Creating Depth of Time

For this 1970s cottage in the Virginia countryside, we wanted to emphasize the simple country cottage feel, but to deepen the sense of the age of the space. The client would have preferred an older house, but for availability, location, and modern convenience settled on this property. They intend to use the cottage when they can escape DC and share it with other weekenders via Airbnb to subsidize the mortgage and upkeep. This presents design challenges distinct from a space dedicated as a rental property or one for personal use. Now we had to strike a balance between broad appeal and the kind of resilience needed when decor will be in the care of strangers and the really individual that you can invest in when owner is the sole audience. The wrought iron rooster is spectacular and as delicate as it is, is it iron. The hand painted photo gave us some color freedom, brought the overgrown cottage garden in through the windows, and grounded the place in the surrounding horse country. The needlework feels so old world, but in a humble way. These clients are not pretentious people passing this ‘70s house off as an English estate, but they were eager to melt back into the early twentieth century before power lines and the drone of airplanes overhead and weed eaters down the road.