Our needs change at diff erent times of our lives. Luckily, farmhouse style can accommodate them all. For this mother of three and grandmother of seven, a space where she could be comfortable by herself, but also play hostess to visiting family, was a must. That’s where designer Mary Beth Stilwell of MB architecture + design came in. “She wanted a house that she could live in forever,” Mary Beth says.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSAN EARE
At first, the plan was to renovate the homeowner’s current farmhouse, which she had lived in for 30 years. “The original farmhouse was right on the road with lots of trees, and didn’t get any natural daylight,” Mary Beth says. So they decided to start from scratch. The homeowner gave her old house away so it wouldn’t go to waste, and then Mary Beth designed a new home on a diff erent part of the Vermont property. “We positioned the house so it faced south and would get passive heating, and oriented the roof so she can put solar panels there when she wants to,” she says. “It has a lot of natural light.”