1 of 5
2 of 5
3 of 5
4 of 5
5 of 5
By Beth Buxbaum
An unexpected life change led Nancy Gracia to a new home and a new career. Nancy had to make difficult decisions to re-establish herself. “A shift in life circumstances propelled me into a new career,” she explains. Nancy enrolled in the NY School of Interior Design at the age of 40. Simultaneously, she began looking for a new home, with a manageable commute to New York City.
Before moving to Newtown, Nancy lived in Upper Makefield and frequently drove through Newtown. “I have driven down Sycamore Street countless times,” Nancy says. One day, she noticed a “For Sale” sign on an old building on the street in Newtown. “It looked drab and lifeless,” she adds. Even with its dilapidated appearance, Nancy was curious. “The back door was opened, so I peeked inside,” she describes, “and it was the biggest disaster.” From the moment that Nancy saw the property, she was convinced it was just what she was looking for. “I knew this was my home. I felt something calling me; it was meant to be,” she explains. Abandoned for three years, the house was in terrible condition. “It was basically ransacked. People stripped the copper and other metal fixtures,” she recalls. “The interior was overgrown with weeds, ivy was growing through the windows, the sheet rock ceiling was caving in, and there were signs of animal habitation,” describes Nancy.
Undeterred by the house’s initial appearance, Nancy bought the neglected old house on Sycamore Street, which happened to be the historic Milnor House. Built by John Milnor in 1800, a stone mason who operated a quarry on site. Built on lots #30 and #1 of the town commons, the house was constructed of stone that Milnor sourced from the nearby Newtown Creek. The home, which sits in a historically significant area near the creek once known as King Street (now Centre Avenue), is recognized within the Newtown Historic Association records for its well-preserved, historic charm. “I absolutely love this little home because it speaks to the humble nature of how it was built and the mason’s hands who built it,” she explains.
With her love for old homes comes the possibility of unseen structural damage. Nancy points out that there were major challenges in transforming this centuries-old building into her home. Until she moved in, she was unaware of many of the structural challenges. Even considering the immensity of this project, Nancy moved forward with her plans. Her initial goal was to make the house habitable. “I rented a dumpster to clean up the mess in the house.” Pipes had burst, and there was water everywhere, as well as a mud-filled basement. “The first thing I bought for the house was a plunger; it was my house-warming present.” Nancy made the necessary repairs to create a livable, functional living space.
Delaying any major renovations, her priority was to clean up the house from all the destruction and neglect. Once that phase was complete, Nancy made essential repairs so she could move in. Her first order of business was to install electricity and plumbing. “I needed a place to eat because there was no kitchen,” she explains. “I designed a functional kitchen to get me up and running,” she adds, “to make the house livable.” She used a lot of color and added one special item, La Cornue stove. “I actually wanted to be a kitchen designer,” she notes. After creating the kitchen, Nancy focused on the first-floor restoration. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the restoration, she forged on little by little. “There were so many days when I went to bed crying myself to sleep,” Nancy admits, “wondering what I had gotten myself into. I knew I went into this project half-blind.” Acknowledging that this was a multi-year project, Nancy slowly tackled one project at a time, considering her time and financial resources. All of her major renovation ideas were put on the back burner until she re-established her historic home.
Restoring a centuries-old property is a monumental task. “I did not know much about historic renovation,” Nancy explains. “As I went along, I winged it,” she admits, “while not wanting to disturb the historical elements of the property.” As the caretaker of this historic house, Nancy initially worked with the current footprint. With each renovation, she moved forward toward her ultimate vision. Nancy planned to create a multipurpose dwelling that served as both her residence and a residential interior design business space. “I was envisioning starting a business here, but I knew I had a long road.”
The original 1800 home had only two rooms on the first floor, the kitchen and an all-purpose room or parlor. There was one bedroom on the second floor. In its early years, there were two major expansions to the original 1800 stone house. In 1900 a clapboard addition added a first-floor parlor and kitchen, a lower-level basement, two upstairs bedrooms, a garden room converted from a side porch and a historic brick carriage house. In 1954 the house had a major facelift, according to Nancy. “Raymond Hennessy, the founder of the Newtown Historical Society, owned the property and expanded the living space,” Nancy explains. Hennessy started the Christmas house tours in Newtown, and this was the first house on the tour. This 1954 restoration involved a kitchen renovation combining the original butler's pantry and kitchen, while preserving original cabinets. There were no more renovations until Nancy took possession of the property.
From 2009 through 2012 Nancy slowly rejuvenated the property. In 2012, Nancy graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the New York School of Interior Design. That same year, she hired Riehl’s Construction, Amish contractors from Lancaster, to build a hemlock timber-framed addition to her home. “I hired an architect who did the drawings. I was the general contractor and I hand-picked the tradesmen. “Moving into Milnor House was a big change for me, coming from a large home in Upper Makefield to a small dwelling where nothing would fit other than a Big Dream,” she adds.
As she began visualizing the renovations, she realized she needed more living space. “I needed more room to breathe,” she continues. This two-story structure, accented with a vaulted ceiling, included a family room with a fireplace and a spiral staircase to a loft, three bedrooms, two half-baths, a full bath, a mud room entry, a powder room and much-needed closet and storage space. “This timber-frame addition doubled the size of the house and brought the floor plan into the 21st century.” Refinishing the basement created a workspace for her business, Bare Root Design Studio. Now, Nancy had room to breathe. But her vision was not complete. Always a work in progress, Nancy continued to re-master and upgrade her living space.
A major cosmetic renovation took place in 2017 and 2018. Transformations included installing larger windows in the parlor, redoing the floors and ceiling, and adding new lighting. Nancy also reworked the bedroom, raising the ceiling and converting part of the deck to a breakfast nook on the first floor. “I used local craftspeople whenever I could, including plaster application, woodworking, upholstery, decorative painters, and stone masons.” A key element she incorporated into this renovation was natural materials, including plaster, hand-picked quarry stone, antique wood, silk, Calacatta marble, linen and mohair. A lot of the materials used to renovate the house were from Nancy’s business, Bare Root Design Studio, Inc.
In 2019, Nancy renovated the 2010 kitchen, accenting the space with forest green and off-white cabinetry, white marble countertops and backsplashes of classic marble subway tiles. Nancy capped off the transformation with new appliances, including a high-tech coffee maker and steam oven, and the La Cornue stove remained. “I made changes I could live with for the next 20 to 30 years.”
What inspires her visual concepts? “As an interior designer, I want to be at the bare root.” This concept, the namesake of her business, reflects her appreciation for natural materials and nature. “I enjoy just working with the essentials,” Nancy explains. When meeting with clients, one of her first questions would be how does the living space function? “My approach to design is psychological, discussing with my clients what affects them in their space,” she explains. “I’m a creative thinker and my brain is constantly shifting from one visual to another. That’s why my job is so rewarding because I get to have those visuals come to life for other people,”
Connecting with her clients on a more personal level works for Nancy and her clients. Another focus for Nancy is the connection between indoors and outdoors. For instance, she describes why she opened up the back of the house, where the 1800 parlor sits. “The parlor’s ceilings are barely 7 feet tall and you would never notice because the plaster dances off the ceiling with the sun. This was the ultimate reason for opening up the back of the house, to allow natural light to come in and play with the plaster. I also love bringing in the stone from the outside.”
Bringing the outside in is one of Nancy’s design concepts, which she does mostly by adding larger windows and opening up the living space. Exterior elements are also adapted in her interior palettes to reflect the landscape. “I use a lot of blues, greens, browns, and rusts,” she says. She furnishes this home with warm-toned wood furniture, wood trims, and white and red oak flooring. Nancy’s artistic appreciation is showcased in several of the unique pieces interspersed throughout the living space. A faux-painted antique chest accents the great room, a grain-painted antique gateleg table with a swirl of earth tones sits in the new breakfast room, and another grain-painted drop-leaf table is in the entryway. A mix of antique and modern art pieces is on display, meticulously placed for optimum viewing.
Beyond the interior living space, the property overflows with a multi-leveled back landscape. From the front, the expanse of the house and backyard is deceiving. Sitting next to the Creek, the house’s terraced backyard has many levels of outdoor space to landscape and enjoy. Surrounded by layers of quarried stone, the backyard pops with shades of pink and lavender. Waterfalls, statuaries, and flowering trees fill the landscape with several vignettes to admire. On a summer evening, you can find Nancy relaxing in her outdoor space, relishing all that she has created, while appreciating her newly expanded historic home with plenty of room to breathe.
Bare Root Design Studio Inc. is located on South Sycamore Street, Newtown, PA. tom make an appointment with Nancy, call 267 746 1059 or visit www.barerootdesign.com.