn’s space, DeGan designed a kitchen that blends seamlessly to create an open floor plan for the family’s primary living area. The team “reclaimed some great material from the barn and elsewhere in the house,” explains DeGan, adding that one of the kitchen’s focal points, the antique wood range hood, was created using material from the former barn’s outhouse. Reclaimed wood on the kitchen island and soapstone countertops complement the room’s historic feel, and lighting from Visual Comfort and Urban Electric makes the low-ceilinged room feel lofty; “The clients were initially concerned that with the low ceiling the room might feel cramped or dark,” Ratte adds, “but light colors and ceiling beams create a more spacious sense.”
The home’s original floor plan directed traffic through the dining room, which concerned the homeowners, who wanted to preserve the period room. “The dining room is a beautiful, traditional space,” says DeGan. “It was very important to all of us that it be maintained.” To that end, DeGan designed a passageway and mudroom that would lead around the dining room, rather than through it. The room’s bold wallpaper is one of few bright pops in the otherwise muted, traditional home, and it too nods to the past: “It’s a reproduction of a vintage wall covering from Shumacher’s archives,” explains Farrand. “I think it’s a wonderful testament to the power of color.” The mudroom’s design echoes both the new kitchen and the former barn, using reclaimed wood for the cabinetry and durable Belgian limestone pavers for the flooring.
While much of home’s second floor remained untouched, the team “created a more appropriate master suite,” Ratte explains, by adding a luxurious master bath and closet in the place of an unused back stairwell, as well as a second bathroom for the family’s children. “We wanted the master bath to be a really restful spot,” adds Farrand. “And the neutral color palette makes the antique vanity the star of the show.” Lighting from Restoration Hardware and fixtures from Waterworks honor the home’s history while offering modern amenities. Completing the suite with a closet that mixes old and new, the team added radiant heat to the original pine floors and used custom cabinetry from local company Pride Craft. The children’s bathroom borrows the same serene feel as the master bath, with a “spa-like slate blue-green tile,” Farrand explains. The Crown Point vanity incorporates the same tranquil shade with a gleaming graphite-colored granite countertop that echoes the shade of the trim and flooring.
The resulting home is a blend of historical and modern that “we never could have dreamed of,” says the homeowner. “It’s a much more livable space in a modern sense, but each change fits with the original home as it existed before we came along.”
Photos by Eric Roth