When Morgan Harrison was called to design the interiors of her clients’ second home in the Berkshires, she didn’t have to look far for color palette inspiration. “She really loves beautiful warm woods and mushroom tones and shades of blue and green,” adds Harrison. Blues, greens, creams, tans and browns come together in a way that draws the outside in and makes this home feel intricately tied to the land.
“They are a nature-loving family and go up to the home a lot in winter,” says Harrison, who’s design firm in New Canaan, CT, Morgan Harrison Home, had just completed the interiors of the family’s main house in Greenwich. She knew their taste well: modern with a few classic pieces woven in, and lots of artwork from their own collection.
“They were looking for views and just the right house,” adds Harrison. What they bought was a split-level with a Brady Bunch vibe, says Harrison. They brought in architect Sacha Roubeni of SR Projects and builder Bill Stratton of Bill Stratton Building Co., to build an addition and make updates to the existing house to give it more of a modern mid-century feel.
“She loves natural stone, in particular Jadore quartzite,” says Harrison. Soft green slabs of quartzite envelope you in the primary bathroom. That same stone is carried through over the fireplace in the rec room and as a backsplash on the wet bar. Floors throughout were done in white oak for a seamless transition from room to room.
To draw the eye, Harrison created multiple focal points to anchor the design. The first is the glass front door, which floods the entry with lots of natural light. Oak paneling hides lots of storage for coats and shoes. The client’s own art work adds personality to the stairwell, where SR Projects carried the oak paneling down to the lower level with the design of the stair railing.
On the main level, family and friends can gather to cook and eat in the eat-in kitchen, or enjoy a warm winter cocktail or a game of cards in the living room, all without missing the surrounding vistas through wall-to-wall glass sliding doors.The cool gray-green kitchen cabinetry is sleek and modern and allows a few potted plants to shine.
The home office has a more subdued and soft palette with warm tans and browns, and a textured natural rug. Texture and natural materials are carried into the primary suite, part of the addition to the house. The walls of windows made designing the space a challenge but Harrison met it with a stunning floating wood-burning fireplace as a focal point. Mid-century Lady chairs in a soft green-blue surround it, for the ultimate cozy spot to enjoy a morning coffee. Modern oak wall-mounted nightstands and a full wall of headboard upholstered in a Holly Hunt boucle frames the bed. Fluted paneling above the headboard not only warms the space but reduces echoes in the vaulted room. Throughout the house, lighting is modern and fresh, from the Lumifer Stellar vertical hanging lamp to the pendants from Zia Priven in the primary bedroom and the Oyster Wall Mount light in the primary walk-in closet.
“I actually love designing vacation homes because it’s all-encompassing,” says Harrison. “You’re doing everything from housewares to interiors so people can arrive with just a toothbrush.”
In this case, she said, designing for a couple with adult children and extended family gathering for a weekend of winter fun, inspired her to design something for everyone’s needs. The finished space includes work-from-home areas, quiet reading nooks, a kitchen for gathering and cooking, and lots of storage for winter gear. For vacation homes, you’re thinking of spaces for extended family rather than a home for four or five people, adds Harrison. “We know the owners well but we needed to think of it holistically with the entire family and extended family in mind,” she says. “That’s kind of fun.”
