Country House 101

I always knew that when it came time to have a country house it would be a simple glass box. How pure, how basic, how Zen. How stupid! Living in a glass box is just another one of those fantasies shattered by maturity. 

When I finally found the perfect site in Columbia County to establish my country life in December of 2006, I had to define what my country life was going to be. I knew it would not be riding to the hounds after a gigantic hunt breakfast tended to by liveried servants, nor would it be rising with the lark for some pre-dawn meditation. Whatever it would be, it would be with friends. Okay, that’s a start–several guest rooms, my room, and one large multi-purpose kitchen, living, dining room. 

The choice of an architect was simple–my good friend Joan Chan. We found the contractor, Mitch Rabideau, working directly across the road on another house. Everything in place, I was ready to begin. This blog will document the construction of my country house and the creation of my country life.