Randl Bye
Turner House Summer 2013
by Beth S. Buxbaum
Peaceful Grazing Farm is home to more than Susan and George Turner. “There are twenty three other souls here with us,” George comments. Aside from Susan and George; their daughter, Jacqueline, who lives in a cottage on the property with her two five-year-old twins Ashley and Mark and they are joined by seven sheep, one pony, three dogs, two cats, four doves, one canary and five baby chicks. “Twenty of these animals have names,” George adds. We have a great respect for all living things.”
Pastoral, bucolic, idyllic … all such synonyms apply when describing the Turner’s Bucks County homestead. Surrounded by open pastures, formal gardens, meandering meadows, a pond, Pidcock Creek and spectacular vistas, this sprawling landscape created new meaning in their lives the day they purchased the property. George and Susan named their property Peaceful Grazing Farm. “We thought about the name for a year,” adds Susan, “and we knew this was the name because it captured the essence of what we wanted to create here.” For 41 years the Turners were residents of Montclair, New Jersey where they lived in an 1887 two-and-a-half story Tudor. Susan is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor affiliated with Turning Point in Patterson, NJ and George is retired from the pharmaceutical industry. “We had a wonderful life there,” Susan continues. So why, after so many comfortable years, did they opt for such a drastic lifestyle change?
“We were looking for a sweeter, gentler life,” Susan adds, “where we can live by these simpler values, those simple values that so many have gotten away from.” Susan reveals that many of their discussions were about living on a farm and having sheep, never really thinking they would act on those thoughts. Susan confides that it was almost like a little private joke they shared. Although she does laugh about it now, for some time, she admits there was a yearning somewhere inside of her for this simpler life, a yearning of which she was barely aware.
That yearning eventually materialized into action. About seven years ago they decided to start looking for a farmhouse. “We worked with a realtor for five years and looked at twenty five properties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” George continues. “We were in no rush, and the places we saw just weren’t right.” Familiar with Bucks County from her antique shopping for over 25 years, Susan was enamored with the area. One day they went to see this property in Solebury Township. When they pulled into the long, windy drive they were overwhelmed by the landscape. “It was like going into a children’s storybook,” Susan describes. Susan and George purchased the property in October of 2009 and moved in March of 2011. “It took one and a half years to renovate the property to get it to where we wanted it,” George explains. Aware of the fact that it was uninhabited for more than two years, they knew there was work to be done.
This property was originally owned by Earl Jamison, the man who built Peddler’s Village. Jamison Farm was a homestead composed of log, clapboard and stone fashioned after a country lodge. Jamison built the main house in 1978 wanting to create the feel of a centuries-old homestead. He accomplished this by using reclaimed materials on all the structures, including the main house, garage, springhouse, and chicken coop. After his passing, Earl’s widow had it on the market for years. The homestead, complete with thirty-eight acres, was a perfect setting for what Susan and George envisioned. The major project was renovating the buildings to suit their lifestyle tastes and needs.
Working with Richard Zaveta and his team was the highlight of their renovation experience. “Zaveta and his team were the first people we ever worked with who accomplished the project exactly as we requested,” Susan adds.
George says, “When all is said and done, it would have been easier to have started from scratch, with a blank slate, rather than rebuild the interiors of the existing structures. It was like peeling back an onion, the more we peeled back the more problems surfaced.” They had to redo much more than they had expected. But with the expertise of Zaveta and his team, including the project manager, Holly Hunsberger, and the foreman, Rich Gruver, they oversaw the entire renovation. Susan let it be known that she intended to be a part of the renovation from start to finish, having input and being involved.
With Susan and George’s clear vision and blueprint of their future living space, the renovations got underway. External refurbishing included replacing all shingles and siding and adding all new windows, 74 in total, to both the main house and the newly created cottage. For aesthetic reasons they kept the board and batten shutters that were painted red. The original hardware was preserved and the black trim and the shutters were repainted white. Repainting gave the front of the house a whole new feel.
First floor living space renovation involved gutting the interior, to open up the space and bring in more light, while also compensating for the low ceilings. Everything was dark from the wood trim, floors and cabinetry, to the small windows and low ceilings. The Turners wanted to lighten up the space wherever they could. Walls were removed to fashion an airy, open flow in the great room with a sitting area, dining area, kitchen and pantry. The original windows were replaced with French doors and floor-to-ceiling windows, bringing in more light and the outdoor landscape.
In the front of the main house, a section of the great room that offers a cozy sitting area, they bumped out the windows, adding larger bay windows for a picture window view of the landscape. In this space the original walls were built with a log cabin effect, adding a rustic element to the space. Original ceiling beams were supplemented with one huge central beam reclaimed from an old barn. Flooring was also replaced. What was red linoleum and pine was replaced with random width white oak. Susan’s input on the flooring and trim created quite a stir for the construction crew. “I wanted all the wood stripped and left that way,” explains Susan, “and they were resisting, telling me I can’t do that.” But, they did. And as the natural appointments unfolded they admitted that they understood what she was trying to accomplish and that they had never done work like that before. What was created in this space, as envisioned by Susan, was rustic chic.
Susan’s blueprint was to continue this rustic appointment of stripped wood trim and floors throughout the house. In the living room, the fireplace mantle and side cabinets, wood trim and crown molding were also stripped and left in their natural state. Moving to the second floor, the natural wood staircase ascends to the upstairs living space, where a few major renovations took place. In the master bedroom suite they raised the roof and added two reclaimed farm beams. An addition was built to expand the space, to create his and her bathrooms and a huge walk-in closet. Two guest bedrooms with baths are also on this level. Susan named the two guest rooms, Morning Dove and Meadow Lark. Naming the guest rooms is a finishing touch to the sanctuary that Susan and George have created for themselves.
Interior décor is distinct and subtle. Susan had her vision of creating a calm and warm living environment. Interior decorating is an expertise and passion of Susan’s. “Before we even began renovating, I knew in my mind exactly how I wanted it,” she adds. I wanted this house to be organic, peaceful, zen…something fitting for both man and beast.” Walls were done in soft shades of gray, whites, linens and creams. “I like calming space, where the scenery and landscape brings in the splashes of vibrant color,” she explains. Susan’s touch, complimenting the signature interior rustic chic, was to continue with an organic, natural décor.
Using a neutral palette to keep the interior spaces warm, the furniture fabrics all mostly tones of white, off-white and gray. Susan added a few zebra prints, tribal accents and Eastern influenced pieces to punctuate the spaces. Simple, uncluttered rooms have been sparsely furnished, allowing the room’s footprint to breathe and embrace the interior. With a mix of old and new, Susan has accented the rooms with several of her favorite antique pieces from their former home, alongside newer additions mostly from Restoration Hardware. Aside from achieving the desired palette and ambiance in each room, one challenge was working with the low ceilings. Susan knew she had to furnish and accent with pieces that took your eye away from the ceiling. “I knew I had to open it up as much as I could,” she adds, “without bringing attention to the ceiling.” She removed a lot of the crown molding to eliminate the division of wall to ceiling and create more of a flow. There are no chandeliers and all the furniture is on a lower scale, more streamlined. More streamlined truly captures the renovated interior living space.
Next to be renovated was the five-car garage with an apartment above. This structure was converted into a three-bedroom, three and a half bath cottage for Jacqueline and her twins. Their new home was named Honey Hollow Cottage. First floor interior space includes a great room with an expansive living room and kitchen area, and a laundry room. “No one would ever believe that this used to be a garage,” Susan remarks.
Exterior additions included new pastures for the sheep and run-ins for their one 18-year-old pony. They put in a pool and converted the chicken coop into a cabana. The springhouse became a playhouse for their grandkids, Ashley and Marcus, complete with their own signage, Ashley and Marcus’ Cottage. The sheep are in the pasture; the pony is grazing in the meadow and water trickles from Pidcock Creek, while the geese gracefully glide across the pond. Peaceful Grazing Farm is serene.
“It’s a very spiritual place,” Susan reflects, “and there is beautiful energy here.” She shares that their friends from Montclair thought they were crazy until they visited and then they understood. “This land is not really able to be owned. We are just stewards of the land and we have been blessed.”
Beth S. Buxbaum is a freelance writer from the Philadelphia area.