by Beth S. Buxbaum
It was childhood memories and grown-up dreams that brought Lisa and Paul O’Moore to this 1840s’ Bucks County farmhouse. “We were both charmed by the house,” Paul explains, “It reminded us of wonderful memories as children visiting relatives in the country.” For Lisa, who grew up in the area, she remembers going to her grandfather's farm and playing with her cousins. Paul grew up in Brooklyn and his family had a house in the country. “Those memories,” Paul says, informed our search for the kind of home we wanted. We wanted to recreate the places we'd been happiest as children.”
Paul and Lisa met in 2007. Both divorced with grown children, they began dating and building a new life together. They came to the realization that their townhouse in Ambler was too small to gather their families, six kids total and two grandchildren. “This especially made holidays unmanageable,” he continued. It was time for a bigger house. They both felt that Bucks County was where they wanted to live. Lisa was familiar with Bucks County from growing up in Ottsville. Paul's experience with the area was more recent. “I ride my bike with a group of friends in Bucks County and admire all these wonderful old stone farmhouses,” Paul exclaims. Being in Bucks County was also manageable for their work commutes. Paul is a radiologist at Abington Jefferson Hospital and Lisa is a manager of medical affairs with Guerbet, LLC in Princeton, New Jersey.
Agreeing that Bucks County was their focus, they began looking for their next home. “We saw the house for the first time in the summer of 2012,” Paul says. He explains that the house had been on the market for two years and the realtor told him that at least 80 people looked at it but there were no offers. The homestead had been vacant during those years and was in need of some attention. Able to see beyond what the property needed, Lisa and Paul approached the property with a vision of what it could be. “The property was magical,” Paul reveals. He says it had a lot to do with the massive sycamore tree, with a glade under the tree.” The tree created an enormous canopy hanging over this everlasting stream,” he adds, “with frogs hopping and birds chirping. It had a magical quality to it.” Paul and Lisa were immediately charmed by the scene before them. They bought the homestead in 2013.
The old stone farmhouse is believed to have been built sometime between 1840 and 1859, according to historical documents prepared by Jeff Marshall of the Heritage Conservancy. From historical accounts it was evident that someone was living on the property in the late 1790s, but not in a stone structure such as this house. Originally 137 acres, the property was subdivided over the years and parcels were bought and sold and inherited by offspring throughout the 19th and 20th century. A few historical markers have been relayed in conversation. Once a dairy farm, there are records that the springhouse was also used as a milk house when the property was a working farm. Paul also mentions that there is an apple orchard on the property and at some point during their renovations they found apple butter-making equipment in the springhouse, including bushel baskets and ceramic ramekins.
Paul also noted that, when the property was inherited by John. F. Ruckman, son of John F Ruckman, in 1959, they owned an extensive pewter collection. “It was the second largest collection of 17th and 18th century pewter in Great Britain and America,” he says. Paul describes how one room was called the upper pewter room, which was the old original kitchen, and another the lower pewter room, both lined with shelves to display all the pewter. Following Ruckman's death in 1965, Charles Swain was appointed executor and he executed a deed to himself for the property. In 2007 when Charles Swain passed, his two nephews inherited the property. They proceeded to add aesthetic enhancements to modernize and beautify the house for the Doylestown Show House in 2008.
Charles Swain's two nephews were the last owners prior to the purchase by the O'Moores in 2013. Paul and Lisa's piece of history was 18 acres and included the original bank barn built in 1848, a summer kitchen, a carriage house and a springhouse. All of these outbuildings were in need of some attention. Additions to the house were done in 1926, when it was modernized with a new center hall, and in 1965 a tiny box-like addition was added to create a new entrance to the house and the family room. Few structural changes were done on the original house. As the newest owners of the homestead they had plans in mind to update and renovate the house.
Once they identified who they wanted to do the renovation, the process began. “We brought in the architect and the builder and asked them what it would cost to make the house livable,” Paul adds. Nothing had changed since 1965, at least not structurally. “First we had to make sure the house had the bones to be able to do the work,” Paul explains. It was confirmed that the house had excellent, sound structure. They thought about it for awhile and then agreed to proceed with the renovation. Al Giovino, of GIO Construction, LLC in Kintnersville, who worked with historic properties and Dave Denson, of D.A. Denson Architects in Clinton, NJ sat with them to begin to sketch out their vision.
General consensus was to refurbish the carriage house first so Paul and Lisa could live there during the renovation of the main house. This carriage house was originally a five-bay wagon house that was renovated at some point in its history to a one-bedroom studio apartment with a garage below. Paul explains that their vision was to recreate a charming living space reminiscent of the 1920's, something early Edwardian, not modern. “We wanted classical elements,” he adds, “which they added with the details in the wood and hardware.” The newly renovated carriage house was complete with a kitchen/living room area, a small laundry closet, and a bedroom and bath. Today the carriage house is a private and inviting guest house.
Paul and Lisa resided in the carriage house for two years while the renovation of their house took place. “We started the demolition in the spring of 2013 and moved in Thanksgiving of 2015,” Paul adds. Paul admits that he stretched everyone working on the house with some of the things he suggested. “There were a few very complex projects that were a bit of a challenge for the crew,” he continues. They removed and re-positioned staircases and raised interior roof lines in a few rooms. He adds that with every new vision or request they rose to the challenge and accomplished what seemed like an impossible task.
A kitchen renovation was the first major project that was challenging. “My vision was to transform the four small rooms that existed in this space and create one big kitchen,” Paul describes. They gutted the entire space. Two steel beams had to be added to the ceiling to buttress the area and transform the space into a modern kitchen. One wall was an exterior wall that was covered up with plaster. They chipped off the plaster to expose the original fieldstone wall. The concept was to have a functional space that was also a gathering spot. The center island was their focal point. “This was a spot where we prepare meals and also entertain,” he explains. Against the dark wood floors, white cabinets and the center island were topped with black Kodiak granite from Alaska. The floors were new, but with a distressed finish. Paul describes how the artisans actually banged and scraped the surface of the floor to accomplish the distressed finish. His and her sinks were established along is and her sinks were estatHHitwo separate walls, one against the original stone wall with extended counter space and the other was designed within in a wall unit, with mustard toned cabinets.
Against a back wall is an invited eating corner. A special oil of sunflowers brightens this space. “We bought this painting in Napa Valley while on a bike trip,” Paul explains, “because it reminds us of Provence.” As a matter of fact, their love of Provence prompted the creation of a welcoming French phrase at the entrance to the home.... Ciel de Midi. Loosely
translated, it means afternoon sky. Paul explains that Midi also refers to the south of France. “We both love the intense blue sky and beautiful fields of sunflowers and irises in Provence and wanted to bring that into our new home.”
Bringing elements into their new home to enhance the flow and feel was the goal. Opening up space, bringing light in and repurposing or enlarging rooms were ways they created their new interior footprint. In addition to the major kitchen project, the original keeping room was central to the first floor. “It was small with dark spaces,” Paul notes, “and had a very low ceiling. We wanted more light and space.” To accomplish that they raised the ceiling 12 inches and reversed the direction of one stairway. They also moved the stairway to the third floor over, opening up a wall to bring in light and add living space. The original walk-in fireplace is in this room. At some point it was covered up with wood paneling. They uncovered the fireplace and exposed the original stone and American Chestnut mantel. By moving the staircase, this allowed them to create an open atrium above and a second floor office for Lisa, where there one was a bedroom.
On the third floor, two rooms were opened up to design a master suite with an enlarged master bath and huge walk-in closet. “We moved a wall and added a shed dormer to expand the bathroom,” Paul explains. Another space that was re-done was the former porch or Florida room that was added sometime in the mid 1960s. This room was transformed into an all season room, adding a flagstone floor with radian heat, a stone foundation and half-wall and new windows. This room leads out to a back porch and seating area. All the stone work was done by Tim Koplin, of Koplin Masonry in Easton.
From room to room, they worked with this team of artisans to re-create their living space. “They embraced our vision and executed it masterfully,” Paul exclaims. They work with this multi-talented, multi-disciplinary team who went the extra mile. “I pushed them to do things they may not have done,” Paul admits, “setting some high goals like taking out the entire center of a building.” Looking back now over the process and the results, they are satisfied with their choices. “This is the most creative thing we have done together,” he adds, “by throwing our energy and creativity into this project. It came out great because of the team we worked with. We made something that was ours, that spoke of us.”