SAVING THE STENCILING
Along the way, she met Timothy Northup, an antiques dealer and lighting designer, and he collaborated with her on the interior design. Before the house was finished, the two became romantic partners. (Northup’s own 1820s house nearby was featured in the January 2018 of Old-House Journal.)
Another surprising bonus was wall art that had been hidden. When Sallie removed 20th-century paneling from the walls of the front parlor, early folkart stencils were revealed.
“No one knew they were there,” she marvels. “The stenciling was most likely done by an itinerant artist in the early 19th century.”
Her interior decorating, she says, was driven by a desire to play up the warm tones in the pine floors and bricks. To that end, she chose red fabric for the window treatments, which she stitched herself. The color echoes in the saturated red of the sofa, and repeats in such details as a red-painted kitchen stool.
The original pine pantry is a special source of pride. Just inside the front door and across from the new staircase, it lines the wall leading into the kitchen. “The post that forms the corner of the pantry is oak, and it’s massive,” she says. “The boards in back are very wide, and the pine front is faux-painted.”
The new kitchen has soapstone counters and a vaulted ceiling with skylights. Bracketed hoods above the kitchen windows provide shelves for displaying country collectibles. Hooked rugs, baskets, and pottery from Northup’s gallery furnish the kitchen.
“This house is very restorative,” says Sallie Dunham–Davis. “During the holidays, when we have a gas fire going and I’m entertaining and preparing food, it’s such a joyful, comfortable place.”