This new build Colorado farmhouse was designed to look as if it had been there forever
Architectural Digest··4 min read
Near Boulder, Colorado, the farmhouse built from the ground up in 2020 was designed by [Landed Interiors](https://landedinteriors.com/){: target="_blank"} to project an authentic, lived-in charm. The clients, a family of four, needed a home that reflected their values: a responsibility to land stewardship, community, and activism. Portions of the property are leased by local farmers, like Labyrinth Dairy Company, whose milk bottles are on the brick porch.
Landed Interiors worked with craftsmen to give the interiors an “ageless, rugged warmth”
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When you’ve been tasked with crafting a home intended to welcome friends, host community gatherings, encourage kids’ indoor-outdoor adventures accompanied by dogs, bunnies, and a visiting pig, that’s the goal. So lead designer Heather Menegat imbued a ground-up Boulder, Colorado, farmhouse with ageless, rugged warmth. The kind that makes it hard to leave. “The house is well layered, but the people that really appreciate the place on a deeper level are craftsmen in their own right,” the homeowner says. “Those folks really appreciate the attention to detail and understand that what they are experiencing in the house is a lot of old-school craftsmanship. A frequent comment is, ‘They just don’t make houses like this anymore.’”
Wrapped in Marthe Armitage’s Tobacco Plant in Farrow & Ball Lichen wallpaper, the entry to the farmhouse is a lush, leafy retreat from the Colorado elements that range from high heat in the summer to heavy snow in the winter. An antique train depot bench sits next to the stairwell across from a framed vintage English pub sign that reads “New Inn.” A cotton Dhurrie rug from Sahjad Carpets adds bright, crisp geometry.
When the project first came to her, Menegat was working at AD100 design firm Jessica Helgerson Interior Design. Architecture firm Coburn Partners had already completed a careful sighting of the property. The house with a connected guest cabin and barn would sit away from a magical but mosquito-ridden creek, and in view of the Colorado-grandeur Flatirons to one side and Rocky Mountains to the other. The clients, a couple with two kids, wanted the look of an aged farmhouse. They didn’t want to take the route of a modern ski house with giant glass windows. Otherwise, they were open, engaged, and enthusiastic. Immediately the project presented opportunities and obstacles. “We came on board right when the pandemic was hitting,” says Menegat. By 2021, Menegat was at Landed Interiors—she’s now coprincipal with founding principal Lynn Kloythanomsup—and work on the interiors was underway. Though most of the floor plan stayed the same, they made a few important tweaks to the layout. “The kitchen, for example, we turned 90 degrees, thinking about how people would want to interact in that space and then also having more of a natural relationship with the views out of two major windows.”
The Morris & Co’s Brook wallpaper in Tapestry Blue echoes the landscape framed by the family room’s tall windows, but with a fairytale twist. The palette continues through Maison de Vacances crumpled washed-linen vice versa cushions and a custom sofa by Landed Interiors upholstered in a Larsen fabric. The coffee table, which fits perfectly between the sectional, was meant to be—it was one of the client’s own growing up.
The bigger task was capturing the look and feel of old farmhouses in a new home. For this, Menegat drew from a study in classical architecture and historic preservation (a speciality of Landed Interiors). During construction, floorboards were left exposed to develop nicks and dents. The wood used for the walls was cut to proportions regional farmers’ technology would have allowed. A window was placed in an interior wall, making it seem as if it had once been part of the exterior, before the house expanded. “At some point during the project I was on a call with Jim, who led the construction team,” says Menegat, “and he was asking me about how to execute some detail on the stairs. At the end of the call he said, ‘You know, I’m going to have to retrain my entire team after this job. They’re used to making everything look seamless and clean and I keep telling them that it needs to look more busted!’”
A large fireplace is the focal point of the living room. A Carrabassett front-loading wood stove by Jotul is surrounded by dreadnought creasing tiles, and to the right is an untitled collage by Lena Wolff (from Sarah Shepard Gallery) hanging above a customized Windham sofa in bleached maple by Brian Persico. To the left of the fireplace is a custom log holder designed by Landed Interiors in collaboration with Shawn Lovell Metalworks, who uses traditional mortise and tenon joinery. “I think this speaks to both our clients’ precision of taste—nothing we were finding that was premade felt quite right, and everything we all liked in photographs appeared to be custom—and support of artisans and the trades,” says Menegat. “Like much of the house, the design is fairly simple but thoughtfully considered and really sings in the details when you slow down enough to look closely.”
Of course, carefully sourced materials and objects do their part too. Detailed yet unfussy floral wallpapers made from drawings turned into lino prints; an oversized hand-forged iron spoon, and several customized antique pieces add a texture that signals human handicraft and use. “Even the new pieces were selected not because they were precious but because they would age well with years of use,” the homeowner says.
The pantry was designed as a slip of room without a window, nodding to a time before engineering optimized floor plans, and “you end up with these rooms in the middle of the house that don’t get any natural light,” says Menegat. In a busy house with two kids, animals, and lots of visitors, the pantry has become one of the client’s favorite rooms. “She’s like, I go down here before anybody’s awake and make coffee,” says Menegat. Alice’s Egg Spoon by the Permanent Collection hangs next to a custom mantel by Landed Interiors in Pitch Blue that surrounds Delft corner ornament leaf tiles by Douglas Watson Studio.
The cooking area of the kitchen is anchored by a custom island designed by Landed Interiors using a piece from Petersen Antiques. The stools are Iron Arthur Umanoff. The Wolf range is gas. The pendants are large plain skullcap porcelain by deVOL, and a double-bowl fireclay sink is Shaws via House of Rohl, fitted with an Ionian tap with rinse faucet, also by deVOL.
Overall, there’s a quilted quality to the spaces, and it’s something of a theme. It “sort of ended up developing,” says Menegat. In the living room, a large Gee’s Bend quilt hangs over the couch. In the bathrooms, the shower basin tiling from Heritage Tile and designed by Landed Interiors is inspired by traditional quilting patterns. Hanging above a 19th-century Swedish-oak trestle table sourced from Adam Lloyd is a framed hand-cut paper collage by Lena Wolff. “A lot of [Wolff’s] work looks perfect when you’re standing far away,” says Menegat, “and then you get closer and you realize, oh, yeah, no, that line is not totally symmetrical.” It’s perfectly imperfect.
A couch in the kitchen isn’t always an easy sell, says Menegat, but it was a natural fit for this household. “The views from every window make us happy and the kitchen is so cozy and welcoming no matter what time or day or night it is,” the clients say. “There’s something about that particular spot,” echoes Menegat. “I think it’s because the view out those windows is so picturesque. The barn is there, the Flatirons are in the back when it’s not too cloudy out. And every time we would get photo updates, somebody would take a photo of that view.” The custom Providence quilted pillows in Sky are by Mathilde Home. The seat is covered in a customized Westerly quilt in indigo, also by Mathilde Home, and the Lace River pieced quilt is by Pendleton.
In the powder room, the Charles Voysey’s Apothecary’s Garden wallpaper has the first and last word. The mirror is vintage from the ’50s and the sconces are vintage Uno Kristiansson from the ’60s. The sink is a medium Paris basin on a brass frame by Water Monopoly.
The intent for the pine walls in the mudroom was paint, but everyone fell in love with the look of the wood during construction, so it was given a clear coat and left as is. The molding and transom (custom by Landed) are India yellow by Farrow & Ball. Irving Penn’s Mud Glove hangs near a Loft sconce in ocean blue from Jieldé.
In the guest bedroom, a ’70s wallpaper, Kelapa in ruby red, plays off linen bedding by Once Milano, sheep vice versa cushions in Havane by Cedar & Hyde Mercantile, and a vintage floral hand-tied Dresden plate quilted bedspread (circa 1940s) from 86 Vintage. Bedside Rim table by Summer Studio. Plug-in sconce is Le Klint Sax in smoked oak via Finnish Design Shop.
In the guest bathroom, the terracotta tile floors, Subway Ceramics tile wainscot, and custom shower basin mosaic continue the look of the primary house bathrooms. The swing hook is by van Cronenburg. The waffle towel in red moon is Lateral Objects.In one of the two kids’ bedrooms, a Maison de Vacances crumpled washed linen vice versa cushion in cobalt is bright as a star against linen bedding by Once Milano (duvet in petrol blue) and Hawkins New York (sheets in peacock and navy). Against the walls painted in Railings by Farrow & Ball is a double floating shelf in white ash by Kroft. Table lamp is an Akari light sculpture. Rug is Massif in oxblood and nightfall by Beni.
On the second-floor landing, an interior window implies a house with a smaller footprint, as if the house grew and changed over the years alongside a family. The trim and door is Card Room Green by Farrow & Ball. An iris lamp in fern by Nickey Kehoe sits on a custom desk by Landed Interiors made from a piece via Petersen Antiques.In the kids’ bathroom, the lichen walls (Farrow & Ball) are met by a wainscot in Subway Ceramics Crackle Hunter green tile. The sink and backsplash are Bianco Carrara Honed by Arizona Tile. The highgate wall-mounted faucet with cross handles in nickel is Waterworks.The guest cabin, directly adjacent to the primary house, is connected by a carport. The horizontal shiplap siding is clear red-wire brushed cedar sourced by Coburn Partners. The chairs are by Emu. The light is a Farmhouse gooseneck bracket in copper by Bevolo.The visible timber frame was once an old barn that Coburn Partners sourced from Heritage Restorations and engineered for use inside the guest cabin. The walls are covered in reclaimed naily board. The refrigerator is Smeg. The countertops, white-oak end-grain butcher block, are from Armani Fine Woodworking. The tile backsplash is Champetre Blanc in Limerick by Rookwood.The lavish golden-brown of reclaimed board paneling lines the cabin bedroom. The linen bedding in sequoia, forest, and green is by Once Milano. The Grand Canyon National Park blanket is Pendleton and the bed frame is the clients’ own.Beneath bright tiles from Subway Ceramics in crackle white is a custom mosaic designed by Landed Interiors in Heritage Tile that draws on traditional textile patterns to continue a quilt theme that emerged throughout the home. A Mungo Fido dog blanket in Toto hangs from a Brown hook by Mark Lewis Interior Design. Floors are cement tile in Chimayo by Zia Tile.Around the pool are locally sourced Colorado red sandstone pavers and steps. In the backdrop are the picturesque Colorado mountain ranges.Rocking chairs are from Troutman Chair Company. The Porchgate Amish Heavy Duty swing is by the Porch Swing Company.
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