Read the Room | Kenmore Hall Garden House
Where I walk you through a room and let you see with me
Read the Room - where I walk you through a room and let you see with me. Read the Room is my antidote to the common, overwhelming message of “Shop the room!” This series is meant to bring balance. To inspire and inform, with ideas and concepts, with ways and means, for living in and furnishing our homes. To help us all remember that a beautiful room is so much more than a catalog of specific goods to be acquired.
Built just two years ago, this day cottage sits at the edge of the abundant garden at the Inn at Kenmore Hall. The innkeepers call it the Garden House. Its small scale and simple construction, typical of antique agrarian buildings, are fitting for its location and purpose - a sheltered place for planning and repose for Frank, the gardener and co-owner at the inn, nestled in the Birkshire hills near Richmond, Massachusetts. (All photos are his.)
Its open rafters and tie beams allow a feeling of height inside, an architectural influence that makes a smaller footprint feel larger. With dimensions of approximately 12 x 20 (my guess), it has enough space to hold the necessary things without feeling too big or too small. The pine board walls are whitewashed, giving a brightness to the interior without hiding the character of the wood. The floor is concrete. Two sets of double French doors are on axis, centered on the long walls of the garden house, brilliantly giving sight lines through the building, another architectural trick that makes the room feel bigger than it is. The windows appear to be antique twelve-over-eight double hung, no coverings necessary.
I appreciate it when a room is lived in and used well. This one clearly is. The furnishings inside are vintage and antique, expressions of warmth, character, and craftsmanship. A dining table, placed in line with the French doors and surrounded by a mismatched collection of chairs, provides workspace for garden planning, sorting seed, and holding all manner of supporting goods for a working gardener.
Now, let’s dive in deeper…