1st Dibs – 41 Impeccable New England Homes

1st Dibs

41 Impeccable New England Homes

Martha’s Vineyard Home

by TRENT MORSE, JESS CHERNER AND DICKSON WONG
Photography by Gross & Daley

This airy Martha’s Vineyard home, decorated by Glenn Gissler, includes a Poul Henningsen Artichoke lamp from Lost City Arts, a pair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings armchairs and a custom daybed by Gissler.

A bluestone-paved hallway leads to a collection of antique Italian oil jars.

 

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Gissler reached out to several New York dealers — all of whom are on 1stDibs — to furnish the space. In keeping with the wallpaper’s French origins, he included a circa 1960 Jules Leleu desk and a pair of circa 1950 Jacques Adnet armchairs, all from Maison Gerard. The desk is adorned by a modernist lamp from Karl Kemp Antiques. A 19th-century Khorassan carpet from Nazmiyal fills the space while allowing the original Greek-key floor inlay to be seen around its edges. The English Arts and Crafts armoire is from Newel.

Design Leadership Network – The Living Room

Design Leadership Network

The Living Room

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The Living Room

by the Design Leadership Network
Photography by Gross & Daley

For the living room of a colonial revival home by architect David Neff, Glenn Gissler drew his palette from the nearby Hudson River, which the house overlooks, and then enlisted abstract art to break up the symmetry of the classical proportions. The room’s airiness is grounded by an elegant panneled library behind it.

Glenn Gissler has called Brooklyn Heights home for more than 12 years, so when he was chosen to decorate the living room of the first Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse, he was thrilled. “It’s a grand 19th-century townhouse,” he says. “We decided to honor the architectural history while making it a relevant room for 21st-century living.”
Gissler reached out to several New York dealers — all of whom are on 1stDibs — to furnish the space. In keeping with the wallpaper’s French origins, he included a circa 1960 Jules Leleu desk and a pair of circa 1950 Jacques Adnet armchairs, all from Maison Gerard. The desk is adorned by a modernist lamp from Karl Kemp Antiques. A 19th-century Khorassan carpet from Nazmiyal fills the space while allowing the original Greek-key floor inlay to be seen around its edges. The English Arts and Crafts armoire is from Newel.

Connecticut Farmhouse

LITCHFIELD, CT

Connecticut Farmhouse

Having fantasized about owning a weekend retreat within driving distance of New York City for nearly three decades, Glenn Gissler finally found this historical yet unassuming Greek Revival farmhouse on eight acres in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Reviewing his wishlist for a home, the property appealed for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is surrounded by three hundred acres of the Roxbury Land Trust, which ensured the pristine land adjacent to the property would continue in perpetuity in its magnificent, natural state.

Initially established in 1840 as the Ezekial Beardsley Homestead, the main house was sensitively expanded over the decades, meaning no immediate structural changes were necessary. So Glenn first focused on the sprawling landscape, removing spent trees and opening a bucolic vista beyond a discrete swimming pool. As the seasons progressed, he focused on the pleasant rooms beyond the facade’s pedimented portico.

Like many designers before him decorating their homes, Glenn carefully considered each finish, furnishing, and detail, ultimately creating a house with rooms that reflect his extensive knowledge of the decorative arts and inflected with the burnished colors and classical patterns that define his aesthetic. 

And as an avid entertainer, the home’s four bedrooms provide for a steady stream of eclectic guests, while a well-equipped kitchen and sprawling dining room that seats ten stands at the ready for dinners near the home’s original fireplace. With a sense of joy and abundance, Glenn sees his house as a place to be shared with friends and family where fun, playful, and considerate guests always get invited for return visits.



Built in 1840, the Greek Revival farmhouse would become a haven for some of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists. Designer Glenn Gissler removed the shutters from the home’s windows to achieve an “ecclesiastical purity [for] the Greek temple front” that offers a more contemporary appearance.

Mature globe boxwoods were moved from the paddock behind the house to soften the transition between the road and the front door. A sea of pachysandra enhances the effect. Many of the stone walls and walkways around the property appear ancient but were lovingly added over the years by Gissler and a supremely talented local stone mason.

Beyond the home’s backdoor and through a split rail fence, summer visitors are greeted by an unobtrusive pool and a former art studio dubbed the “Pleasure Pavilion,” where a swim follows rustic lunches. Several weathered Adirondack chairs rest below a mature Sugar Maple tree, providing a respite from the midday sun.

Beyond the home’s backdoor and through a split rail fence, summer visitors are greeted by an unobtrusive pool and a former art studio dubbed the “Pleasure Pavilion,” where a swim follows rustic lunches. Several weathered Adirondack chairs rest below a mature Sugar Maple tree, providing a respite from the midday sun.

The swimming pool was existing when Glenn purchased the house. He left the coping, but removed the awkward patios to allow it to fit quietly into the backyard landscape as a reflecting pool. The property expands beyond the back gate for some distance before connecting to hundreds of acres of the Roxbury Land Trust’s many preserves.

The swimming pool was existing when Glenn purchased the house. He left the coping, but removed the awkward patios to allow it to fit quietly into the backyard landscape as a reflecting pool. The property expands beyond the back gate for some distance before connecting to hundreds of acres of the Roxbury Land Trust’s many preserves.

The side garden features a 19th-century urn in an established bed of pachysandra that came with the house. This is consistent with Glenn’s playful interpretation of classical tradition, which is part of the house’s Greek Revival roots.

The side garden features a 19th-century urn in an established bed of pachysandra that came with the house. This is consistent with Glenn’s playful interpretation of classical tradition, which is part of the house’s Greek Revival roots. 

The breakfast room has a simple round pedestal table paired with directors’ chairs. The tableau is comfortable and unassuming, inviting guests to enjoy coffee while watching the mist burn off the morning landscape, the birds visit the feeder, and a few chipmunks scamper about. The Russell Wright servicewear is part of an extensive collection that could serve an expansive buffet dinner.

The breakfast room has a simple round pedestal table paired with directors’ chairs. The tableau is comfortable and unassuming, inviting guests to enjoy coffee while watching the mist burn off the morning landscape, the birds visit the feeder, and a few chipmunks scamper about. The Russell Wright servicewear is part of an extensive collection that could serve an expansive buffet dinner.

The kitchen retains its farmhouse sensibilities but was updated with modern appliances. Muted-sage green cabinetry and trim are offset by black granite counters and the original floors, which Glenn stained dark walnut throughout. Period-style fixtures and pendant lights hang from the beadboard ceiling to illuminate the space.

The kitchen retains its farmhouse sensibilities but was updated with modern appliances. Muted-sage green cabinetry and trim are offset by black granite counters and the original floors, which Glenn stained dark walnut throughout. Period-style fixtures and pendant lights hang from the beadboard ceiling to illuminate the space.

In the entry hall, a pair of circa 1830 hall chairs rest atop a custom ‘falling block’ patterned hook rug, which Glenn designed for the space. Above the chairs, in what amounts to a mid-20th-century artistic dialog, are works by Alexander Calder (left) and Le Corbusier (right). The Calder is the first work inside the house, which Glenn chose because Calder’s homestead and studio–still maintained by the late artist’s family–are less than two miles away.

In the entry hall, a pair of circa 1830 hall chairs rest atop a custom ‘falling block’ patterned hook rug, which Glenn designed for the space. Above the chairs, in what amounts to a mid-20th-century artistic dialog, are works by Alexander Calder (left) and Le Corbusier (right). The Calder is the first work inside the house, which Glenn chose because Calder’s homestead and studio–still maintained by the late artist’s family–are less than two miles away.

The library’s furnishings, woven together like a historical tapestry, tell the story of Glenn’s interest in 19th—and 20th-century design. Pieces include a coffee table by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbins for Widdcomb, a 1940s sloping-arm sofa draped in an antique Suzani, and a Greek temple model found at a yard sale perched atop a marble pedestal. Part of his collection of objects by late 19th-century designer Christopher Dresser is presented on the top shelf of the etageres. The ceiling is covered in Farrow & Ball bumblebee paper.

The library’s furnishings, woven together like a historical tapestry, tell the story of Glenn’s interest in 19th—and 20th-century design. Pieces include a coffee table by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbins for Widdcomb, a 1940s sloping-arm sofa draped in an antique Suzani, and a Greek temple model found at a yard sale perched atop a marble pedestal. Part of his collection of objects by late 19th-century designer Christopher Dresser is presented on the top shelf of the etageres. The ceiling is covered in Farrow & Ball bumblebee paper.

Just inside the library, a circa 1820 Biedermeier Bar Cabinet is stocked with spirits, where guests are encouraged to help themselves to a cocktail. Hanging above are works on paper by Wilfred Zogbaum (left) and Tomas Eldred (right). The Klismos Chair, one of a pair, is attributed to T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings.

Just inside the library, a circa 1820 Biedermeier Bar Cabinet is stocked with spirits, where guests are encouraged to help themselves to a cocktail. Hanging above are works on paper by Wilfred Zogbaum (left) and Tomas Eldred (right). The Klismos Chair, one of a pair, is attributed to T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings.

A large-scale painting on paper by Melinda Stickney-Gibson takes pride of place at one end of the dining room, which is furnished with a 10-foot antique table and a set of leather-covered Anglo-Colonial X-back chairs that have been in Glenn’s possession for more than thirty years. At left, an 18th-century English server rests beneath a large mirror that amplifies the glow of a chandelier that Glenn designed.

A large-scale painting on paper by Melinda Stickney-Gibson takes pride of place at one end of the dining room, which is furnished with a 10-foot antique table and a set of leather-covered Anglo-Colonial X-back chairs that have been in Glenn’s possession for more than thirty years. At left, an 18th-century English server rests beneath a large mirror that amplifies the glow of a chandelier that Glenn designed.

Vintage Siapo Tapas rendered on barkcloth from Samoa, encircled in a broad gilt frame, add a cross-cultural reference on the opposite side of the dining room. The pattern is meant to depict Oceana’s flora and fauna stylistically. For Glenn, it also recalls Indian tantric paintings for meditation and barn decoration by Amish farmers.

Vintage Siapo Tapas rendered on barkcloth from Samoa, encircled in a broad gilt frame, add a cross-cultural reference on the opposite side of the dining room. The pattern is meant to depict Oceana’s flora and fauna stylistically. For Glenn, it also recalls Indian tantric paintings for meditation and barn decoration by Amish farmers.

In this view of the living room, an unusual 19th-century Thebes chair fashioned from slender bamboo branches sits in front of a pair of cocktail tables by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. Directly above the fireplace is Untitled (Dollar Bill) 2000 by Thomas Friedman; to its left is a portrait by the late Donald Baechler, which was Glenn’s first art purchase after arriving in New York.

In this view of the living room, an unusual 19th-century Thebes chair fashioned from slender bamboo branches sits in front of a pair of cocktail tables by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. Directly above the fireplace is Untitled (Dollar Bill) 2000 by Thomas Friedman; to its left is a portrait by the late Donald Baechler, which was Glenn’s first art purchase after arriving in New York.

With a flat-screen TV hanging on the adjacent wall, this armless corner sofa affords ample seating for movie viewing, especially on chilly winter evenings with a crackling fire. Chunky seagrass matting underfoot grounds the tableau.

With a flat-screen TV hanging on the adjacent wall, this armless corner sofa affords ample seating for movie viewing, especially on chilly winter evenings with a crackling fire. Chunky seagrass matting underfoot grounds the tableau.

The furnishings in this corner of the living room include an English Arts & Crafts table, a pair of 1940s French Bergeres covered in lush velvet, and a vintage industrial-inspired lamp. It’s the perfect spot for an intimate dinner for two or as a sun-splashed work desk. The art includes a piece by David Dupuis (left) and an anonymous tantric work from India (right).

The furnishings in this corner of the living room include an English Arts & Crafts table, a pair of 1940s French Bergeres covered in lush velvet, and a vintage industrial-inspired lamp. It’s the perfect spot for an intimate dinner for two or as a sun-splashed work desk. The art includes a piece by David Dupuis (left) and an anonymous tantric work from India (right).

A second custom-designed hook rug rests on the upstairs landing, which features the home’s original spindles and handrail. A pair of African masks adds a tribal note.

A second custom-designed hook rug rests on the upstairs landing, which features the home’s original spindles and handrail. A pair of African masks adds a tribal note.

Artworks by Roberto Matta hang above an 18th c. William & Mary bureau purchased at auction in this bedroom, which features a minimalistic four-poster bed dressed in vintage textiles. To the right of the window is a work by artist Nancy Spero. Because the room has no closet, Glenn attached shaker knobs at intervals around a high molding so that guests could hang their travel clothes. Two boudoir wing chairs provide seating.

Artworks by Roberto Matta hang above an 18th c. William & Mary bureau purchased at auction in this bedroom, which features a minimalistic four-poster bed dressed in vintage textiles. To the right of the window is a work by artist Nancy Spero. Because the room has no closet, Glenn attached shaker knobs at intervals around a high molding so that guests could hang their travel clothes. Two boudoir wing chairs provide seating.

"The people who come here and know a lot about art history, their eyes bug out."

GG

Maintaining a through line between the house’s past and present was paramount, so Glenn kept the existing mustard-yellow toile wallpaper in the primary bedroom to acknowledge the previous owners. By day, ample sunlight streams through the room’s large casement windows; in the evening, a pair of James Mont’s Open Helix Lamps from the 1950s illuminate the space.

Maintaining a through line between the house’s past and present was paramount, so Glenn kept the existing mustard-yellow toile wallpaper in the primary bedroom to acknowledge the previous owners. By day, ample sunlight streams through the room’s large casement windows; in the evening, a pair of James Mont’s Open Helix Lamps from the 1950s illuminate the space.

An ever-expanding collection of surrealist artworks animates the room, including works by Leon Golub, Alphonse Osorio, Gary Gissler, Pidder Auberger, James Siena, Hans Bellmer, Jacqueline Lamba, and Richard Tuttle. Also in the mix is a work by artist David Hare, a previous house owner. The framed works are installed almost randomly, referencing how the late Peggy Guggenheim displayed art in the Surrealist Gallery at her groundbreaking New York gallery, Art of This Century.

An ever-expanding collection of surrealist artworks animates the room, including works by Leon Golub, Alphonse Osorio, Gary Gissler, Pidder Auberger, James Siena, Hans Bellmer, Jacqueline Lamba, and Richard Tuttle. Also in the mix is a work by artist David Hare, a previous house owner. The framed works are installed almost randomly, referencing how the late Peggy Guggenheim displayed art in the Surrealist Gallery at her groundbreaking New York gallery, Art of This Century.

Photos by Gross & Daley

Elle Decor

Elle Decor magazine

August 2024

ELLE Decor - He bought a modest farmhouse. It's secret history shocked and amazed him.

He Bought a Modest Farmhouse. Its Secret History Shocked and Amazed Him

It all started with a tale of a “womanizing surrealist.”

By David Nash
Photos by Ryan Lavine and Gross & Daley

Published on elledecor.com

Since arriving to New York City in the early 1980s, interior designer Glenn Gissler had his sights set on buying a little place in the country he could escape to on weekends— “somewhere to go barefoot in the grass,” says Gissler who, in 1987, founded his eponymous Manhattan firm after working with internationally acclaimed architect Rafael Viñoly.

After a 30-year search, Gissler found the perfect place in 2014: an 1840 Greek Revival farmhouse in Roxbury, Connecticut, set over eight acres of idyllic countryside. As the years went by, he slowly began unraveling the home’s history. He also began spiraling down a fantastical rabbit hole—one that could have easily been illustrated by Salvador Dalí.

It began when a carpenter working on the property told Gissler about a “womanizing surrealist” named David Hare who lived in the home “I’m a student of art history and I had never heard of him, but I just began to scratch the surface when I came up with an image of André Breton and Jacqueline Lamda, with their daughter, and Dolores Vanetti at my front door.”

The photograph picturing Breton (the French writer and surrealism’s principal theorist), Lamda (Breton’s wife and a surrealist painter), and Vanetti (Jean-Paul Sartre’s lover) was just the tip of the iceberg. As Gissler discovered, the 2,600-square-foot farmhouse was a haven for surrealists exiled from Europe during a period of time between 1930 and 1950 when Hare owned the property.

“It became this outrageous epicenter for that creative community,” he explains while listing other luminaries who visited, stayed over, or lived in the house that included Sartre, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning, Yves Tanguy, Arshile Gorky, Peggy Guggenheim, Jackson Pollock, and Alexander Calder (who lived just around the corner).

“The people who come here and know a lot about art history, their eyes bug out of their heads wondering how it was possible nobody knew about this before.”

Further research would reveal Hare’s family wasn’t as well known as the DuPonts or Astors, but was equally well-to-do and culturally minded. “It turned out that Hare’s mother was a funder to the Armory Exhibition of 1913; his uncle, Philip L. Goodwin, codesigned the [new] Museum of Modern Art with Edward Durell Stone that opened 1939; and his cousin, artist Kay Sage, was married to Yves Tanguy.”

Its connection to the art and cultural movement aside, Gissler’s four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom retreat from city life was a dream come true. “I’m from Wisconsin, so getting a house from 1840 was a big thrill, and it hadn’t been screwed up over time,” he says, noting that the part of Litchfield County where the home sits hadn’t really prospered beyond the 18th-century. “The good news, for me, was that the town wasn’t developed, and people didn’t spend money to overbuild, renovate, or add on [to their homes].”

Given his longtime involvement with historic preservation, the designer tackled a number of glaring cosmetic issues that included correcting “a lot of wrong paint colors” and refinishing the “icky orange” floors, as well as giving the facade a fresh coat of white paint and a minimalist-inspired update. “Originally there were shutters on the windows which were falling apart, so I removed them; I like the ecclesiastical purity of the Greek temple front without shutters—there’s a sort of Shaker austerity about it.”

On the inside, Gissler has filled the home with things he’s acquired since starting his business 37 years ago, like furnishings by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, a collection of ceramics and metalwork by 19th-century British designer Christopher Dresser, and multiple sets of Russel Wright dinnerware, which are a favorite obsession (“I have piles of them in three different colors so I can host dinners for up to 30!”).

Of course, he’s also paid homage to Hare and the long list of artists who found refuge there by installing surrealist and abstract works by some of the period’s most influential figures.

As for that art historical rabbit hole, he has yet to emerge: “At this point I probably have four or five feet of printed matter on the history of the home. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

FULL GALLERY

Mature globe boxwoods were moved from the paddock behind the house to soften the transition between the road and the front door. A sea of pachysandra enhances the effect. Many of the stone walls and walkways around the property appear ancient but were lovingly added over the years by Gissler and a supremely talented local stone mason.

Litchfield Magazine

litchfield magazine

MAY JUNE 2024

Litchfield Magazine May June 2024 Garden Issue

Just What the Doctor Ordered

An 1810 Roxbury Antique Gets a 21st Century Makeover

By Jamie Marshall
Photos by Ryan Lavine and Gross & Daley

Published on litchfieldmagazine.com

It was love at first sight for Patricia Yarberry Allen when she stepped into the antique Greek Revival on South Street in Roxbury. “You know how people say they get struck by a certain house and they just know?” she says. “I just knew.”

Part of the appeal was the location on the edge of the town’s historic district. Part was the finished basement. But the biggest draw? The view. “When I stepped inside I could see all the way from the front entrance out through the dining room windows to a sloping lawn and trees and out to a very large pond. I felt like I was home.” 

Precocious, smart, and driven (her friends call her a force of nature), Yarberry Allen started working at a local hospital before she was 16. “I lied about my age,” she says. She moved to New York after medical school to complete her internship and residency at Cornell-New York Hospital before going on to establish the thriving women’s health practice she still runs today.

In 2015, she and her husband Douglas McIntyre, a founder of digital media sites and consultant for nonprofits, sold a vacation house in Palm Beach and rented a mid-century modern in Litchfield County hoping to find something to buy. “The topography reminds me of southcentral Kentucky,” she says. “Except that every two miles, you see a sign for an Episcopal church instead of a Baptist church.”

As soon as they settled on Roxbury property, Yarberry Allen turned to her good friend and neighbor, New York City-based designer, Glenn Gissler, to bring their vision to life. The goal? “Sophisticated, comfortable, gracious, dramatic, and personal,” says Gissler. “I think we were creating the farmhouse of her youthful dreams.” One by one, he ticked all the boxes. Among the priorities—space for books and clothes. Both Yarberry Allen and her husband are voracious readers.“I’ve known Pat for about 40 years. She buys good clothes and she still has all of them,” he says.

Most of the interior work involved “architectural corrections,” which were done by a local contractor, Ryan Fowler. He also reconfigured the attic into a proper third floor, lined two walls of one sitting room with bookshelves, and created a storage pantry for Yarberry Allen’s tabletop collection.

Much of the furniture was repurposed from her former homes. The foyer chandelier came from a Madison Avenue duplex she owned in the ‘80s. “Initially that foyer had rough-hewn beams and columns and with the amazing chandelier, we needed to make the space a little more formal,” Gissler says. “We painted the wood paneling aubergine. It’s a dramatic color. She’s not afraid of it at all.” The sitting room couches are dressed in an aubergine linen from Romo, while the club chairs are done in a gray floral by Kravet.

Though she’s not a fan of window treatments, “I have no interest in fussy stuff,” Yarberry Allen says—she made an exception in the primary suite. “Glenn gave me these beautiful cream-colored linen drapes. I wake up in the morning and pull them back and the sun hits my eyes while I’m having my breakfast. It’s an oasis.”